Greece- and China-based outlets aplenty have been speculating about Panathinaikos club president Dimitris Giannakopoulos’ planned trip to China next week in conjunction with that team’s national team Olympic Games warmups. Names like Jianlian Yi and Sun Yue have been bandied about as possible additions to the PAO roster for 2012-13, but today Greece-based Sentragoal claims to have received the name of the Greens’ prospect: 2.16m (7’1”) Dejun Han, a.k.a. “Cyclops.”
Though Sentragoal notes that this revelation is surprising, the outlet is quick to note that “Beyond basketball … there’s marketing. And it seems that Panathinaikos wants to tap this vein … The Chinese market is huge, sports have a huge stake in the local community, money is abundant and the pride of Chinese people is immeasurable when one of their own becomes distinguished abroad…”
The move to go for a no-namer over the likes of Yi and Yue therefore makes more sense from a business angle, especially vis-à-vis the omniscient spectre of the NBA: How impressed would a Chinese basketball fan be if this top European club signed a washout from the big league? (Yi finished 2011-12 with the Texas Legends; Yue played with the Beijing Olympians.)
What can BallinEurope tell you about Han? Not too much, unfortunately (hey, his FIBA profile doesn’t even have a picture…). We do know that he was born in 1989, has played five seasons with the Liaoning Panpan Hunters of the Chinese CBA and, um, that’s about it.
Hopefully for the Greens’ sake, Giannakopoulos will find out a little more.
Tags: China, Dejun Han, Dimitris Giannakopoulos, Panathinaikos, Sun Yue, Team China, Yi Jianlian
http://www.asia-basket.com/player.asp?Cntry=CHN&PlayerID=135778
Not bad – third best scorer (and top Chinese scorer) on a .500 team in the CBA. Low rebounding numbers though given his size.
Very smart business move by Panathinaikos. Surely he will be an awful player (not even on the NT, whose best player is Yi!), but his presence will help spread the popularity of the club (and of the Euroleague) in China at least a little.
They already watch 2 Euroleague games a week on national TV in China.
So it’s not like the Euroleague is some big secret there.
The name of the player is Liu Wei. You don’t even have the right name or player.
Oh okay Lukas, I guess this was just totally a basketball move with no underlying business motivation. My mistake.
According to Greek media Panathinaikos is about to sign the first ever Chinese player to play in the Euroleague.
They do not release the name of the player, as it is a “secret”.
But it can be only one of two players. It is either Chen Jianghua or Liu Wei.
They are saying that this will be considered a monumental step in Chinese basketball history. As it will be the first time that a Chinese lead guard plays in a premiere world league.
Now they say it is Sun Yue. Even though he is not actually a point guard. Greek press makes that claim. He’s really a small forward that can bring the ball up the floor, not any point guard.
http://www.eurohoops.net/2012/07/dunks/7528
So first it was Han Dejun, then it was Liu Wei, then it was Chen Jianghua, now it is Sun Yue………
sounds like a bunch of BS coming from Panathianikos owners.
I guess it is a good step for both Panathinaikos and China, even if Sun Yue is a horrrrrrrrrrrible player by NBA standards. Now Chinese fans who may have been interested in the Euroleague but had no compelling reason to prefer one team over another will gravitate toward Panathinaikos even if the player gets no playing time, and a player who couldn’t make the NBA will get a shot at developing in a league that is better than the CBA.
I remember when Yi Jianlian was drafted, there were rumors that the Bucks had to guarantee that he got a certain amount of playing time. I wonder if his failure has lowered Chinese officials’ leverage to make such demands (if they were ever true).
Phileus you are a freaking idiot.
[...] wild offseason is apparently not over yet. Previously linked with Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue and Dejun Han, the Greens may finally be ready to sign with a Chinese player (and perhaps gain a nice foothold in [...]