{"id":8488,"date":"2013-01-28T01:00:40","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T05:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=8488"},"modified":"2013-01-25T04:03:38","modified_gmt":"2013-01-25T08:03:38","slug":"chinese-basketball-cba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-basketball-cba\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Basketball (CBA)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

China's premier basketball league.<\/p><\/div>\n

After Yao Ming<\/strong> (\u59da\u660e – y\u00e1o m\u00edng)\u00a0joined the NBA, basketball took China by storm. Ping pong tables everywhere were left deserted as millions of Chinese youth instead began opting to lace up their Nikes and hit the basketball court<\/strong> (\u7bee\u7403\u573a – l\u00e1n qi\u00fa ch\u01ceng). These days, basketball is everywhere you look here. The courts are packed, tons of Chinese proudly sport their favorite player’s jersey, and NBA games are shown almost daily on CCTV-5, the broadcaster’s sports channel. While the American version is much more popular, China does have its very own basketball league – the CBA<\/strong>\u00a0(\u4e2d\u56fd\u7537\u5b50\u7bee\u7403\u804c\u4e1a\u8054\u8d5b \u2013 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\u00a0much<\/em>\u00a0easier. The season is up and running, so let\u2019s make sure you\u2019re up to date on your CBA lingo.<\/p>\n

There are 17\u00a0basketball teams<\/strong>\u00a0(\u7bee\u7403\u961f \u2013 l\u00e1n qi\u00fa du\u00ec) in the CBA, which began play in 1995. The teams are split into the\u00a0Northern Division<\/strong>\u00a0(\u5317\u533a \u2013 B\u011bi q\u016b) and\u00a0Southern Division<\/strong>\u00a0(\u5357\u533a \u2013 N\u00e1n q\u016b). There used to be an even eight teams in each division, but the\u00a0Yunnan Honghe Bulls<\/strong>\u00a0(\u4e91\u5357\u7ea2\u6cb3\u5954\u725b \u2013 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 \u201cMou Zuoyun Cup<\/strong>\u201d (\u725f\u4f5c\u4e91\u676f \u2013 M\u00f3u zu\u01d2 y\u00fan b\u0113i).\u00a0Mou Zuoyun<\/a>\u00a0was 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

\"\"<\/a>

The CBA championship trophy.<\/p><\/div>\n

The way the regular season schedule is setup, each team plays every other team twice \u2013 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\u00a0regular season\u00a0<\/strong>(\u5e38\u89c4\u8d5b \u2013 ch\u00e1ng gu\u012b s\u00e0i). As for the\u00a0playoffs<\/strong>\u00a0(\u5b63\u540e\u8d5b \u2013 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

Most team names for CBA squads are composed of three parts: a geographic location (with the exception of one team \u2013\u00a0the Bayi Rockets<\/a>), a corporate sponsor, and a nickname. To ensure that you\u2019re ready for all of the action this season, here are the names and locations of all 17 of the CBA teams:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

North Division teams.<\/p><\/div>\n