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A few LA Times articles on the China trip
UCLA's trip to China requires some adjustments on basketball court as well
UCLA's basketball team has seen a different culture on its trip to China. The players are also experiencing a different set of rules in the international game. What passes for a strong first step in America is a traveling call abroad.
By David Wharton
6:40 PM PDT, August 26, 2012
SHANGHAI — The baggage claim area at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport offered just
enough room for Tyus Edney to conduct a quick basketball clinic.
The UCLA assistant was trying to show players why they had been called for traveling during an exhibition the previous night in Beijing.
Under international rules, he explained, officials won't let you take a first step without dribbling.
"Are you serious?" swingman Jordan Adams asked.
Adams had been called for traveling no fewer than three times against Tsinghua University.
"Look," Edney told him, demonstrating the move amid travelers already curious about the towering Americans in their midst. "You've got to dribble right away."
With the Bruins scheduled to play Shanghai Jiao Tong University on Monday night — their second exhibition in a three-game swing through China — adjusting to a different set of rules has been a minor but occasionally annoying problem.
A wider lane keeps big men farther from the basket. The 24-second clock speeds things up and players can inbound a dead ball immediately.
The definition of goaltending is looser too, allowing defenders to swat the ball directly off the rim.
Though Coach Ben Howland mentioned these nuances to his team, he chose not to focus on them for the sake of three games against opponents that UCLA could probably defeat under any set of rules.
"We're just going to play," he said.
On Sunday, with his team coming off a night game and catching a two-hour flight the next morning, Howland decided to cancel a scheduled afternoon practice.
The coach preferred that his players hang around their downtown hotel for a few hours before heading out for dinner and a nighttime boat cruise on the Huangpu River. That way they might be better rested for the game Monday.
Shanghai Jiao Tong ranks among China's elite universities and has one of the world's best engineering schools. It also has something of a basketball tradition.
The men's team has competed on the international scene for years, winning Asian tournaments along the way. The women's program has been equally successful.
Still, the college game in China remains largely undeveloped, with most top athletes funneled into the sports academy system when they are young. The best prospects end up playing for the national team instead of enrolling at a university.
As evidenced by the 116-68 victory over Tsinghua on Saturday, UCLA's greatest concern this week could be those pesky rules.
Even as the bigger, faster Bruins ran past their opponents for easy baskets, they grew frustrated by traveling calls. At one point, Adams looked at the bench and raised his hands in the air, bewildered as to why the official had blown the whistle on him yet again.
"I wasn't mad," he said. "I just didn't know."
Edney could relate.
The former Bruins star is famous for the 4.8-second dash he made against Missouri in the second round of the 1995 NCAA tournament, a game-winning basket that propelled his team to a national championship.
After several years in the NBA, he played for almost a decade overseas, making stops in Italy and Greece among other countries. It took him awhile to adjust.
Now serving as UCLA's director of basketball operations, he seized the opportunity to educate several of the Bruins while they waited for their luggage in Shanghai.
He showed them how to use jump stops and crossover moves as an alternate way to start toward the basket. It was an abbreviated demonstration, given the crowds of people standing around.
Still, he wanted them to know.
"International rules can make a big difference," he said. "You've just got to figure it out."
david.wharton@latimes.com
twitter.com/LATimesWharton
__________________
UCLA learning to expect the unexpected during trip to China
By David Wharton, Los Angeles Times
August 28, 2012
SHANGHAI — Workmen scurried onto the court just before tipoff. A stanchion had broken loose from one of the baskets, and the nets were slipping off both rims.
It was hardly an encouraging sight for Jordan Adams, a UCLA freshman who was eager for the start of his team's exhibition game against Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
"I was like, 'Can we hurry up and get this thing going?'" Adams recalled.
By the time Monday night's game finally started — an hour late — the Bruins had come to expect the unexpected during their weeklong swing through China.
When they arrived Thursday, their practice court in Beijing desperately needed mopping. The locker room for their first game, at Tsinghua University, was actually a conference room with padded chairs and a long wooden table.
There have been schedule delays and a minor bus accident over the last few days. When they finally started playing at SJTU, the game clock kept skipping ahead.
"It helps us deal with adversity," Coach Ben Howland said. "We're just rolling with it."
Adams certainly adjusted, scoring five of the Bruins' first seven baskets in a 72-31 victory. His game-high 20 points made up for a disappointing debut against Tsinghua several nights earlier.
"My first college game wasn't so good," he said. "I didn't want to have another bad one."
Once again, UCLA rebounded and ran the court at will against an opponent not skilled or quick enough to keep pace. Sophomore guard Norman Powell scored 13 points and forward Travis Wear had 12.
The outcome was all but decided with a 12-0 run in the final minutes of the second quarter, a string of fastbreak baskets contributing to a 44-14 halftime lead.
"I'm just really pleased with the way we shared the ball," Howland said. "It even got to the point where we were over-passing."
The coach has remained relatively calm through all the glitches, somewhat surprising for a man who — to say the least — likes things orderly.
He might have reacted differently if this were a trip to the Oregon schools in the middle of the conference season. But here in China, where basketball is wildly popular, the college game is still developing.
Officials with the Federation of University Sports of China have been eager to make a show of UCLA's visit, giving speeches and arranging for cultural performances before each game.
When the Bruins showed up at SJTU, a police car with flashing lights led the team bus across a vast campus where colorful banners hung on either side of the road.
"You can see this is important to them," Howland said. "And the fans have been great."
After two games against university teams, the Bruins will face the Shanghai Sharks — a professional club co-owned by former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming — on Tuesday.
With a history dating to the early 1950s, the Sharks won China's national championship in 2001-02 and reached the semifinals of the Chinese Basketball Assn. playoffs two seasons ago.
Against UCLA, they could be somewhat depleted, playing without several Americans and Chinese national team members normally on their roster. Still, the matchup should be tougher.
"They've got size and length and they can execute," Howland said. "They're well-coached."
The game will be played at Shanghai Yuanshen Sports Center. Another pregame show is on the schedule and another boisterous crowd is expected to attend.
Beyond that, the Bruins have no idea what to expect.
david.wharton@latimes.com
twitter.com/LATimesWharton
_________________
UCLA basketball players take home something valuable from China
By David Wharton
D' Los Angeles Times
8:45 PM PDT, August 28, 2012
SHANGHAI — Less than six minutes remained as the UCLA players huddled on the sideline.
For the first time since arriving in China, they were locked in something resembling a real game, their lead dwindling against a team of professionals called the Shanghai Sharks.
With the crowd growing louder and the public address system pumping rock music, Coach Ben Howland hollered at his players about defense.
"Let's finish this," he said.
Over the next few minutes, the Bruins turned key stops into fastbreak points, running away with a 92-63 victory at Yuanshen Sports Center. In the process, they concluded what players and coaches called a valuable one-week swing through China.
"I think we know a little bit more of how we can play together and what we are capable of when we play a whole team effort on defense," guard Tyler Lamb said. "These three games helped us to see where we stand."
If nothing else, after two relatively easy victories against college teams in Beijing and Shanghai, Tuesday night's matchup provided something of a gut check.
The Sharks came into this game without their two best players, guard Liu Wei and former California center Max Zhang. Their coach was gone too, off shopping for the two American players that Chinese Basketball Assn. franchises are allowed to carry on their rosters during the season.
"Right now, we're working with the guys who will be our role players," said Shanghai assistant coach Rory White, a former Clipper.
But those role players showed discipline, physical defense and an ability to knock down three-point shots, keeping their team in the game for most of the night.
With former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming watching from the stands — he is a part-owner — the Sharks pulled within seven points in the second half.
That's when the Bruins turned to a formula they hope will carry them through the coming season, using their athleticism to make stops and push the ball upcourt.
"As soon as we started locking up on defense, we got easy buckets in transition," forward Travis Wear said. "It just started clicking for us."
Wear led all scorers with 26 points. Freshman Kyle Anderson continued to impress with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
"I definitely learned you've got to play hard every possession," he said of his week abroad. "Every time you're out there, you've got to give it your all."
Coaches and players talked about their adventure in terms that extended beyond basketball statistics. The long plane flight and unusual food, the hotel rooms and all-day sightseeing tours — much of it was fun, some was not.
"Everything's a part of that, even the stuff you don't like," Wear said. "As long as you're going through it together, it all helps."
The experience could be significant for a roster that blends returning veterans with a highly touted incoming class that figures to contribute immediately.
Though freshman Shabazz Muhammad had to stay home while the NCAA continues to investigate whether he received improper benefits while in high school, Anderson, Jordan Adams and the injured Tony Parker had plenty of time to bond with their new team.
As for Howland, he was happy with the Bruins' play and relieved to survive the trip — and an extra 10 practices the NCAA allows for teams that play internationally in the preseason — without injury.
"You always worry about that," he said. "Last year, USC lost one of their best players down in Brazil."
The coach was so pleased that he let his players and assistants go to a nightclub after the game, everyone waking up a little bleary-eyed for buses that departed for the airport early the next morning.
The Bruins will get a few weeks to rest before the start of individual workouts and then practices beginning in the fall. They feel as if they have a head start on the season.
"This whole thing was huge for us," Wear said. "We feel like we already know ourselves as a team."
david.wharton@latimes.com
twitter.com/LATimesWharton
The UCLA assistant was trying to show players why they had been called for traveling during an exhibition the previous night in Beijing.
Under international rules, he explained, officials won't let you take a first step without dribbling.
"Are you serious?" swingman Jordan Adams asked.
Adams had been called for traveling no fewer than three times against Tsinghua University.
"Look," Edney told him, demonstrating the move amid travelers already curious about the towering Americans in their midst. "You've got to dribble right away."
With the Bruins scheduled to play Shanghai Jiao Tong University on Monday night — their second exhibition in a three-game swing through China — adjusting to a different set of rules has been a minor but occasionally annoying problem.
A wider lane keeps big men farther from the basket. The 24-second clock speeds things up and players can inbound a dead ball immediately.
The definition of goaltending is looser too, allowing defenders to swat the ball directly off the rim.
Though Coach Ben Howland mentioned these nuances to his team, he chose not to focus on them for the sake of three games against opponents that UCLA could probably defeat under any set of rules.
"We're just going to play," he said.
On Sunday, with his team coming off a night game and catching a two-hour flight the next morning, Howland decided to cancel a scheduled afternoon practice.
The coach preferred that his players hang around their downtown hotel for a few hours before heading out for dinner and a nighttime boat cruise on the Huangpu River. That way they might be better rested for the game Monday.
Shanghai Jiao Tong ranks among China's elite universities and has one of the world's best engineering schools. It also has something of a basketball tradition.
The men's team has competed on the international scene for years, winning Asian tournaments along the way. The women's program has been equally successful.
Still, the college game in China remains largely undeveloped, with most top athletes funneled into the sports academy system when they are young. The best prospects end up playing for the national team instead of enrolling at a university.
As evidenced by the 116-68 victory over Tsinghua on Saturday, UCLA's greatest concern this week could be those pesky rules.
Even as the bigger, faster Bruins ran past their opponents for easy baskets, they grew frustrated by traveling calls. At one point, Adams looked at the bench and raised his hands in the air, bewildered as to why the official had blown the whistle on him yet again.
"I wasn't mad," he said. "I just didn't know."
Edney could relate.
The former Bruins star is famous for the 4.8-second dash he made against Missouri in the second round of the 1995 NCAA tournament, a game-winning basket that propelled his team to a national championship.
After several years in the NBA, he played for almost a decade overseas, making stops in Italy and Greece among other countries. It took him awhile to adjust.
Now serving as UCLA's director of basketball operations, he seized the opportunity to educate several of the Bruins while they waited for their luggage in Shanghai.
He showed them how to use jump stops and crossover moves as an alternate way to start toward the basket. It was an abbreviated demonstration, given the crowds of people standing around.
Still, he wanted them to know.
"International rules can make a big difference," he said. "You've just got to figure it out."
david.wharton@latimes.com
twitter.com/LATimesWharton
__________________
UCLA learning to expect the unexpected during trip to China
The Bruins basketball team defeats Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 72-31, but the game is delayed an hour because of problems with the nets.
By David Wharton, Los Angeles Times
August 28, 2012
SHANGHAI — Workmen scurried onto the court just before tipoff. A stanchion had broken loose from one of the baskets, and the nets were slipping off both rims.
It was hardly an encouraging sight for Jordan Adams, a UCLA freshman who was eager for the start of his team's exhibition game against Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
"I was like, 'Can we hurry up and get this thing going?'" Adams recalled.
By the time Monday night's game finally started — an hour late — the Bruins had come to expect the unexpected during their weeklong swing through China.
When they arrived Thursday, their practice court in Beijing desperately needed mopping. The locker room for their first game, at Tsinghua University, was actually a conference room with padded chairs and a long wooden table.
There have been schedule delays and a minor bus accident over the last few days. When they finally started playing at SJTU, the game clock kept skipping ahead.
"It helps us deal with adversity," Coach Ben Howland said. "We're just rolling with it."
Adams certainly adjusted, scoring five of the Bruins' first seven baskets in a 72-31 victory. His game-high 20 points made up for a disappointing debut against Tsinghua several nights earlier.
"My first college game wasn't so good," he said. "I didn't want to have another bad one."
Once again, UCLA rebounded and ran the court at will against an opponent not skilled or quick enough to keep pace. Sophomore guard Norman Powell scored 13 points and forward Travis Wear had 12.
The outcome was all but decided with a 12-0 run in the final minutes of the second quarter, a string of fastbreak baskets contributing to a 44-14 halftime lead.
"I'm just really pleased with the way we shared the ball," Howland said. "It even got to the point where we were over-passing."
The coach has remained relatively calm through all the glitches, somewhat surprising for a man who — to say the least — likes things orderly.
He might have reacted differently if this were a trip to the Oregon schools in the middle of the conference season. But here in China, where basketball is wildly popular, the college game is still developing.
Officials with the Federation of University Sports of China have been eager to make a show of UCLA's visit, giving speeches and arranging for cultural performances before each game.
When the Bruins showed up at SJTU, a police car with flashing lights led the team bus across a vast campus where colorful banners hung on either side of the road.
"You can see this is important to them," Howland said. "And the fans have been great."
After two games against university teams, the Bruins will face the Shanghai Sharks — a professional club co-owned by former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming — on Tuesday.
With a history dating to the early 1950s, the Sharks won China's national championship in 2001-02 and reached the semifinals of the Chinese Basketball Assn. playoffs two seasons ago.
Against UCLA, they could be somewhat depleted, playing without several Americans and Chinese national team members normally on their roster. Still, the matchup should be tougher.
"They've got size and length and they can execute," Howland said. "They're well-coached."
The game will be played at Shanghai Yuanshen Sports Center. Another pregame show is on the schedule and another boisterous crowd is expected to attend.
Beyond that, the Bruins have no idea what to expect.
david.wharton@latimes.com
twitter.com/LATimesWharton
_________________
UCLA basketball players take home something valuable from China
In challenge from pro team the Shanghai Sharks, the Bruins show they can turn key stops into fastbreak points in last game abroad. More important, veterans and newcomers bond during weeklong trip.
By David Wharton
D' Los Angeles Times
8:45 PM PDT, August 28, 2012
SHANGHAI — Less than six minutes remained as the UCLA players huddled on the sideline.
For the first time since arriving in China, they were locked in something resembling a real game, their lead dwindling against a team of professionals called the Shanghai Sharks.
With the crowd growing louder and the public address system pumping rock music, Coach Ben Howland hollered at his players about defense.
"Let's finish this," he said.
Over the next few minutes, the Bruins turned key stops into fastbreak points, running away with a 92-63 victory at Yuanshen Sports Center. In the process, they concluded what players and coaches called a valuable one-week swing through China.
"I think we know a little bit more of how we can play together and what we are capable of when we play a whole team effort on defense," guard Tyler Lamb said. "These three games helped us to see where we stand."
If nothing else, after two relatively easy victories against college teams in Beijing and Shanghai, Tuesday night's matchup provided something of a gut check.
The Sharks came into this game without their two best players, guard Liu Wei and former California center Max Zhang. Their coach was gone too, off shopping for the two American players that Chinese Basketball Assn. franchises are allowed to carry on their rosters during the season.
"Right now, we're working with the guys who will be our role players," said Shanghai assistant coach Rory White, a former Clipper.
But those role players showed discipline, physical defense and an ability to knock down three-point shots, keeping their team in the game for most of the night.
With former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming watching from the stands — he is a part-owner — the Sharks pulled within seven points in the second half.
That's when the Bruins turned to a formula they hope will carry them through the coming season, using their athleticism to make stops and push the ball upcourt.
"As soon as we started locking up on defense, we got easy buckets in transition," forward Travis Wear said. "It just started clicking for us."
Wear led all scorers with 26 points. Freshman Kyle Anderson continued to impress with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
"I definitely learned you've got to play hard every possession," he said of his week abroad. "Every time you're out there, you've got to give it your all."
Coaches and players talked about their adventure in terms that extended beyond basketball statistics. The long plane flight and unusual food, the hotel rooms and all-day sightseeing tours — much of it was fun, some was not.
"Everything's a part of that, even the stuff you don't like," Wear said. "As long as you're going through it together, it all helps."
The experience could be significant for a roster that blends returning veterans with a highly touted incoming class that figures to contribute immediately.
Though freshman Shabazz Muhammad had to stay home while the NCAA continues to investigate whether he received improper benefits while in high school, Anderson, Jordan Adams and the injured Tony Parker had plenty of time to bond with their new team.
As for Howland, he was happy with the Bruins' play and relieved to survive the trip — and an extra 10 practices the NCAA allows for teams that play internationally in the preseason — without injury.
"You always worry about that," he said. "Last year, USC lost one of their best players down in Brazil."
The coach was so pleased that he let his players and assistants go to a nightclub after the game, everyone waking up a little bleary-eyed for buses that departed for the airport early the next morning.
The Bruins will get a few weeks to rest before the start of individual workouts and then practices beginning in the fall. They feel as if they have a head start on the season.
"This whole thing was huge for us," Wear said. "We feel like we already know ourselves as a team."
david.wharton@latimes.com
twitter.com/LATimesWharton
