The hottest team in the league — the Xinjiang Flying Tigers
Xinjiang is the second seed for a reason. The Flying Tigers have been riding the hot hand of all-world guard Lester Hudson all season and possess an extremely balanced attack where all five starters score in double figures.
They have been to the Finals before, but that was in 2011, when the roster didn’t have Hudson and fellow former NBA player James Singleton. After dropping Game 1 of the quarterfinals against Liaoning, they have rattled off six straight wins, including a semifinals sweep of Dongguan.
Let’s start with the best player in the CBA this season not named Bobby Brown – Xinjiang’s Lester Hudson. The 6-3 dynamo guard is averaging 26.4 points, 7.6 rebounds (!), 5.0 assists and 2.4 steals this season, shooting 55.6 percent from the field and a lights-out 40.2 percent from the arc.
Hudson is a prime time performer. In the playoffs, he has boasted even better averages of 31 points, 8.4 
rebounds and 5.4 assists.
Hudson has been absolutely preying on opposing teams this season, especially off the screen-and-roll. Defenses have no choice but to concede the 3-pointer to him because he can use his strength and speed to get to the rim – and the line. Hudson actually plays small forward for Xinjiang, as they run a three-guard lineup built for speed and flexibility.
The other two backcourt starters are Co Tal and Yang Jingmin. Co is averaging 12.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the playoffs. Other than a stellar 7-of-14 3-point outing in Round 1, he has been struggling to shoot the ball well. Yang, a product of Taiwan, is averaging 12.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists on 53 percent shooting for the season, including 43 percent from long range.
The Xinjiang guards are getting plenty of good looks from playing with Hudson and Singleton, and they will have to be on their “A” games to be successful.
The team’s power forward, James Singleton, is an amazingly talented player. The 6-8 “Swiss Army Knife” is capable of filling up the stat sheet with playoff averages of 15.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks.
While Singleton is not a dominant offensive force, he is one of the highest basketball IQ players in the league. He is not shooting particularly well in the playoffs (48 percent overall, 37 percent from deep), but he is not forcing the issue, either, never attempting more than 4 threes a game. Look for Singleton to make plays on both ends of the court.
Rounding out the starters is center Tang Zhengdong. Tang is a legitimate force, clocking in at 7 feet and 242 pounds. Don’t underestimate his scoring touch, either — he torched the smaller Dongguan front line for 19 points and 10 rebounds a game in the semifinals. And 40 percent of this rebounds have been on the offensive end.
While Tang is not a shot-blocker, he can play solid positional defense. In the Finals, both Tang and backup big man Yu Changdong will be asked to contain Beijing’s Randolph Morris, and that’s no easy task.
The verdict
Going into the Finals, there are a few advantages going for Xinjiang.
First, Xinjiang has home court advantage and has been super solid at home for the entire season.
Second, Xinjiang has the best player in the league in Lester Hudson. He has shown no signs of slowing down, and Beijing won’t have an answer for him.
Third, Xinjiang has the potential to deal with Randolph Morris. It has a number of big bodies it can throw at him, and Morris will need to play well if Stephon Marbury’s knee continues to show signs of wear and tear.
Having listed all of these reasons, it would be easy for me to crown Xinjiang as the champion. But I won’t.
Why?
Beijing has recently gone through the journey of winning a CBA title. Just two seasons ago, the Ducks did the unexpected by winning as the underdogs — and that was with essentially the same roster as now. They are mentally prepared to do what it takes.
Speaking of “doing what it takes,” I am confident that Marbury is going to rise to the challenge. If there’s something that we as fans know about him, it is that Starbury always finds a way to impact the game. I’m of the opinion that Marbury will easily clock at least 35 minutes a game, even on a bad knee. I also believe that he has a 40-point game or two waiting to be unleashed.
While Beijing is not going to stop Hudson, the best the Ducks can do is give him the Michael Jordan treatment. Let Hudson score, but prevent his teammates from doing the same. If Beijing can stop the other Xinjiang players from getting the hot hand, it will have an excellent chance of success.
I also believe that the barometer of success lies in whether the Marbury-Morris duo can average at least 60 points. If they can manage that, then the championship will surely belong to Beijing this year.
As a result, I’m going to pick Beijing to win in six games. It is going to be a hard-fought series, so be sure to follow the action on the Sina CBA site or the CNTV CBA site.
James Hsu is a Chinese-Canadian writer currently living in Beijing. Follow him on Twitter at @james_hsu.
How good can the Chinese League be when incredibly bad players that couldn’t make it in the NBA are putting up astronomical numbers in the Chinese League. The Chinese League is a glorified rec league.