WCBA 3/2008 - Liaoyang 84, Jiangsu 83

Liaoyang (1-2) had been looking for their first win of the season, and in a game that was apparently tight all the way, they finally managed to beat Jiangsu (2-1) in front of a crowd of 3000 excited fans at home.

The game details are here.

The writeup is here.

The oddest thing - if you look at any pictures of the Liaoyang team on the WCBA website, they are all wearing army uniforms, as if they are all in the active military. They just might all be military players, given the sheer size of China and its military. After all, we have Army, Navy, and Air Force teams in college basketball; why couldn't such a thing exist in professional basketball?

Looking at the quarter by quarter score, you'll find Liaoyang having a good first quarter, but only leading by two at halftime, 44-42. They extended their lead to three points at the end of the fourth quarter but the visitors almost managed to sneak away with the win.

The writeup states that in the fourth quarter, "Jiangsu is striving to play basketball outside their own characteristics." I don't know what that means, draw your own conclusions.

Lioyang held the edge in shooting, 47 percent to 43 percent, but Jiangsu had more offensive rebounds. Turnovers kept Jiangsu in the game, with Liaoyang turning the ball over 22 times compared to 12 times for Jiangsu. Free throw shooting was just about even.

Liu Dan was the heroine for Liaoyang with her 33 points and 11 rebounds leading Liaoyang to its first win this year. "Song Peacekeeping Force" (宋力维) had 21 points and seven rebounds, with Liu Yang adding 15 points.

Undoubtedly, part of the reason that Jiangsu lost was that they could only dress seven players. Bian Lan led Jiangsu with 30 points, and "Snow-designate" (候雪花 ) had 17 points.

Ann Strother appears to be adjusting better to the Chinese game. She had 14 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes of play. However, she also had four fouls, along with Chen Xiaojia. If either of those players had fouled out, Jiangsu would have been up the Huáng Hé river without a paddle.

Later this week, I'll write where Jiangsu will be playing next. Pics are ridiculously hard to find, but if I can find them, I will.