By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Of course, financially China is one of the best options outside the NBA and that’s why even European players like Giannis Bourousis, Loukas Mavrokefalidis, Donatas Motiejunas and Miroslav Raduljica decided to play in Asia.
However, the idea of the short season in China which can be continued in Europe and the NBA in many cases does not exist anymore.
The new format
“We play in China for five months, make double the money compared to Europe, we don’t have to start our training camp in August and when the season is over, we can find a contract until the summer in the NBA or in Europe”. That was the mindset of most US players who decided to sign in China.
However while the regular season of the CBA, which includes 20 teams in two conferences, ends on the 11th of February the playoffs start after the FIBA windows and they include not the top eight, but the top ten teams of the league.
The playoffs start with the teams between the seventh and the 10th place of the regular season playing each other. And the finals will be decided in a best of seven series. That means that the season may end on the 11th of May. EuroLeague teams must finalize their rosters until the 28th of February and that means no player from the top 10 teams can practically make the deadline.
The “Chinese rule”
For many years in Europe, there were domestic leagues that applied the so-called “Russian rule” (because it was first used in Russia). This obsolete rule obliged teams to have at all times at least two local players on the court, driving coaches mad in the process since in most cases their roster included five or six foreigners.
In China, there’s one similar rule which is even crazier. Every team has the right to have two non-Chinese players but can use both of them at the same time on the court only on the second and the third quarter. So if you ask for example why Keith Langford wanted to leave China, the answer is simple. His teammate was former Celtic Jared Sullinger and he had priority on the court. The Shenzhen Leopards used him almost for the entire game and Langford was usually on the bench during the first and the last period.
It’s obvious that China is not considered the “perfect” option anymore and until something changes, this is good news for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.