No Competition for China and Chen Jianghua
That was pretty much the story of the Asian Junior Championship. Not one single team gave the least bit of trouble to China on its way to the final victory. The average score margin exceeded the 44 point mark, ranging from 16 to 94 points. It was the South Koreans in the final being the only squad that could keep the margin below the 20-point barrier, but there wasnt even the slightest sense of fear for an upset all game long. The competition was just too poor, with teams that severely lacked size and talent.
In this context, it was Chen Jianghua that won the MVP award. Actually, he didnt hoard the spotlight as much as expected for a guy that was just coming off the World Championship. Most of the core players in China got a fair share of prominence on the court and points in the stat sheets. At least, thats what we managed to deduct from the last three China games, the ones that we were able to watch; as FIBA Asia doesnt provide any kind of box-scores, which we cant find anything but embarrassing. Others shining for China probably had a lot to do with to the fact that Chen barely played point guard during the tournament and that the level of competition didnt force him to assume bigger responsibilities.
Anyway, even if he didnt abuse his skills, Chen operated at will on the court, as virtually no defender could keep up with his incredible quickness, excellent ball-handling skills and footwork. Creative finding his teammates off the dribble, he also looked in love with his one-handed layups (he removes his left hand sooner than usual) that he delivers attacking relentlessly the basket. Hes also in love with his off-the-dribble jumpers, executed with nice quickness coming off the drive (particularly in terms or elevating off the floor) or after a pump-fake and a dribble. Still a bit of a streaky guy, he looked fairly reliable shooting the ball, indeed more reliable than in past occasions, showing better shot selection.
He did often take over the point guard role in transition, either going all the way for the layup or distributing the ball, many times early in the fast-break with long full-court passes. He has a knack for pushing the ball up the floor quickly.
Despite playing as off-guard, Chen is a playmaker all the way when we think about his future. Fortunately his team Guangdong Tigers seems to think the same, as thats the position he played full-time the few times we saw him last season with the junior squad. In the National Teams, its usual to see players evolve off their ideal positions, as the talent pools are usually limited, and while some positions lack good players others suffer overload, so a positional redistribution is needed in order to keep a highly talented squad on the court.
Anyway, even if he didnt abuse his skills, Chen operated at will on the court, as virtually no defender could keep up with his incredible quickness, excellent ball-handling skills and footwork. Creative finding his teammates off the dribble, he also looked in love with his one-handed layups (he removes his left hand sooner than usual) that he delivers attacking relentlessly the basket. Hes also in love with his off-the-dribble jumpers, executed with nice quickness coming off the drive (particularly in terms or elevating off the floor) or after a pump-fake and a dribble. Still a bit of a streaky guy, he looked fairly reliable shooting the ball, indeed more reliable than in past occasions, showing better shot selection.
He did often take over the point guard role in transition, either going all the way for the layup or distributing the ball, many times early in the fast-break with long full-court passes. He has a knack for pushing the ball up the floor quickly.
Despite playing as off-guard, Chen is a playmaker all the way when we think about his future. Fortunately his team Guangdong Tigers seems to think the same, as thats the position he played full-time the few times we saw him last season with the junior squad. In the National Teams, its usual to see players evolve off their ideal positions, as the talent pools are usually limited, and while some positions lack good players others suffer overload, so a positional redistribution is needed in order to keep a highly talented squad on the court.
Chen was surrounded by a number of nice players, although none of them are in his league potential-wise. The best is probably Zhou Peng, his teammate in Guangdong, who is likely bound to become a very good player for the CBA, even perhaps for the national team a few years down the road.
Zhou is a 6-9, skinny and fundamentally sound power forward born in 1989. He stands out in the shooting department, showing range out to the three-point line and great accuracy from the mid-range area. But he can also run the court very well, put the ball on the floor displaying good mobility and, a bit unexpectedly, he significantly produced in the low post in this tournament-- although he took advantage of the very poor size and strength of his rivals with moves that, for the most part, wouldnt make the cut against serious competition. Despite his skill set, his average athleticism and ball-handling dont seem to fit well with the small forward position, even if its a possibility that cant be ruled out.
The Chinese frontcourt featured some nicely athletic big guys, like Delehei, who enjoys a decent shooting stroke, or Li Xiaoxu (both are born in 1990 and stand around 6-9), role players that produced in transition by running the court very well and in favorable situations in the set offense, taking advantage of their size superiority. Still no one was anywhere near Zhou in terms of skills.
The backcourt brought some intrigue beyond Chen Jianghua. Especially because of Han Shuo, a 6-6 shooting guard born in 1989 who sporadically played some point guard while displaying an interesting skill-set.
An incisive ball-handler, he impressed with his ability to take his matchups off the dribble and slash towards the basket while showing a good first step, nice quickness and the ability to easily drive in traffic and finish with both hands. Hes also a solid passer and likes to play in transition, like most Chinese players. The biggest question mark for him is the shooting; he shot with range only very few times, although it didnt really look very bad. Anyway, his skills would likely be pretty much useless at a high competition level if he didnt manage to feature a consistent jumper in his repertoire.
From other teams that we had a chance to see, only one guy really captured our attention: Jin Soo Kim, a skinny South Korean forward born in 1989 who stands somewhere between 6-8 and 6-9. He shows excellent mobility and solid athleticism in general, some nice ball-handling skills, promising albeit unpolished moves, either facing his man or eventually in the post, a decent mid-range shot and a good feel for the game. Hes quite raw and might be able to play small forward, although thats something which he will need a lot of work on. For the moment, he already played with the senior National Team this summer, facing the US Team in an exhibition game. Unfortunately, he couldnt score even one single point, as he missed a couple of three-pointers and didnt materialize another couple of clear opportunities. During the season he plays for South Kent High School in Connecticut.