Sun Zhe stands 7-foot-3 and played for the Dongguan Leopards in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) last season. The 20-year old behemoth underwent training in Australia back in 2007 under the guidance of the legendary Brian Goorjian that dramatically improved his fundamentals. Sun is renowned for his speed, coordination and ballhandling skills. Besides, what makes him more dangerous especially on the defensive end is his long wingspan measuring 7-foot-7. Scouts have coined him to be the ‘next Yao Ming’ but  has yet to prove it in the international arena especially that his toughness is a big question.

Photo Courtesy: Azstarnet.com

Zhang Zhaoxu is an incoming junior at the University of California in Berkeley. Like Sun, he is 7-foot-3. More popularly known as ‘Max Zhang’, his stint as a Golden Bear the past two seasons were not as impressive as in his international career. Playing limited minutes for the NCAA Division I school, Zhang normed 3.1 points, 2.4 rebounds ,1.4 blocks per game. This is a sharp contrast while playing for China in the 2009 World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia where he recorded outstanding figures. Zhang averaged 18 points, 17.3 rebounds and 5.6 blocks in the tournament that impressed a lot of scouts. Moreover, he is mobile and athletic for his size. Born on November 18, 1987, Zhang is a native of Yantai, China.

Xu Zhonghao was Wang Zhizhi’s teammate at Bayi Rockets in the CBA last season. Xu averaged 9.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks an outing. The 7-footer showed a lot of promise for the Rockets but his team was swept by the eventual champion Guangdong Southern Tigers in quarterfinals. At present, he is part of the national pool but lack of speed and athleticism may cost him from making it to the final roster.

Photo Courtesy: DraftExpress.com

I admit that I didn’t care much about how Jeremy Lin has been buzzing the United States college hoops. It was not until I went through the forums and I found out that this young fellow of Taiwanese descent deserves all the accolades he enjoys. This kid can play real basketball.

Surfing through ESPN’s website for college basketball, I’m really impressed to find out Jeremy’s impact on his team Harvard Crimson. In fact, he leads the team in scoring this season with 17.3 per game. What makes him extra special is the fact that he has descent numbers in almost all categories. Last season, he was cited by basketball purists for being the only player in the NCAA Division I to rank Top Ten in his conference in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, blocked shots, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and 3-point percentage. Whew! That’s more than just amazing considering he is only 6-foot-3. Words from scouts all over North America come out that Lin is a ‘shoo-in’ for the NBA. If that makes sense, he follows the footsteps taken by Ed Smith in 1953. Smith was the last NBA player to come out from Harvard. Besides, Lin will join elite Chinese players who have played in the NBA like Wang Zhizhi, Mengke Bater, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue and the first one to come from the province of Taiwan.

Born on August 23, 1988 to Taiwanese immigrants in California, Jeremy has been the pillar of Harvard University basketball squad.

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Forwards JC Intal of Ginebra Gin Kings and Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia Realty are both voted as week’s best in the ongoing KFC-PBA Philippine Cup. Intal, the 6-foot-4 standout from Ateneo de Manila averaged 17.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2 assists leading his team to a couple of victories over Alaska Aces and Talk N’ Text Phonepals. Williams, on the other hand, averaged 20 points, 18 rebounds and 2.5 assists helping the Realtors secure an outright quarterfinals seat.

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South Korea’s Shin Yong-rok has reportedly signed with the Siberian club FC Tom Tomsk in the Russian Premiere League. He last played for Bursapor in the Turkcell Super Lig and declared himself free agent in October after the Turksih club failed to honor its commitment. The 22-year old native of Seoul joins fellow South Korean Kim Nam-il in the team.

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Ji Hoon Kim of South Korea is scheduled to face Tyrone Harris of the United States on February 12 in California, US. The 5-foot-9 native of Goyang City is arguably the best in his division in Korea. He will fight in the US soil for the third time in his career. He hopes to continue his streak of KOs dating back to December 2006. Kim’s record currently stands at 19-5-0 with 16 KOs.

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Takashi Miura will face fellow Japanese Seiichi Okada on Febraury 6 in Tokyo. The scheduled bout is for the Japanese Super Feather weight title. Miura hopes to improve his current record of 17-1-2 with 14 KOs as he lands among the top ten in his division in boxrec.com rankings.

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Coach Flip Saunders and the rest of the Washington Wizards will wear a patch on their jerseys in honor of the late team owner Abe Pollin. The black patch on the jersey’s right shoulder bears the name ‘Abe’. The late Pollin was the longest tenured owner of an NBA team who held the franchise for 46 years.

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Coach Rick Adelman of the Houston Rockets is in not in a hurry to bring back All-star swingman Tracy McGrady. Adelman is worried the sudden return of McGrady might affect team chemistry. Houston is currently in second place in the Southwest Division despite the absence of two superstars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming

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Detroit’s Richard Hamilton leads three other Piston’s in the injured list. Hamilton has been suffering recurring pain in his right ankle while Ben Gordon on his left ankle. Will Bynum and Tayshaun Prince are the other Pistons who join the injured cast.

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Japan’s Hisanori Takahashi told local media that he wants to follow the footsteps of his former teammates Hideki Matsui and Koji Uehara who are now playing in the Major League Baseball in the United States. The 34-year old Takahashi recently filed for free agency.

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Kim Joo-sung of the Dongbu Promy became the first player in the Korean Basketball League to record 700 blocks. He had two blocks while playing against SK Knights in Seoul, South Korea.

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Malaysia’s national football team coach K. Rajagobal is optimistic about the future of the national team despite the setback against Uzbekistan in the Asian Cup. The defeat virtually knocked Malaysia out of contention but Rajagobal is confident that the Malaysians can perform better in the next two or three years.

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Venezuelan Alex Ramirez of the Yomiuri Giants and Yu Darvish of Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were voted MVPs in their respective leagues this season in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Ramirez won his second successive plum in the Central League while Darvish had his second in htree seasons in the Pacific League.