8/13/08: Women's Basketball has its Chinese Fans

(Photo: WNBA and US Olympic Team star Lisa Leslie signs autographs after US win over Mali Wednesday night)

Women hold up half the sky, according to Mao. On Wednesday night the sky was the limit at the Wukesong Basketball Stadium when Australian, Korean, American and Malian women's teams faced off. Crowds queued deeply in security lines, as both baseball and basketball fans gathered to enter the shared Olympic grounds before 7 and 8 p.m. events.


Eighteen-year-old Tian Ye and his 10-year-old niece travelled from Henan Province for the women's basketball event. A ten-hour overnight train ride brought them to Beijing for a few days of Olympic events, but Tian Ye readily admitted basketball was his favorite sport. He described his hometown of Jiyuan as a known "basketball city," having what he describes as a world-class basketball stadium. In fact, Jiyuan originally hosted the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) Henan Dragons before they moved to Shanxi Province and became the Shanxi Zhongyu team. [NOTE: This year the Zhongyu joined the International Basketball League (IBL) for the 2008 (summer) season to gain experience with American play. Past CBA stars include Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets and Yi Jianlian of the Milwaukee Bucks.] Tian Ye enthusiastically shared his knowledge of the Australian team, his team favorite Lauren Jackson, her WNBA play in Seattle and more.


The crowd was quiet for the opening Korean national anthem, but as the Australian anthem played, voices singing in unison, first quiet, then louder, grew from the Aussies in the audience. Australia puts on a strong performance during the 1st Quarter, but Korea is tenacious. To my naive eye the Koreans seem to hit the 3-pt. shots more while the Aussies dominate under the net; as the game continues, the domination grows and the Koreans falter, missing shots and getting a bit slower. Australia wins, 90-62.


During the game groups of Chinese "cheerleaders", both male and female, bang their inflatable sticks and cheer for both countries. They all wear red T-shirts emblazoned with "Beijing Workers Cheer" in both Mandarin and English. I want to interview their leader: Who are they? What is their work unit? Are they assigned this "job" or are they volunteers? but I can't pin down this man.


While a night-life exists in Beijing, the average person is an early to bed, early to rise person. Just see how many people are in the parks between six and seven a.m.! The second game begins at 10:15 and at 9:50 people are beginning to leave. Tian Ye and his niece are among them. When I ask why they don't stay for a good game between Mali and the US, Tian Ye smiles and says, "Of course the US will win. It won't be interesting."


But the warm-up music is great and breathes life into both the teams warming up on the floor and the crowd. One of the American women does a dunk! Will there be more during the game? Both African and English tunes get pulses moving, and as cameras scan the audience a huge gasp and buzz go up as it recognizes American athletes in the atheletes' viewing section. I don't recognize them; are they hurdlers? sprinters? They are too far away for me to see clearly! I have to turn to young Chinese men nearby to ask and discover they are USA Dream Team players Chris Bosh and Jason Kidd.


Tian Ye was right and wrong. The US DID win (97-41), but I found the game interesting. This was Mali's first Olympic women's basketball team, and they might have been intimidated by their opponents, but they frightened the US at the start by leading 8-7 after just a few minutes. After a quick US time-out, the US team smoothed out their kinks and showed their stuff. The US relentlessly wears down their opponents; it regularly substitutes two or three players at a time. Their stats also show the all-around strength of the team; they ALL score. Mali has some spitfires, including Hamchetou Maiga of the WNBA Houston Comets, and she and others do their best to score. Sadly, one Malian goes down with an ankle injury and doesn't return to the game. I think her team misses her height and skills.


The Chinese crowd admires the skills of the Americans, especially Lisa Leslie of the WNBA LA Sparks. But they also cheer for the underdog and many claps and cheers go up to either encourage Mali or applaud a good play. At the end of the game, after many handshakes, the Malians join the US team for a very large group photo and ALL players are smiling. The Malians came and played their best, and that's all an Olympian can do, right?