I am getting a little behind on the blog updates so I am going to cover our last two games here. After the marathon mountain bus ride to Huayuan I decided to stay in the hotel and just relax after we had shoot around that morning. It was rainy outside and I needed a nap anyway. All the lights in the gym where turned off for our shoot around, but I didn’t mind. I’m pretty sure the floor was a vintage wooden court from the movie Hoosiers, so having the lights off kind of hind just how terrible it was. I told the guys that the other team had to deal with it too, so it was a non-issue.
The food is started to wear on me a little bit, and I can tell the guys are craving some “western” food. Everyday we get served Chinese food, which usually consists of noodles and fried rice and a variety of other things that I normally can’t make out. Most times there is chicken of some sort that I try to stick with. Then we also get the things that the hotel thinks that we, as Americans, like. Typically that is fried chicken, french fries, and watermelon. One of the guys, Jamal Johnson, said, “Man, I’m tired of the stereotypes with the food!” It was pretty funny, and I agreed.
We headed over to the arena for our fifth, and I want I thought was our final game, against the Jiangsu Dragons. Robert informed me that we played them a sixth time the next day. One thing that stood out to me during this game was the refs. For once they weren’t terrible. Check that, they were terrible but at least they were consistent on both ends. The game was very physical, and I’m pretty sure Jamal broke their back up point guards esophagus. The PG tried to set a cross screen on Jamal and he nailed the guy right in the throat with a forearm, and of course no call was made. At that point, I had a feeling we were going to win the game. We got up by double digits in the first half, and they came out a played us 2-3 zone for the rest of the game. It took us about a quarter to finally settle down and cut their zone up. Quin Humphrey, Joe Darger, and Justin Billinslea all played well, and Jamal Johnson was a beast on the offensive glass. We won by 12.
The next day we headed to Songtao to play our last game against Jiangsu. I really wanted to win the game because a win would solidify us winning this 6 game series, a lose would give us a 3-3 split. When we got to Songtao, after signing autographs at the town square, we were greeted at the hotel by the hotel staff once again. A few of the ladies had on some traditional Chinese outfits that looked extremely uncomfortable and hot, especially with the lack of ventilation most of the hotels provide. There was a girl named Selena (I love how they just pick random American sounding names and run with them) at the hotel that spoke decent English. She offered to walk around town with us and translate. Selena was well educated, and it turns out she worked for the local government and the hotel just brought her in to help translate while we were there. There were these other two ladies that were walking around with us. I asked Selena who they were, and she said they followed us from Huayuan to watch us play again. It’s good to know that groupies are a worldwide phenomenon. As we walked the streets, we saw this lady holding a baby with her arms stretched out, and the babies little wiener was just right there in plain sight and he was peeing on the street. Wasn’t ready for it.
I saw several salons around town when we were walking and I decided it was time to get my hair cut. My hair was looking pretty beat, and with it always being just hot enough to be uncomfortable, I wanted to get a trim. Selena translated what I wanted done and then the most flamboyant Asian dude ever, came to do the honors. I was a little nervous, but he had the look like he knew what he was doing so I was cool with it. That was the first time I’d ever gotten my hair cut with people posing with me and taking pictures the entire time. Mr. Flamboyant did a good job, and Selena refused to let me pay for the hair cut.
Normally when we go to a game the bus will pull up right to the arena. Not this time. We got dropped off in front of an alleyway, and I asked Robert what the deal was. He said that the bus couldn’t fit through the streets to the arena, so we had to walk to it. This only made my curiosity of what lied ahead grow even more. The narrow streets were all muddy and had a rough feel to them. We finally got to the gym and it was an old wooden structure, with really old wooden seats for about eight hundred people. The wooden structure wasn’t fully enclosed so it had an open air feel in the arena. It made the temperature inside nice, and the cigarette smoke could easily find its way out of the gym and not into our lungs. The bathroom was one of the most foul things I’ve ever seen/smelt. I’ll spare the details but it was disgusting. We had the dunk contest again before the game and I thought the rims were going to break. Luckily the rims held up and we started the game.
I was anticipating Jiangsu to play a lot of zone, but they came out in man. We cut them up, executing our offense pretty well and the guys all had it going from the outside. Jamal Johnson, who has been our best player, hit a few threes, and was scoring inside at will, getting hammered on any shot in the paint and still finishing. We had the same refs as the night before, so I knew they were going to let all but a murder go uncalled. At one point during the game I had to just look around and take everything in. I felt like I was in Vietnam in the 60’s coaching a team of American soldiers. As for Jiangsu, they couldn’t hit a shot in the first half. We were up by double figures before halftime. The second half was more of the same, and this time they did play the 2-3 zone. They made a little run at us, but we took control and won the game, and the series. Overall I was impressed with the Jiangsu Dragons. They played extremely hard, were very disciplined, and much more athletic they I thought they would be. Their coach seemed like a no nonsense guy and I could tell that he had the full respect of his players. They had one player, Liu Yahui, who I really liked. He was about 6’8 and very skilled. He could score inside and out, was great on the glass, and I don’t think he missed a free throw in the six game series. Back at the hotel after the game I had Robert translate a conversation between, Coach Xi, their head coach, and I. He was very complimentary of our team, and said they learned a lot from playing us. I told him that his team played very hard, and were very disciplined. Boss Man jumped in and said he hoped that we could continue our relationship and get Jiangsu to the states in the future, which I think would be great. It’s amazing that basketball can build relationships even with all the cultural, and language barriers that exist.
Before the game Robert informed me that we wouldn’t be staying the night in Songtao. Instead this is what we had in store: depart Songtao at midnight and a six hour bus ride to the Guiyang airport, then a hour and a half flight to the airport in Guangzhou, and finally a two hour bus ride to Zhongshan. Even thought we had just won the past three games, and the series against Jiangsu, morale was low after that news and the guys were tired, and craving some American food. I googled Zhongshan and it looks like a big city, so I assured the guys that greener pastured were ahead. I popped at few sleeping pills for the first bus ride. Zzzzzz…..
The food is started to wear on me a little bit, and I can tell the guys are craving some “western” food. Everyday we get served Chinese food, which usually consists of noodles and fried rice and a variety of other things that I normally can’t make out. Most times there is chicken of some sort that I try to stick with. Then we also get the things that the hotel thinks that we, as Americans, like. Typically that is fried chicken, french fries, and watermelon. One of the guys, Jamal Johnson, said, “Man, I’m tired of the stereotypes with the food!” It was pretty funny, and I agreed.
We headed over to the arena for our fifth, and I want I thought was our final game, against the Jiangsu Dragons. Robert informed me that we played them a sixth time the next day. One thing that stood out to me during this game was the refs. For once they weren’t terrible. Check that, they were terrible but at least they were consistent on both ends. The game was very physical, and I’m pretty sure Jamal broke their back up point guards esophagus. The PG tried to set a cross screen on Jamal and he nailed the guy right in the throat with a forearm, and of course no call was made. At that point, I had a feeling we were going to win the game. We got up by double digits in the first half, and they came out a played us 2-3 zone for the rest of the game. It took us about a quarter to finally settle down and cut their zone up. Quin Humphrey, Joe Darger, and Justin Billinslea all played well, and Jamal Johnson was a beast on the offensive glass. We won by 12.
The next day we headed to Songtao to play our last game against Jiangsu. I really wanted to win the game because a win would solidify us winning this 6 game series, a lose would give us a 3-3 split. When we got to Songtao, after signing autographs at the town square, we were greeted at the hotel by the hotel staff once again. A few of the ladies had on some traditional Chinese outfits that looked extremely uncomfortable and hot, especially with the lack of ventilation most of the hotels provide. There was a girl named Selena (I love how they just pick random American sounding names and run with them) at the hotel that spoke decent English. She offered to walk around town with us and translate. Selena was well educated, and it turns out she worked for the local government and the hotel just brought her in to help translate while we were there. There were these other two ladies that were walking around with us. I asked Selena who they were, and she said they followed us from Huayuan to watch us play again. It’s good to know that groupies are a worldwide phenomenon. As we walked the streets, we saw this lady holding a baby with her arms stretched out, and the babies little wiener was just right there in plain sight and he was peeing on the street. Wasn’t ready for it.
I saw several salons around town when we were walking and I decided it was time to get my hair cut. My hair was looking pretty beat, and with it always being just hot enough to be uncomfortable, I wanted to get a trim. Selena translated what I wanted done and then the most flamboyant Asian dude ever, came to do the honors. I was a little nervous, but he had the look like he knew what he was doing so I was cool with it. That was the first time I’d ever gotten my hair cut with people posing with me and taking pictures the entire time. Mr. Flamboyant did a good job, and Selena refused to let me pay for the hair cut.
Normally when we go to a game the bus will pull up right to the arena. Not this time. We got dropped off in front of an alleyway, and I asked Robert what the deal was. He said that the bus couldn’t fit through the streets to the arena, so we had to walk to it. This only made my curiosity of what lied ahead grow even more. The narrow streets were all muddy and had a rough feel to them. We finally got to the gym and it was an old wooden structure, with really old wooden seats for about eight hundred people. The wooden structure wasn’t fully enclosed so it had an open air feel in the arena. It made the temperature inside nice, and the cigarette smoke could easily find its way out of the gym and not into our lungs. The bathroom was one of the most foul things I’ve ever seen/smelt. I’ll spare the details but it was disgusting. We had the dunk contest again before the game and I thought the rims were going to break. Luckily the rims held up and we started the game.
I was anticipating Jiangsu to play a lot of zone, but they came out in man. We cut them up, executing our offense pretty well and the guys all had it going from the outside. Jamal Johnson, who has been our best player, hit a few threes, and was scoring inside at will, getting hammered on any shot in the paint and still finishing. We had the same refs as the night before, so I knew they were going to let all but a murder go uncalled. At one point during the game I had to just look around and take everything in. I felt like I was in Vietnam in the 60’s coaching a team of American soldiers. As for Jiangsu, they couldn’t hit a shot in the first half. We were up by double figures before halftime. The second half was more of the same, and this time they did play the 2-3 zone. They made a little run at us, but we took control and won the game, and the series. Overall I was impressed with the Jiangsu Dragons. They played extremely hard, were very disciplined, and much more athletic they I thought they would be. Their coach seemed like a no nonsense guy and I could tell that he had the full respect of his players. They had one player, Liu Yahui, who I really liked. He was about 6’8 and very skilled. He could score inside and out, was great on the glass, and I don’t think he missed a free throw in the six game series. Back at the hotel after the game I had Robert translate a conversation between, Coach Xi, their head coach, and I. He was very complimentary of our team, and said they learned a lot from playing us. I told him that his team played very hard, and were very disciplined. Boss Man jumped in and said he hoped that we could continue our relationship and get Jiangsu to the states in the future, which I think would be great. It’s amazing that basketball can build relationships even with all the cultural, and language barriers that exist.
Before the game Robert informed me that we wouldn’t be staying the night in Songtao. Instead this is what we had in store: depart Songtao at midnight and a six hour bus ride to the Guiyang airport, then a hour and a half flight to the airport in Guangzhou, and finally a two hour bus ride to Zhongshan. Even thought we had just won the past three games, and the series against Jiangsu, morale was low after that news and the guys were tired, and craving some American food. I googled Zhongshan and it looks like a big city, so I assured the guys that greener pastured were ahead. I popped at few sleeping pills for the first bus ride. Zzzzzz…..
Dude, he's cutting your hair in a blazer. Sweet.
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