Prediction: In a decade the CBA will be on par with Spain

[EuroFan]

Except 10 years ago someone would have said the same thing if you used Russia as an example and now they have a few teams that are as good as any teams in Europe, with CSKA Moscow being the best team in Europe.

And yet, 10 years later Russian league is nowhere near ACB (Spanish League) as in terms of comprehensive talent, competition and organisation. Yes, Russia has a few extremely talented teams but the rest are of lower quality. And while Russia only gets 1 team to compete in Euroleague, Spain will have 5 teams competing in this season's Euroleague. That's a huge difference, don't you think?

IMO China lacks the basketball tradition Spain or Russia have and you also have to consider that in Spain basketball is a growing sport now that our National team is top 5 with Greece, USA, Argentina and Russia.

You are right, although i would put Lithuania higher than Russia in the Top ones of the World.

Where was Spanish basketball 10 years ago? Who were the great Spanish national team players? NBA players? Basketball in today's China is already more popular than it is in today's Spain. Give it 10 years and we'll see. Is it likely? Probably not. It is possible - certainly is.

I think the question is, where were you 10 years ago, probably 4-5 years old judging by your knowledge of International basketball. Exactly 10 years ago Spain had teams in the Euroleague Final Four and even the Final. Here is an educational list of Spanish teams making it to the Euroleague Final 10 or so years ago.

1994: Badalona (winner)
1995: Real Madrid (winner)
1996: Barcelona
1997: Barcelona
1999: Spanish NT makes it to Eurobasket Final
2001: TAU

Do you see a pattern there? ACB was even back then the #2 professional league after NBA and still is.

a country with a billion people will top at sports a country with 45 million people. The billion people country is also the richer one

**** or something

Population has little to do when the sport in question is not that popular in a country. While in absolute numbers it might look a great number of players and fans, when comparing with ping pong for example, basketball is not a big deal in China. As for the rich country, just have a look at the per capita income of the two countries in quesiton

China: $2.459
Spain: $35.575

Seems to me that Spain is pretty much richer than China.

Yeah, but here's the BIG difference: Soccer will never be the most popular sport in America, but basketball could certainly become, if it's not already, the most popular sport in China. Still, I don't see it happening any time soon, so don't worry about it.

So according to you why could basketball be #1 in China while soccer would not make it to #1 in the US? Double standards here or what?

Let's see China surpass Lithuania (two million people) in basketball first, then let's talk about Spain or anyone else...

Lithuanian has a long lasting basketball traditional. They were European Champions as back as in 1939. China will be never as good as Lithuania because basketball in Lithuania is just a way of life, simple as that. Oh, and their population is 3.5 millions.

[jman3134]

People are making very valid points about Spain's history and love of the sport. The thing they don't have is a billion people moving from poverty to the middle class. Also in most of the world the athlete will choose soccer first. Even in the USA many kids would rather play football or baseball (even if it isn't their favorite sport- they have longer more lucrative careers with fewer injuries). If you have a group of people that large and nearly all the top athletes would like to play you are looking at an unparalleled situation.

But how exactly does a billion people moving above the poverty line result in an influx in basketball talent? I mean you can give greater training I would guess, but isn't that provided by the government already? Also, basketball is a low budget sport.

Money= resources. Youth leagues will flourish, health will improve athletic ability. Being able to devote yourself to sport takes resources. There is a myth that the average NBA player comes from the poor inner-city. The average NBA player comes from a middle class background. There are of several course exceptions, but the exceptions end up with top notch coaching and get scholarships to exclusive prep-high schools. The idea some people here have floated saying Chinese people aren't athletic or have an innate ability for basketball IQ is ridiculous.

Health will improve athletic ability? Aren't the elite basketball prospects in China already given adequate resources by the government so that they can be healthy? I mean if we simply sample the average person in China and suppose that their improved health may make them generally more athletic, then I suppose you would be right. But, aren't Chinese athletes already given superior nutrition than the average Chinese citizen? I mean I feel like you are working on such a general level. The real change will come about when China becomes a desirable place for US coaches etc. to migrate to.

And, 10 years is a relatively short period to make up for a lack of tradition.

Why is it that the UK does not produce as much basketball talent?

[667Club]

Certainly not, Chinese people are less athletic than european people. Yet, they are modeling their league after the nba instead of the euroleague.

They are going nowhere. It's like telling me that a table tennis player is going play football. It's ridiculous.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

@Ryoga Hibiki, I don't agree with the "genetics" theory. Pretty racist if you let me say it.

Why does France have overall better genetics for Basketball than countries like Lithuania, Russia or Spain?. Do you mean that black people are superior "genetically" for this sport? Just taking physique on consideration or talent overall?

I don't want to start the usual debate about race but yeah, France has better genetics because has a wider population with west african ancestry.
It's not a case that most of their NT is made of such people despite the absence of any other cultural reason.

[Undrafted Rook]

China's talent pool could become so massive that we'll see more and more players with athletism to play basketball in the elite level.

Liu Xiang.

[MnM_McgradyMing]

No, I didn't say they're dumb. You're putting words in my mouth. Either that, or your just angry because my home country (USA) kicked Greece's butt and is once again dominating the international bball scene.

But, you're not taking into consideration other aspects of the game that can't be taught (i.e athleticism, creativity, mental toughness, and competitiveness). While I truly believe that the creativity and court vision are innate qualities, they can also be developed over a long period of time, depending on the social environment. There's a lot more to producing a basketball superpower than money and population. China can certainly find plenty of 7 footers out of 1.3 billion people. However, as we all know, height isn't everything. Whether or not any of them will be as good as Yao depends on a lot of other factors, which I've mentioned in previous posts. These 7 footers could just as well be the next Peter Ramos, Shawn Bradley, Menke Bateer, or worse.

last time i checked you said u were an asian.

[sorokii]

I am Spanish living nowadays in China, and I have to admit that this thread is likely to happen. I´ve played basketball here just a couple of times, but courts are 24/7 full of people playing. They are not very big, but very competitive, nice shot (lots of training)... I could say that the average level among the students is higher in China rather than in Spain. This is just a matter of time to catch it to proffesionals or people that compete. Maybe they don´t have yet the items they need (good trainers, good courts, time) but they are a lot, and they have a very strong will.

Greets

[jt142]

Truth is, China is really bad at basketball, plain and simple. Their performance at the Olympics and the WC makes this clear. Even with an 8' tall player and home court advantage, they can't do any better than 8th place. That's no better than they did a decade ago. The Chinese league is dominated by foreign imports because their domestic players are jokes. I'm just stating the facts, which speak for themselves. When China can produce a half-way decent NBA player under 7' tall, call me. Even with 1.3 billion people and with bball as the most popular sport, they still can't produce a decent NBA guard. How sad.

The CBA has trouble competing against the KBL, let alone the Spanish league.

[jt142]

Oh yeah, and Sun Yue is the next Magic Johnson.