{"id":6735,"date":"2011-11-18T11:29:37","date_gmt":"2011-11-18T16:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=6735"},"modified":"2011-11-18T11:29:39","modified_gmt":"2011-11-18T16:29:39","slug":"ballin-china-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/ballin-china-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Ballin’ – China Style"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The CBA - Hey, at least there's no lockout!<\/p><\/div>\n

While the billionaire suits and the millionaire players can’t seem to reach an agreement on the other side of the world in the NBA, there will still be basketball this season in China. With an eminent NBA lockout this season, hordes of players have jumped ship<\/a> to join the CBA<\/strong> (\u4e2d\u56fd\u7537\u5b50\u7bee\u7403\u804c\u4e1a\u8054\u8d5b – zh\u014dng gu\u00f3 n\u00e1n z\u01d0 l\u00e1n qi\u00fa zh\u00ed y\u00e8 li\u00e1n s\u00e0i) – I know, saying CBA is much<\/em> easier – this season. With tip-off just a few days away, let’s make sure you’re up to date on your CBA lingo.<\/p>\n

There are 17 basketball teams<\/strong> (\u7bee\u7403\u961f – l\u00e1n qi\u00fa du\u00ec) in the CBA, which began play in 1995. The teams are split into the Northern Division<\/strong> (\u5317\u533a – B\u011bi q\u016b) and Southern Division<\/strong> (\u5357\u533a – N\u00e1n q\u016b). There used to be an even eight teams in each division, but the Yunnan Honghe Bulls<\/strong> (\u4e91\u5357\u7ea2\u6cb3\u5954\u725b – Y\u00fan n\u00e1n h\u00f3ng h\u00e9 b\u0113n ni\u00fa) were kicked out of the league only a few years after joining it (for failing to pay wages and debts), leaving the Southern Division with only seven teams. Since 2005, the season has culminated in a playoff for the “Mou Zuoyun Cup<\/strong>” (\u725f\u4f5c\u4e91\u676f – M\u00f3u zu\u01d2 y\u00fan b\u0113i). Mou Zuoyun<\/a> was a member of the Chinese national team at the 1936 Olympic games, and he later worked as a coach and helped to build a professional basketball league in the Middle Kingdom.<\/p>\n

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Victory!<\/p><\/div>\n

The way the regular season schedule is setup, each team plays every other team twice – once at home and once away. As there are 17 teams in the league, this means one team gets a bye every week of the regular season <\/strong>(\u5e38\u89c4\u8d5b – ch\u00e1ng gu\u012b s\u00e0i). As for the playoffs<\/strong> (\u5b63\u540e\u8d5b – j\u00ec h\u00f2u s\u00e0i), the best eight teams qualify, and they are seeded accordingly. The first two rounds are best-of-five, and the final round is a best-of-seven fight for the championship.<\/p>\n