Chinese Basketball Association Imports, 2010/11, Again
Shawn Taggart - 8 games, 32.5 mpg, 27.5 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 0.9 apg, 1.1 spg, 1.4 bpg, 1.5 TOpg, 58% FG, 26% 3PT, 68% FT
More than anyone above, Shanxi have struggled to find import consistency. Last year, they famously had Stephon Marbury playing for them, yet they released him a couple of weeks before this season began. [More on him later.] In his place, Shanxi began the season with Sampson and Rodgers, both CBA veterans. Sampson played in the first two games only before leaving the team over a contract dispute; it was initially announced that his replacement would be ex-NBA forward Donnell Harvey, but the reason for said announcement was not clear. Harvey was playing for Igokea in Bosnia at the time, and still is. A week after the pseudo-news, Shanxi brought in ex-NBA big Ernest Brown, another veteran of the Chinese dance. However, the disappointing Brown lasted only five games before he too was gone, replaced by ex-Memphis big man Shawn Taggart.
Taggart played extremely well for Shanxi, and the roster turnover started to settle down. But after only 8 games for the team, Taggart hurt his knee and was out for the rest of the season. So again Shanxi had to hit up the market, bringing in ex-NBA big man Alexander Johnson, who had managed only one CBA appearance in the previous season before suffering an injury of his own. As ever, Johnson put up terrific per-minute numbers; as ever, Johnson couldn't play huge minutes due to his constant foul problems. All the while, Rodgers, a Chinese league veteran and prolific scorer, seems to have survived the whole season. It was reported that he had been replaced by A.D. Vassallo in mid-January, yet Vassallo appears not to have ever taken the court.
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More than anyone above, Shanxi have struggled to find import consistency. Last year, they famously had Stephon Marbury playing for them, yet they released him a couple of weeks before this season began. [More on him later.] In his place, Shanxi began the season with Sampson and Rodgers, both CBA veterans. Sampson played in the first two games only before leaving the team over a contract dispute; it was initially announced that his replacement would be ex-NBA forward Donnell Harvey, but the reason for said announcement was not clear. Harvey was playing for Igokea in Bosnia at the time, and still is. A week after the pseudo-news, Shanxi brought in ex-NBA big Ernest Brown, another veteran of the Chinese dance. However, the disappointing Brown lasted only five games before he too was gone, replaced by ex-Memphis big man Shawn Taggart.
Taggart played extremely well for Shanxi, and the roster turnover started to settle down. But after only 8 games for the team, Taggart hurt his knee and was out for the rest of the season. So again Shanxi had to hit up the market, bringing in ex-NBA big man Alexander Johnson, who had managed only one CBA appearance in the previous season before suffering an injury of his own. As ever, Johnson put up terrific per-minute numbers; as ever, Johnson couldn't play huge minutes due to his constant foul problems. All the while, Rodgers, a Chinese league veteran and prolific scorer, seems to have survived the whole season. It was reported that he had been replaced by A.D. Vassallo in mid-January, yet Vassallo appears not to have ever taken the court.