Oh well ... he's another 7"6 player from China. Judging by the arms and legs of this boy (he's only 16), Sun appears to be more agile than Yao. Together with Yao, I call them the Double Ming Towers. Sun Ming Ming ------ The Inland Empire Basketball Program will host China's Junior Olympic Team in a goodwill game on Sunday, October 5, 2003. The IEBP Ballers, a collection of outstanding players from the Inland Empire, will play China at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, California at 7:00 p.m. in what is sure to be a great contest on the court. Never before have we seen four "seven-footers" at the high school level on one team. Now that several of China's taller basketball players have been on various NBA rosters, the likes of Wang, Zhi Zhi and Yao Ming have many of China's younger players believing they could possibly be the next NBA Star. These young Chinese kids are now more serious than ever and are looking at the game in a very different way. China has many great athletes who have exceptional skills in many sports and basketball is no different. They have so many players to choose from it's no surprise the likes of Wang, Zhi Zhi and Yao Ming are now being exposed in the US as well as other locations throughout the world. This summer, Mainland China's Basketball Association hired one of our countries most experienced international basketball coaches, namely Coach Richard Marquis. Coach Marquis will be working with Coach Wei-ping Zhang in the development of China's Junior Olympic Men's Team, preparing them for their future Junior Olympic competitions. Some of these young players will become future stars and it is their desire to play in the 2008 Olympic Games which will be hosted in China. Over the years, Coach Marquis has helped prepare men's and women's national basketball programs for many countries throughout the world. Just after the Atlanta Olympics he spent time with both Wang and Yao in China while working with all of China's top coaches and professional CBA league teams, including many of their Olympic players. This time China is sending Coach Marquis their best younger players which will make up their Junior Olympic Men's Team. They are expected to arrive in the south land on or about September 17, and will play six games in the south land area followed by two games in Las Vegas. This team, although very young, with an average age of only 15.5 years old, has four 7 foot plus players on their 15-player roster. The team's average height is about 6'7". Sun Mingming is their tallest player, standing 7'6" at only 16 years of age. Already taller than Yao Ming but, according to Coach Wei-ping Zhang, "this young man still has a lot of work ahead of him". These kids will be facing older American players and seasoned AAU teams that will include some of California's best high school and AAU players during this scheduled trip. Coach Marquis commented, "this is exactly the level of competition needed for these younger Chinese kids. They are a newly formed China National team that have not previously played together. This will be their first trip out of China. What a great experience and challenge for them. The local top Southern California teams will really challenge these young boys who, with their size, should give a good account of themselves. We look forward to seeing the Inland Empire community during this historic event".
