On Sunday former NBA player Wang Zhizhi was honored as MVP during the 2008 CBA All Star Weekend in Chengdu, capital of southwest Sichuan Province. He helped Team Blue to make a 131-126 win over Team Red.
Wang Zhizhi, a former player for the NBA Dallas Mavericks, contributed 26 points, the highest amount for the winning team. He scored seven of the eight three-points. Wang's teammate in the Chinese national team, Liu Wei, made team-high five assists and seven rebounds.
Both teams performed well in attack but poorly in defense. Team Blue took advantage with 22 three-points while Team Red made 13. Newly crowned slam-dunk champion Mike Harris contributed 12 dunks of the 30 dunks made during the entire match. Every single dunk or three-point throw made sponsors donate 1,000 yuan (about 140 U.S. dollars) to CBA Development Fund.
Li Xiaoxu of the Liaoning Club scored the highest at 29 points, along with nine rebounds and three assists.
Han Shuo of the Jiangsu Club clocked in at 22.93 seconds to win the Technical Challenge. Sun Jie, who topped during the qualifying match, placed second with 25.51 seconds.
Three-points shooting match defending champion Luo Zhi of Zhejiang Wanma Club managed to defend his title with 16 points. Wang Zhizhi failed to win, getting only 13.
Mike Harris won the Slam Dunk match with 97 points. His first dunk made five judges also award full points. Defending champion Xu Yong of the Shanghai Xiyang Club also got 50 points for his second dunk. But he only got 40 points in his first and left the court disappointed.
(Xinhua News Agency January 14, 2008)
