CHN - China look for the right Wei

BEIJING (Olympic Games) - Wei Wei, China's 18-year-old reserve center at the FIBA Asia Championship in June, towers over most opponents at 2.07m in height.

She is, as the People's Daily in China recently described, the 'female Yao Ming'.

But in truth, she has a long way to go before she deserves that comparison.

"Wei should become a leading player on the national team, but she is still too weak in strength and not forceful enough in the paint," said former national team coach Gong Luming.

At the FIBA Asia Championship, Wei made four appearances at the start of the tournament but had the initials DNP beside her name in the ones that mattered, the qualifying round games against Korea and Japan and in the final against the Koreans, who won the the gold in front of their own fans in Incheon.

At the recent Chinese City Games, she played - but not like the Houston Rocket giant Yao.

When national team boss Tom Maher leads China onto the floor at the Beijing Olympics next summer, he could sure use some good minutes from Wei, a center with Guangzhou.

In the beginning

Wei hails from Taiyuan in Shanxi Province and she did not have to go looking for the sport.

She was born into it.

Her 1.82m mother played for the Shanxi team and her 1.96m father also played the game.

The first present she received from her parents was, in fact, a basketball.

They did not, Wei insisted, force her into the game.

"I just played it with my classmates in primary school," Wei said.

"Only until they realized that I had a deep love for the sport did they begin to teach me."

The biggest issue for Wei is her weight.

She carries 90kg on her thin frame, which means that players can push her off the low block too easily.

"I do well in blocks and defense, but what I badly need is to increase my weight," she said. "I should be over 100kg."

Gong is hopeful that one day, Wei will be a force in the China team.

"It totally depends on her devotion to the sport, but up to now she has made steady progress," he said.

FIBA