BASKETBALL CHINA v USA: Ian O'Riordanlooks at the Games' first 'high-demand' confrontation
IF ALL the talk about China's free-market reform and stunning economic success is getting a little tiresome, then here comes the fun part. At 10.15pm tomorrow night inside Beijing's newly-built Olympic Basketball Gymnasium, the USA will take on China in the men's preliminary Group B match, and needless to say, it will be more than just a game.
In fact, it would be hard to imagine anything more symbolic of China's rise as the new global superpower than a home victory. China has fast caught up with America as a world leader, not just in economic terms but in sporting terms too, and basketball is an illustration.
We know the power shift isn't too far away, and if the Chinese manage to upset the Americans tomorrow, it may well be the shift has already happened.
Unlikely as that is, it's still a game not to be missed. The US president, George Bush, thinks so too; he will be seated in one of the 45 luxury boxes of the seven-story 18,000-seater gymnasium - another of the astonishingly crafted Olympic venues directly west of Tiananmen Square.
While they certainly won't start favourites, China are not without chances. When their players hit the court, many of them will - just like their American opponents - be wearing signature Nike Hyperdunk boots and pumping Kanye West's Stronger out of their iPods. In terms of size, skill and lucrative endorsements both teams are on a par; the only big difference is the colour of their vests.
Basketball is without doubt the fastest growing sport in China, and it's easy to understand why. In 2002, Yao Ming became the first player without any American basketball experience to make the number draft in the NBA, signing with the Houston Rockets.
The 27-year-old from Shanghai, all 7ft 6ins of him, is now more recognisable in China than Tiger Woods - which may well make him the most recognisable man on the planet.
China have other players of NBA quality in their ranks, including Yi Jianlinn, of the New Jersey Jets, and Wang Zhizhi, the first Asian to make the NBA.
They won all 10 of their pre-Olympic friendlies, and physically they're a team of towering monsters, possibly even bigger than the Americans.
Two decades ago, in consideration of the minimal interest, the NBA gave China free broadcast rights to cover their games. Today, the average TV audience for the NBA is 450 million, and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) estimates 300 million are now playing the sport in the country.
As mega-cities continue to sprout up all over China like wild mushrooms, and open space in those cities shrinks, the hoops court is the first hangout for practically all young urban tribes.
China now has its own NBA, a 16-team league that is getting stronger every year. Its chief executive is Tim Chen, who ran Microsoft in China before switching jobs last October.
"We've had super growth in the last couple of years, and when we look at the potential, it's just amazing," he says. "After the Olympics, even more people will know about basketball. We still have 30 to 40 cities to go into. This is still just the beginning."
Incredible potential, indeed, but have they really any chance of beating the Americans?
The countries first met in Olympic basketball in Los Angeles in 1984, and the US crushed them, 97-48. They lost again by 49 points in 1988, 63 points in 1996, and 47 points in 2000. The closest China got to the US was the 19-point defeat at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis.
There is, however, a small question about the commitment of the American team. In 1992 the US basketballers went to Barcelona as the "Dream Team"; this present squad have arrived in Beijing dubbed the "Redeem Team".
Truth is the Olympics have a reputation for providing turning points in basketball history. It only became a medal sport in Berlin in 1936, and the Americans won, defending that title with ease at every Olympics through to 1968.
Then came Munich, 1972, and one of the most controversial games of all time - not just in basketball but in any sport.
By then, the Americans had amassed the incredible record of 62 wins and no losses in Olympic competition. They remained unbeaten through to the final, where they faced the original enemy, the Russians.
With six seconds remaining the US looked to have secured the winning basket, pushing 50-49 in front - but the Russians claimed they had called a time-out just prior to that final score.
After chaotic scenes of protest and counter-protest, the clock was set back to three seconds; the Russians threw a long pass to Sasha Below, who promptly sank the winning basket.
The American team voted unanimously to refuse their silver medals. And the rest is history.
The Americans regained their title in 1976, but in the long-awaited Olympic rematch with the Russians, in Seoul in 1988, they went down again, 82-76. The Russians went on to win gold, and the Americans, who at that stage still competed with a college All Star team, were left humiliated by the bronze.
A year later, on April 17th, 1989, the International Amateur Basketball Federation (Fiba) voted 56-13 to allow NBA players to participate in the Olympics. This was immediately perceived as Fiba succumbing to American pressure, when in fact the US was one of the 13 nations that voted against the proposal.
Anyway, this was the birth of what is still regarded as the greatest basketball team ever: the "Dream Team" - captained by the NBA legends Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and including Michael Johnson, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone.
Naturally, they went unbeaten, and won the gold medal in Barcelona in 1992.
Yet by the time of the Athens Olympics four years ago, enthusiasm among the NBA players for the Olympics had waned; seven of the nine original players selected turned it down. They were then stunned in their opening match by Puerto Rico, and ended up third - Argentina winning gold.
Even with stars the calibre of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, the American team face another difficult test in Beijing.
Bryant could be the key to their success, having shed some of his individualistic tendencies and put off knee surgery until after Beijing to help satisfy the hunger for gold. He's still hurting too from the Lakers' loss to Boston in this year's NBA finals.
The US coach Mike Krzyzewski admits they've had a bit of a change in attitude: "For too long, we've been saying basketball is our game. It's really the world's game. You cannot be arrogant, and win."
The "Redeem Team" probably will collect a 13th Olympic basketball title for the US.
China have never finished higher than eighth in the Olympics, and they've set the quarter-finals as their main goal. But that won't take from what is the first event in Beijing to be deemed "high demand" - media and spectator interest easily outnumbers the ticket supply.
With history beckoning and the world order at stake, this is, for now, quite simply the hottest ticket in Beijing. Tomorrow night will be an epic no matter who wins or losses, and with the US fading as a superpower, and China still rising, the result will be a matter of some significance.
