Chinese Basketball Association Playoffs Preview 2015

The traditional ‘quiet week’ in Chinese basketball is rarely what it’s designed to be. Instead, the brief break that splits the regular season and the playoffs are often the most frantic few days in the CBA schedule as teams race to get ready for the postseason. But this year however, things have been even more chaotic than usual. Not only did the playoffs create some unexpected matchups, the recently unveiled foreign MVP shortlist also raised a lot of eyebrows. With that in mind, it’s time to break down the two big stories from a crazy week in Chinese basketball.

Who Will Be The Foreign MVP?
Probably the biggest news surrounding the foreign MVP award was a player who didn’t even get a nomination. Andray Blatche, who averaged 31.9 points per game with the Xinjiang Tigers, was sensationally left out of the league’s MVP shortlist, as was Zhejiang’s Errick McCollum, who led the league in scoring (39.6ppg) and also shattered the league’s record for most points in a game (83 points). Instead, the following players made the shortlist; Dominique Jones, Eli Holman, Hamed Haddadi, Lester Hudson and Von Wafer. With the announcement due on Friday, let’s break down why each player got nominated.

Lester Hudson (Liaoning Leopards)
The de facto favorite to win the award, Hudson has everything the CBA voting committee seems to like. Not only is he a long-term CBA player who has already won one championship with Guangdong and taken another team (Xinjiang) to the Finals, he remains among the best foreign guards in the league. This year he averaged 30.7 points per game and led Liaoning to their best regular season finish since 2005.

Eli Holman (Guangsha Lions)
A double-double machine with the small market Lions, Holman has emerged as one of the best power forwards in China. Initially the team’s second scoring option, Holman put the team on his back when leading scorer Jamal Franklin picked up a season-ending injury a month ago. Since then, he has averaged 22.9 ppg and 14.4 rpg and also helped bring out the best in young center Wang Zheng.

Dominique Jones (Jilin Tigers)
The Tigers are back in the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade and Jones has been the main reason for this. For much of the year, many expected Jilin’s weak local roster to drag the team out of the playoff spots, but instead Jones has continually won games by himself. His scoring average of 37.2 ppg is the third highest in CBA history.

Hamad Haddadi (Qingdao Eagles)
Qingdao have been another fairly tale team this year and are in the play-offs for the first time in their history. A big part of this is because of Haddadi, who has emerged as the best two-way big man in the league (20.7ppg, 14.4rpg, 2.3bpg). Not only has he dominated most CBA centers on offense, he has also helped give Qingdao one of the best defensive records in the league.

Von Wafer (Shanxi Dragons)
Wafer has thrived in Shanxi’s high-intensity offense and is taking almost 25 shots a night. Currently averaging 32.1 ppg, Wafer has been allowed to become an unapologetic gunner for a Dragons team that relies on a point forward to generate the majority of its offense.

Breaking Down The Opening Round Of Playoffs

In possibly the tightest regular season in CBA history, six of the eight playoff teams are separated by just two wins and the feeling is that anyone could make it to the CBA Finals in late February. The first round of games is a best-of-five series, as are the semifinals.

Guangdong Tigers (1) vs. Dongguan Leopards (8)
Dongguan only made it into the playoffs thanks to head-to-head results, and their young roster will be in real trouble against a Guangdong Tigers team that has only lost three games all season. Guangdong, the closest thing China has to the San Antonio Spurs, still have several players from the roster that won the team’s first title in 2003. Over a decade later, many of those players are still only in their early 30s and the collective experience that Guangdong boasts will be too much for Dongguan. In particular, American Will Bynum and Yi Jianlian, the former Milwaukee Bucks big man, are perhaps the best point-guard/big man combo in the league.

Liaoning Leopards (2) vs. Guangsha Lions (7)
Having been atop the standings for most of the regular season, Liaoning are heavily favored to make their way back to their first Finals appearance since 2008. Lester Hudson will be far too good for Guangsha’s mostly young and inexperienced backcourt whilst Liaoning’s big man rotation of Li Xiaoxu, Han Dejun and American power forward Dion Thompson should be enough to keep Eli Holman quiet.

Qingdao Eagles (3) vs. Shanxi Dragons (6)
Easily the most difficult of the four play-off series to call, there is every chance that this comes down to a deciding game five. Two key matchups will ultimately decide the winner however. In the paint, the clash between Qingdao’s Hamed Haddadi and the former New York Knick center, Jeremy Tyler, will be critical. Equally, there is the prospect of a wild shoot-out between Von Wafer and Qingdao’s unheralded swingman Justin Dentmon (30.9ppg). This series is easily the pick of the bunch in the opening round of the playoffs.

Beijing Ducks (4) vs. Jilin Tigers (5)
Beijing may well have deliberately taken it easy in their final game of the season (a home loss to Dongguan) so that they could avoid Shanxi and play Jilin instead. The Tigers have defied expectations to get thus far, but beyond Dominique Jones, Beijing is not going to be concerned about much on this Jilin roster. The Ducks have the better local players, foreign imports and the best home record in the league. It will simply be too much for Jilin to overcome and this should be the perfect series to help Stephon Marbury warm up for a potential semifinal clash with Guangdong.

Andrew Crawford is a long-time Chinese basketball writer and a former beat reporter in the Chinese Basketball Association. His twitter address is @shouldersgalore.