AUS/CHN - Mills shines with Xianjian, surprises Donewald

XINJIANG (CBA/Olympics) - At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, fresh-faced 20-year-old Australia playmaker Patty Mills caught the eye of basketball fans around the world with a stunning 20-point performance against the USA, which at the time featured a trio of elite NBA point guards in Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Jason Kidd.

Fast forward to the present day and Mills finds himself back in China, this time surprising Bob Donewald, head coach of the country's national team and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

The Portland Trail Blazer guard recently joined the CBA outfit on a one-year non-guaranteed contract and it didn't take him long to make an impact.

Mills went for 28 points and eight assists in his CBA debut, leading Xinjiang - last season's runners-up - to a 111-92 romp over Bayi for their first win of the 2011-2012 campaign after three defeats.

What made the performance all the more impressive is that the Canberra native had arrived just a day before the game and was still getting used to his new surroundings.

"I can't wait to get my jetlag over now," Mills said after that game. "I felt like a man without legs in the fourth quarter."

Just to prove that performance was no flash in the pan, he exploded for a game-high 42 points to lead the Flying Tigers past Tianjin Rong 121-108.

Donewald has known the Boomers playmaker for a number of years but the latter still finds way to leave the coach in awe.

"I coached Patrick some years back in a camp in Italy," Donewald recalled. "I guess I have known him for a while. But his quickness, shooting and passing skills still surprise me sometimes.

"The fans here really enjoyed his performance and went crazy for him."

Donewald will lead China at the 2012 Olympics in London next summer.

Before then, his focus is on helping Xinjiang improve on last year's performance and that can only mean one thing: winning the CBA championship.

Despite losing in last year's CBA Finals to Guangdong, the Flying Tigers are considered a top contender following their signing of NBA player Kenyon Martin.

While they were dealt a serious blow when shooting guard Quincy Douby was lost to a season-ending injury in an exhibition game, Donewald is counting on his replacement, Mills, to set the tone and provide the backcourt help needed.

"Right now we are starting to find our rhythm and I'm sure that Patrick can keep that going," he said.

Before signing with Xinjiang, Mills was starting to find his own rhythm as a point guard playing for the Melbourne Tigers in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL).
 
Known as a scorer rather than a playmaker, the 1.81m guard seemed to confirm that through his first four games in his homeland, handing out a total of just eight assists and coughing up 12 turnovers.
 
Amid criticism of his impact on the team, Mills made a conscious effort to turn distributor and handed out 37 dimes in his last five games.

His decision to then move to China - effectively passing up a contract offer from the Trail Blazers - has also received some criticism, but Mills seems content.

“We have a very good team and coach, I will be so happy to play a whole season here without any doubt,” Mills emphasised, adding that he wants to continue improving as a floor general.

“I don't think I'm the hero of the game here,” he said. “I want to show that I can manage the team.

”Kenyon is building chemistry with the guards, and I want to work with him and show what a good guard can do - lead the team to a win.”

FIBA