USA the Basketball connection: from the wall that once separated them to the ball that is now bonding them. (Basketball).

Up until the appearance of 7 ft. 6 in. Yao Ming in the 2002 NBA draft, you would seldom hear the words "basketball" and "China" spoken in the same sentence. But time marches on. On our recent trip to China, we heard those two words mentioned in practically every sentence. Walking down the street to our hotel in Beijing, China, we realized the tremendous change in everything we saw, from the brand new McDonald's to the hundreds of bicycles and the army of kids wearing Kobe Bryant jerseys.

As representatives of Sino-American International Sports, a New York based company, we had recently signed a 10-year exclusive agreement with the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and SingOlym Sports Technology (SST) to promote goodwill and exchange ideas through our mutual interest in basketball.

The development of grassroots basketball in China achieved enormous impetus from the selections of Yao Ming as the #1 pick in the NBA draft, the 2002 National Elite All-Star China tour and the New Star Camp and coaches clinic sponsored by SAIS, SST and the CBA.

Although soccer is still the most popular sport in China, basketball is the only sport that is offered in every school, and is growing by leaps and bounds throughout the land.

The CBA has informed us that Chinese kids who show an aptitude for certain sports are sent to specialized schools located in their provinces, where they are educated and trained at government-funded academies.

As the players continue to develop, they can be selected for the National Team in preparation for the Olympics. In contrast with USA basketball, China selects its star athletes at an early age and keeps them together for years before exposing them to international competition.

Olympic gold is the motivation and Beijing 2008 is the target. Although the overall talent is inferior to ours, it doesn't give anything away in height. It has 220 seven-foot players in its developmental program!

Big Xu, a famous Chinese basketball TV. reporter, informed us that the star youth players are selected by height. If they achieve a particular height at about age 12, they are sent (with parental blessings) to a special sport school, such as the Shanghai Sports Academy.

The first youth group we watched at practice had no players under 6-2 and three players over 7-0. Unfortunately, the smaller players are weeded out at a young age. If Allen Iverson were Chinese, his basketball career would have ended at age 7 or 8!

Contrary to the American freewheeling style of game, team play is the heart of the Chinese system--collective group and collective responsibility. Whereas the Americans slam-dunk to attract attention, dunking is frowned upon in China and used only when necessary for a score.

Our National Elite (Girls) All-Stars, selected by SAIS, played a friendly but fierce series of games against a very strong China National Jr. Women's Team. The Chinese girls were older and more experienced than our girls, who had trouble with the FIBA rules, which featured larger basketballs, wider lanes, and different time-out and substitution patterns.

Our boys did much better, although losing two out of three to the China National Jr. Team, who played extremely well and had friendly officiating.

The National Elite All-Stars showed its superior strength in the third game, outclassing the China team by 29. The U.S. team continued to perform well, losing only one other game and dominating the China National Jr. Finals to finish with a record of 5-3.

The star for the boys team was Darryl (Showtime) Hill, a 5-9 freshman guard from St. John's University in New York. He dominated every game and averaged close to 29 points a game, while shooting 54% from the field.

Other top performers included rising 6-8 forward, Juan Diego Palacious of Our Savior New American H.S. (Centereach NY), who averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds a game; and Donald Copeland, a 5-9 guard from Seton Hall University (NJ), with 19 points, 5 assists, and 60% three-point shooting.

The Chinese girls played a fast-tempo fast-break and a half-court pressure game. They were tall and lean and good and could really shoot. We believe they could compete with the likes of our UConn and Tennessee women's teams.

The Chinese boys played more of a power and strength game, working the ball around and focusing on an inside game.

Although they had some excellent shooters, the Chinese keyed on a 7-1 big man named Tang Zhengdong, a workout companion of Yao Ming. Tang had a soft touch and would probably do well in the ACC and Big East.

We were told that the Chinese boys team was shaped by Russian-oriented national coaches. Other interesting observations about the coaching:

1. The coaches sit during the entire game. They do not stand or yell and they instruct only in time-out situations. They never yell at officials. Whenever an American coach would argue a call, he was given a strange look by not only the officials but also the scorer's table personnel, the spectators, and the ever-present uniformed military.

2. The coaches keep their players on the floor regardless of foul trouble. Good players might foul out in the first half.

3. Although excellent off-the-ball defenders and rebounders, the Chinese teams did not play full-court or 1/2-court press or trap in the half court.

4. The locker rooms look like board rooms, with long tables and leather, chairs, strange by US standards but common in Asia. The bathrooms are cold and old-world and would never make it in the US.

The playing atmosphere for our teams was excellent and every arena was sold out, with people waiting outside (sometimes in the pouring rain) just to catch a glimpse of the team coming in.

We remember giving locker-room speeches in small rooms with small curtains on the windows. The spectators would peep through the small cracks, just to catch a glimpse of the Americans.

Smoking is still allowed in public places and from the floor we could see the gray dusty clouds rising up throughout the arena.

Without air-conditioning in the mid-August heat, the thousands of spectators could only wave their hand-held fans for relief. It was weird.

The National Jr. Finals was played in a brand new state-of-the-art arena built for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. It was an astonishing venue with two NBA-size practice facilities in the back.

The Chinese teams utilized size and strength and team play, while the US team relied on speed, quickness, and individual efforts. Our star guard (Showtime) Hill was too quick for the Chinese defenders and became a celebrity after several spectacular performances.

Although it took us a while to adjust to the time zone, food, and FIBA rules, we began feeling very comfortable. Such world-wide sights as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace enhances the travel tour and intrigued our young people.

Most of the games and the camp that followed were televised and the venues were filled. The Americans were treated like royalty at times and even enjoyed police escorts during most of the travel.

Our teams played before huge national TV audiences of 100 million and our coaches conducted more than 50 TV interviews, reaching an audience estimated at one billion.

The CBA and SAIS looks forward to working together on their common ground of mutual respect and understanding--forging life-long bonds and building bridges between the people of two great nations.

For further information on China basketball or the US-China Exchange program, email [e-mail].