Basketball, Chinese Style

By Jim Foley
July 20, 2008

The match-up was China vs. USA, Game 1, on the CUC street basketball courts. The players representing the hometown China: a local teenager we saw staring at our basketball and two other random guys who just meandered onto the court while we had our shoot-around. Holding it down for America: three out-of-shape college men who didn’t know what they were getting into—Justin, Bruce and me.

I was surprised to see that our final two esteemed opponents did not wait for us to invite them to our hoop. That wouldn’t necessarily fly at the court on which I grew up playing. They didn't know us – or each other for that matter – but here it seemed normal.

Soon, somehow we communicated and agreed to play a game of 3-on-3. These guys were setting pick-and-rolls and even had a nice little give-and-go on us. They were rebounding, hustling for loose balls and driving to the basket with no remorse. My only criticism was that they called a lot of cheap fouls. Team USA wasn’t playing too bad for the first half, though. We moved the ball well and hit a couple of open looks.

The game was tied at 5, and we were starting to feel the Beijing air pull us down. It became harder to breathe. That was when team China took over the ballgame. They won 11-5.

A post-game water break was necessary. While we sat around, a conversation ensued between the Chinese all-stars and us. We talked about the NBA, the upcoming Olympics, and what else they do around here. One of them is studying English, and he sure must be getting A’s because he spoke English very well.

At this point I realized the competition was actually a bonding experience. We all just wanted to have fun and learn from one another. We still plan to kick their butts next time.