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Wang back in East Asian Games
( 2001-05-19 14:41 ) (7 )

It was about as far away as Wang Zhizhi could get from Dallas and the NBA playoffs.

Playing before 244 spectators in a new arena in the middle of a converted industrial estate in suburban Osaka, Wang took to the court for China in its preliminary-round game against Australia at the 3rd East Asian Games on Saturday.

Wang, a 23-year-old former star with the military-owned Bayi Rockets, became the first Chinese-born NBA player when he joined the Mavericks in April on a two-year contract.

Less than a week after the Mavericks were eliminated from the Western Conference semifinals, where Wang was used sparingly, he went from the madness of NBA playoffs to the relative obscurity of international basketball.

Instead of thousands of cheering fans, the loudest sound he heard all game -- a 105-77 loss to Australia -- was the squeaking of running shoes on the hardwood floor at the 4,000-seat Maishima Arena. And instead of dodging elbows under the boards in the NBA, he traded a commemorative pin with his No 15 Australian counterpart, Benjamin Knight, before the game started.

Clearly affected by his rushed travel of the past few days -- he spent one night back in Beijing en route to Osaka after the Mavericks' season ended last Monday -- Wang was on the bench at the start of the match and came on with four minutes left in the first quarter and China trailing 14-9.

China's fortunes didn't improve as Australia took a 29-17 lead at the end of the first quarter and led 40-19 with three minutes gone in the second quarter. China trailed 60-36 at halftime.

"I'm feeling tired from the travel, but I've still got a lot of work to do to get back into the team routines," Wang said. "We're all working on some new things from our coach (Wang Fei) and I'm hoping we'll play better in the coming games."

Wang was in good company -- his 7 foot, five-inch (2.26-meter) teammate Yao Ming. Both players were in the Chinese squad at the Sydney Olympics, where China finished a disappointing 10th.

Yao was considered a possible first-round pick in the NBA draft on June 17, but Chinese officials said the 21-year-old player will instead focus on playing for the Chinese national team before next year's Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea. He might make himself available for the 2002 draft.

Yao blocked a shot in the first two minutes and played strongly. But he ran into early foul trouble and came off after six minutes of the first quarter, then sat on the bench early in the third quarter after getting his fourth foul.

Yao came back on early in the final quarter and blocked several shots before stealing the ball and slam dunking, being fouled in the process. He finished with a team-high 18 points while Wang had 15.

Brett Maher led Australia with 25 points while Glen Saville added 18.

New international rule changes made Wang feel more comfortable. For the first time in a major event, the teams played NBA-style 10-minute quarters instead of the former two 20-minute halves.

In the opening game of the basketball program, Kazakhstan beat South Korea 121-92 as Andrev Shpekht scored 31 points.