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  1. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Li_Duke View Post
    Guangdong has terrific food. I hope he embraces the food and culture instead of trying to find the closest McDonald's (though even the McDonald's food tastes better there).
    Are you sure?
    A quarter of McDonald’s restaurants in China may have been serving expired meat

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    New Orleans, Louisiana
    Quote Originally Posted by Li_Duke View Post
    Guangdong has terrific food. I hope he embraces the food and culture instead of trying to find the closest McDonald's (though even the McDonald's food tastes better there).
    Sean May, who has a Chinese tattoo of indeterminate meaning on his left shoulder, can attest to this.

    INTERVIEWER: Playing international basketball must be an exciting experience.

    SEAN MAY: The food alone is great. Paris, Istanbul, Zagreb, Guangdong...

    INTERVIEWER: Wait, you've played in Guangdong?

    SEAN MAY: No, I've just eaten there.

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!
    ESPN is saying he is going to sign with a Chinese club for more than $1 mill for the year. That's quite a payday compared to what SMU was going to pay him being on campus for a year for free.

    -Jason "we keep waiting to hear that the Intl option is viable for top high school stars... Jeremy Tyler, Brandon Jennings, and now Mudiay... is it ever going to be a real option?" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Li_Duke View Post
    Guangdong has terrific food. I hope he embraces the food and culture instead of trying to find the closest McDonald's (though even the McDonald's food tastes better there).
    Given that my family is from that province, I can vouch for that. Mudiay has had a rather different life than the typical American teenager, so I am sure he is aware of the cultural shift and need to adapt to the situation.

    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    ESPN is saying he is going to sign with a Chinese club for more than $1 mill for the year. That's quite a payday compared to what SMU was going to pay him being on campus for a year for free.

    -Jason "we keep waiting to hear that the Intl option is viable for top high school stars... Jeremy Tyler, Brandon Jennings, and now Mudiay... is it ever going to be a real option?" Evans
    Mudiay is a huge test case for the Chinese market, which usually signs veteran players with track record of some kind. If he does far better than the usual foreign point guard, other teams may try to recruit top American high school point guards. I feel like it might be harder for high school centers, who on average would be going up ex-NBA centers with significant strength advantages. Chinese teams are less likely to sign foreign players for positions 2,3, and 4.

    As I mentioned in my last post, the market is more or less closed on these kids from the higher level European teams because both Jennings and Tyler were considered mistakes from the club perpsective. The number of players per year would be paid enough to make the decision very easy is not that large. I suspect we will continue to see a few, but mainly forced like Jennings or Mudiay and not so much voluntary like Tyler.

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    ESPN is saying he is going to sign with a Chinese club for more than $1 mill for the year. That's quite a payday compared to what SMU was going to pay him being on campus for a year for free.

    -Jason "we keep waiting to hear that the Intl option is viable for top high school stars... Jeremy Tyler, Brandon Jennings, and now Mudiay... is it ever going to be a real option?" Evans
    That is why I'm shocked more don't go this route.

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Dallas, TX
    Quote Originally Posted by JasonEvans View Post
    ESPN is saying he is going to sign with a Chinese club for more than $1 mill for the year. That's quite a payday compared to what SMU was going to pay him being on campus for a year for free.

    -Jason "we keep waiting to hear that the Intl option is viable for top high school stars... Jeremy Tyler, Brandon Jennings, and now Mudiay... is it ever going to be a real option?" Evans
    Ahhh . . . too bad he didn't sign with the Beijing Ducks. Would have been interesting to see him play with Starbury over here

    Welcome to China, kid! I think he's going to easily be one of the top players in the CBA, no question. He might actually be the most athletic player in the league, I'm not even joking.

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Las Vegas, Nevada
    Quote Originally Posted by Duke3517 View Post
    That is why I'm shocked more don't go this route.
    I think it has to do with player development, player visibility, stigma, and cultural comfort. But the times might be changing.

    Player development: I don't doubt that there are excellent international coaches who are great teachers of the game who can prepare a player for the NBA. Better than Larry Brown? Not sure. International coaches taking on American players typically want to see scoring to justify the salaries. And right away. I'm not sure how much a stake they have currently in prepping a player for the next level. I don't really believe that coaches "produce" NBA players, but we've got some good ones on this continent, and they have a stake in the NBA success of their players. If more OAD prospects played oversees, maybe we'd see that mindset among (say) Chinese coaches, because it would allow them to attract more talented 19 year olds. But I don't think they're there yet.

    Player visibility: Mudiay isn't going to be overlooked. But he isn't going to be on TV every week for his friends, family, sports commentators, and scouts to see. I could see that as an issue, particularly for non-lottery players. Even for the player who won't be overlooked by scouts, how many Guongdong games will his friends and family get to see? Has to be a consideration for these kids.

    Stigma: Right now, in the US, fair or not, there is a stigma for Americans playing oversees. In the past, that's where players who couldn't make it stateside went (generalizing here, duly noting exceptions).

    Cultural comfort: I personally think this should be a plus for 19 year olds. But not all 19 year olds agree. I've lived in a foreign country without speaking the language, and you either embrace it as a growth experience, or you feel lost. The food is weird. The street signs make no sense. And don't minimize the male adolescent thing: SMU girls vs. Guongdong girls? I'm not making a judgment but rather perceiving life through the 19 year old's lens. For a young college basketball star, college in the US is pretty sweet.

    Those first three reasons hold true for the D-League too (though it also has the problem of paying poorly). And that may be changing. The last issue will probably always be there. Indeed, I suspect it explains in part why young Euro-stars don't immediately jump to the NBA when they can.

    Things may change rapidly on all these fronts. The world is getting smaller; the NCAA is under pressure; and paradigms may be shifting. But right now, Mudiay is a sort of pioneer. It'll be interesting to see how that turns out, and I'm sure a lot of 16 year old phenoms who don't want to go to college are interested too.

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Steamboat Springs, CO
    Quote Originally Posted by Henderson View Post
    I think it has to do with player development, player visibility, stigma, and cultural comfort. But the times might be changing.

    Player development: I don't doubt that there are excellent international coaches who are great teachers of the game who can prepare a player for the NBA. Better than Larry Brown? Not sure. International coaches taking on American players typically want to see scoring to justify the salaries. And right away. I'm not sure how much a stake they have currently in prepping a player for the next level. I don't really believe that coaches "produce" NBA players, but we've got some good ones on this continent, and they have a stake in the NBA success of their players. If more OAD prospects played oversees, maybe we'd see that mindset among (say) Chinese coaches, because it would allow them to attract more talented 19 year olds. But I don't think they're there yet.

    Player visibility: Mudiay isn't going to be overlooked. But he isn't going to be on TV every week for his friends, family, sports commentators, and scouts to see. I could see that as an issue, particularly for non-lottery players. Even for the player who won't be overlooked by scouts, how many Guongdong games will his friends and family get to see? Has to be a consideration for these kids.

    Stigma: Right now, in the US, fair or not, there is a stigma for Americans playing oversees. In the past, that's where players who couldn't make it stateside went (generalizing here, duly noting exceptions).

    Cultural comfort: I personally think this should be a plus for 19 year olds. But not all 19 year olds agree. I've lived in a foreign country without speaking the language, and you either embrace it as a growth experience, or you feel lost. The food is weird. The street signs make no sense. And don't minimize the male adolescent thing: SMU girls vs. Guongdong girls? I'm not making a judgment but rather perceiving life through the 19 year old's lens. For a young college basketball star, college in the US is pretty sweet.

    Those first three reasons hold true for the D-League too (though it also has the problem of paying poorly). And that may be changing. The last issue will probably always be there. Indeed, I suspect it explains in part why young Euro-stars don't immediately jump to the NBA when they can.

    Things may change rapidly on all these fronts. The world is getting smaller; the NCAA is under pressure; and paradigms may be shifting. But right now, Mudiay is a sort of pioneer. It'll be interesting to see how that turns out, and I'm sure a lot of 16 year old phenoms who don't want to go to college are interested too.
    The other issue, I believe, is personal development. Would a normal American teenager benefit more as a person in college, in the D League or playing overseas? It depends, of course, but college should involve a wider and more diverse set of friends, an educational environment (even if sometimes muted), and more nurturing coaches.

    I am a believer in the intangible educational benefits of college life, such as living in a college dorm or a Greek house. After Duke, I attended grad school at another private university and, as an off-campus dweller, got to know the students who commuted to school (basically to save money). Over a three-year period I observed that these kids changed much less than the kids who lived in the dorms. Living with other college-age kids is an education in itself, and if you filmed or recorded all the conversations that occurred, you would probably be amazed that an educational process is going on, but I believe it is.

    Playing in China as a teenager, even accompanied by a parent or other adult, sounds like a process that produces an extremely immature 21YO, and it could even be a disaster.
    Sage Grouse

    ---------------------------------------
    'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Quote Originally Posted by sagegrouse View Post
    The other issue, I believe, is personal development. Would a normal American teenager benefit more as a person in college, in the D League or playing overseas? It depends, of course, but college should involve a wider and more diverse set of friends, an educational environment (even if sometimes muted), and more nurturing coaches.

    I am a believer in the intangible educational benefits of college life, such as living in a college dorm or a Greek house. After Duke, I attended grad school at another private university and, as an off-campus dweller, got to know the students who commuted to school (basically to save money). Over a three-year period I observed that these kids changed much less than the kids who lived in the dorms. Living with other college-age kids is an education in itself, and if you filmed or recorded all the conversations that occurred, you would probably be amazed that an educational process is going on, but I believe it is.

    Playing in China as a teenager, even accompanied by a parent or other adult, sounds like a process that produces an extremely immature 21YO, and it could even be a disaster.
    I agree with the non-scholastic education you describe, but I don't see why living abroad couldn't also offer immense educational opportunities, as Henderson described?

  10. #30
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Las Vegas, Nevada
    Quote Originally Posted by NSDukeFan View Post
    I agree with the non-scholastic education you describe, but I don't see why living abroad couldn't also offer immense educational opportunities, as Henderson described?
    I think sage makes a good point though. It's a tradeoff between two very different forms of personal development.

  11. #31
    The eyes of the basketball world will be in one place for a few hours tomorrow (sorry Yao, but they will not be on Yiwu even though I am curious how his use of Delonte West and Michael Beasley on the same team will work). The Chinese schedulers made a big choice for their opening game as Mudiay and Guangdong head north to Beijing. That means he goes head to head with Starbury for his first professional game with Randolph Morris as the other foreigner on the opposition. If you happen to get One World Sports (on sports packages for a handful of providers) you can actually watch live at 7:35am EDT. Just to give you an idea since stats in China often look inflated compared to other leagues (primarily helped by the 8 extra minutes a game), anything less than 20 and 6 will mean Mudiay is considered a bit of a flop for the league. They probably signed him with the idea of at least 25 points and between 7 and 8 assists a game. It will be interesting to see the viral nature of the internet at work as reports filter in tomorrow morning.

  12. #32
    I won't be able to watch this game live but I'd be interested in catching a replay. I'm a huge Randolph Morris fan... I guess I could checkout the hype around Mudiay as well.

  13. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by subzero02 View Post
    I won't be able to watch this game live but I'd be interested in catching a replay. I'm a huge Randolph Morris fan... I guess I could checkout the hype around Mudiay as well.
    More or less as expected, Mudiay had a tough adjustment to his first game with 18 points to Starbury's 32. Morris also had a solid game with Yi doing most of the damage for the losing team.

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