REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - China's CBA league may have a reputation of inflating statistics a bit because of its up-tempo style, but it's still clear that some of China's brightest young stars are doing a good job in taking the next step. 

The CBA is growing in competitiveness and that increased level bodes well for a trio of Chinese youngsters who, in the not-so-distant future, will be called upon to lead the country's senior national team.

Twenty-one-year-old Wang Zhelin nearly made China's senior team for the London 2012 Olympic Games and then fast became an important part of the side that stumbled to a fifth-place finish at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship. 

Playing alongside veterans Yi Jianlian and Wang Zhizhi, a 19-year-old Wang Zhelin was the third-leading scorer (10.2 points) and ranked second in rebounds (6.0). 

Wang Zhelin returned to Fujian Quanzhou Bank for another season and once again is having an outstanding campaign. He averaged 22.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 assists while shooting 59 percent from the floor in 2013-14. His numbers for this season are 21.4 points, 11.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.7 blocks while shooting 61 percent from the field. 

The 2.12m big man currently has collected double-doubles in 11 straight games, averaging 21.8 points and 14.3 rebounds while shooting 59 percent from the field but just 63 percent from the free-throw line.

While Wang he did not play at last summer's FIBA Asia Cup, Qi Zhou - China's other major star young center - did. Despite being just 18 years old at the time, he averaged 8.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocks at the tournament in Wuhan, China. 

Qi then helped China win the title at 2014 FIBA Asia U18 Championship to qualify for the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship. The Chinese were so overpowering that the 2.17m giant played fewer than 19 minutes a game but still averaged 13.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 1.7 assists while shooting 71 percent from the field. 

He has been downright impressive in his first season for Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the CBA, averaging 14.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and 0.9 steals while hitting 71 percent of his two-point field goal attempts.

In his 14 games since December 5, Qi has collected seven double-doubles and averaged 16.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.0 blocks while shooting 71.3 percent from two-point range and 76 percent on free-throws.

Zou Yuchen was also on China's U18 title-winning team last summer and the 18-year-old 1.97m forward has also been excellent this season with Bayi Rockets.

After averaging 15.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists at the U18 tournament, Zou has collected 14.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks so far this season. 

He has had his ups and downs. After collecting seven double-doubles during an eight-game stretch in November while averaging 18.1 points and 12.6 points, he had a span in 12 games from December 5 to January 2, when his scoring dipped to 11.1 points per game while he still grabbed 10.5 rebounds per game. In the last nine games, his scoring production has gone back up to 15.7 points and he’s picked up 9.2 rebounds a contest.

With the improved level in the Chinese CBA, it goes a lot farther into reading how well this trio of youngsters is playing.

David Hein

FIBA

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