Instead of focusing totally on basketball I thought I would share more about living in China as a foreigner (side note I get back to Portland on the 19th!).
Malls: the stores here have every type of bag/purse (prada, gucci, LV, coach) and watches (rolex, omega, etc). I am pretty sure I am supporting stolen goods or counterfeiting. But it's ridiculous how good "they" are at copying stuff.
Taxi's: we commute everywhere by taxi and it is so freaking hard to get where you are going. Not one speaks English and even if you give them a picture hotel or the key, good luck arriving there. Also the driver is caged in a steel cage which is weird.
Translator: this position is essential for any team. A big part of basketball (on / off the court) is communication and that is definitely a negative here. However we have a great translator and he plays jokes on us. For example; instead of teaching us how to say "box out your guy" he instead teaches a phrase that says "I like your girlfriend's big boobs"... Let's be honest if they were in the US, I would do the same thing.
Notes: JR smith is killing. Had several 40-50 pt game. ridiculous...
Lester Hudson scored 58 the other night.
Here some game-time shots:
Starbury in "action"
Shav ready to try to fight off Wilson Chandler (21) and Peter John Ramos for a rebound..He and Peter John
(7'3" 295lb) had some great battles this spring in Puerto Rico
Shav winning the jump ball
**Stateside photo-editing by LetsBlaze :-)