Chinese Basketball Association Imports, 2010/11, Again
Mike James - 8 games, 38.8 mpg, 27.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.5 apg, 2.6 spg, 0.0 bpg, 3.4 TOpg, 47% FG, 35% 3PT, 82% FT
Boone and James signed early, recipients of the new rules for this CBA season that removed salary restrictions on import players and allowed teams to spend as much as they liked on players with good name recognition. It worked rather well for Boone, who has been incredibly productive in his comparatively limited minutes, and who has even managed to reverse the decline in his free throw percentage that he had been on for the previous four seasons. It did not work out as well for James, however; while he was playing well and scoring heavily, the team felt he was not playing a sufficiently team-oriented game, and released him a few weeks into the season to bring back Williams, one of the best players in China last season, if not the very best.
James's scoring numbers, had they been good enough to qualify, would have ranked him seventh in the CBA. His replacement Williams has bested that by placing fourth, as well as tied for second in assists. Williams plays a lot of point guard on the incredibly young Cyclone team, and has been making the transition to that position for the last couple of years. The production outlined above, the best we've seen so far in this post, shows the kind of NBA calibre talent Williams has. He'd probably be there already had he not turned down the Indiana Pacers for no obvious reason.
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Boone and James signed early, recipients of the new rules for this CBA season that removed salary restrictions on import players and allowed teams to spend as much as they liked on players with good name recognition. It worked rather well for Boone, who has been incredibly productive in his comparatively limited minutes, and who has even managed to reverse the decline in his free throw percentage that he had been on for the previous four seasons. It did not work out as well for James, however; while he was playing well and scoring heavily, the team felt he was not playing a sufficiently team-oriented game, and released him a few weeks into the season to bring back Williams, one of the best players in China last season, if not the very best.
James's scoring numbers, had they been good enough to qualify, would have ranked him seventh in the CBA. His replacement Williams has bested that by placing fourth, as well as tied for second in assists. Williams plays a lot of point guard on the incredibly young Cyclone team, and has been making the transition to that position for the last couple of years. The production outlined above, the best we've seen so far in this post, shows the kind of NBA calibre talent Williams has. He'd probably be there already had he not turned down the Indiana Pacers for no obvious reason.
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