Donewald Jr sees boss Yao in his China team

By Tang Yue (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-06 09:17

Houston All-Star likely to be out of reckoning until next year

BEIJING - Yao Ming's relationship with Bob Donewald Jr became a little complicated when the players' list for the national basketball squad was released on Tuesday.

As the newly-appointed national head coach, Donewald will instruct the Houston Rockets' center, who was included in the 29-man national squad but the American, who remains the head coach of the Shanghai Sharks, is also an employee of Yao, who owns the Shanghai club.

However, the injured Yao, who has already stated he will miss August's FIBA World Championships and November's Asian Games, will not appear at the training camp, which started on Wednesday.

"Of course, Yao Ming could be invited but it doesn't mean he will play," Zhang Mingji, the spokesman of Team Yao, said.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the 29-year-old center is recovering from foot surgery performed last July. He will have a thorough check-up later this month before embarking on the next step in his recovery.

Yao's absence comes as little surprise as the sport's ruling body has set its sights on Yao anchoring the 2012 London Olympic Games team rather than being a part of the upcoming tournaments.

"The lineup does not only refer to this year's tournaments but also takes the 2012 Olympic Games into consideration," said Zhang Xiong, manager of the national team. "Yao Ming is indispensable to the team. We know he is injured but we hope he recovers soon."

Insiders say the team expects Yao to return for next year's FIBA Asian Championships, from which only the champions will qualify for the London Games.

Besides Yao, New Jersey Nets' power forward Yi Jianlian and former NBA players Wang Zhizhi and Sun Yue have also been included on the deepest Chinese roster ever. Yi and Wang will also miss the 15-day camp due to minor injuries.

Chinese Basketball Association (CBA)'s champions Guangdong Southern Tigers have six players in the squad - the most among all the CBA clubs, while Bayi, Beijing and Liaoning have four apiece. The Shanghai Sharks, who made it to the semifinals of this season's CBA playoffs under Donewald's guidance, have only one representative, veteran point guard Liu Wei.

China Daily