JR Smith Records 33/10/10 In CBA Debut (Preseason)

Let me start by saying that it can be fairly difficult to gather information about the CBA.  I’ve yet to find a website published in English that covers the league well, and translations of the Chinese sites usually come out pretty messed up.  I mean, you can get the gist of what happened, but that’s about it.  Fortunately, I do have quite a bit of experience in gathering CBA info.  Stromile Swift played for the Shandong Lions last year, so I checked the CBA news daily. Anyway, based on the what I’ve taken away from various tidbits about JR’s first game in China, here’s the bottom line: it was apparently a preseason match, and his teammates weren’t even sure if he’d play.  He had only had a couple of days to work with his new squad, and he’s not really familiar with anything yet.  He seems to have told a reporter something along the lines of “I’m still adjusting, and I’m not in peak shape just yet.”

No matter; he dropped 33 points, grabbed 10 boards, and handed out 10 assists.  You can view a few videos shot by a fan by clicking here.  Sorry, I can’t figure out how to embed them.

That’s about all I’ve got for you at this point… I can’t even figure out who won the game.  Once the regular season starts I think I’ll be able to provide more detailed information and better videos.  I plan to follow JR, Wilson Chandler, and Kenyon Martin, so I’ll be keeping my readers posted.  Speaking of Kenyon Martin, his team appears to have played this morning.  Whether or not he participated is unclear… I can’t find a box score or anything.  He practiced with his new team for the first time just two days ago.  Click here to hear him talk to a reporter about his new team.

UPDATE: Kenyon Martin did play this morning.  He scored 12 points and grabbed 3 boards as his team, Xianjiang, beat Stephon Marbury and Beijing 97-88.  While 12 points seem a little disappointing, consider this: five of Martin’s teammates also scored in double figures, and no one (including last season’s MVP Quincy Douby) reached 20 points.  I figure that Martin will score his fair share over in China–probably around 20 PPG–but he probably won’t be doing 30 a game or anything.  Quincy Douby is apparently Jordanesque in the far East, so I figure he’ll be putting most of Xianjiang’s points on the board.

Fun fact: The game in which Martin played was between two teams called the Flying Tigers and the Ducks.  The CBA is obviously home to some of the coolest-named franchises in professional sports.