Tempting tale of two teen talents!

KUALA LUMPUR (Mageshwaran’s AsiaScope) - The announcement of China’s 21-man initial roster for the 2012 London Olympics has brought an interesting twist in the career of two of the more talented teenagers to have emerged from the world’s most populous country.

Wang Zhelin and Guo Ailun were two youngsters who began their international basketball careers almost simultaneously. Following last week’s announcement, the two stand at diametrically opposite ends of the spectrum, in roles exactly reversed to the ones they had in their immediate past in international basketball.

Wang Zhelin, one of those youngsters who is a part of the long list of the ‘next Yao Ming’ syndrome, has been pushed into the limelight with his name included in Bob Donewald Jr's squad. This despite a rather subdued and quiet time during the CBA season – spending his time “developing and improving” – watching his team Fujian from the stands.

Guo Ailun - who accomplished a rare feat of playing for all of China's men's national teams, across various age groups, in a span of less than one year - has been asked to join China’s developmental squad that is likely to play in the 4th FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo this September.

His non-inclusion in China's senior national team is certainly not a surprise, after the 18-year-old struggled through the CBA season for Liaoning Hunters.

But the question that interests me is which of these two youngsters will be better off at the end of the year?

Wang Zhelin, a strapping 2.14m centre, has been included in the Olympic roster to provide the size in sparring for the more accomplished players. As such he is very unlikely to make the final cut.

His focus of course is not so much on making the Olympic team.

“I am excited to be selected,” Wang Zhelin said.

“I have worked on my strength (during the season), but I have a lot to improve (on) especially in my rebounds and defense.

"I can learn a lot from the seniors,” the 18-year-old told a group of Chinese media that had all eyes on him on the first day of the training.

Of course there was no escaping the odious comparisons to Yao Ming.

“I just want to become the best player in my position not just another Yao. I want to be myself,” he said.

Playing with the seniors is for sure a step up in the training process for Wang Zhelin, but how much time he gets to spend in improving himself - rather than forming a part of the ‘punch-bag’ group for the certainties - will be known only at the end of the entire training programme.

Guo Ailun, on the other hand, will be expected to be one of the leaders of the developmental squad he is a part of, under long-time coach Fan Bin.

There were once rumors of Guo Ailun being one of the masterminds of the forgettable “blood letter” episode against Fan Bin, but ever since the two have reportedly buried the hatchet.

Guo Ailun cut his teeth as a player and made his mark as a playmaker of immense potential under Fan Bin, without doubt.

Even when he donned the colours of the China’s national teams in four different international competitions in the span of a year – 2009 FIBA Asia U16 Championship, 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship, 2010 FIBA World Championship and 2010 FIBA Asia U18 Championship – three of those four assignments were under Fan Bin as coach.

Therefore, the opportunity to become better and more solid as a player lies with Guo Ailun.

Not making the initial roster for the Olympics can surely be disappointing for Guo Ailun, but Wang Zhelin might just have a different point of view when the year draws to a close.

So long…

S Mageshwaran

FIBA Asia

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