China - Rowdy scenes as China basketball league heads to play-offs

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The Guangdong Tigers have survived the loss of Yi Jianlian to once again finish atop the Chinese basketball league standings, but rowdy fans marred an exciting end to the regular season.

Guangdong, boasting five members of the national side, finished with a 26-4 win-loss record despite many pundits initially writing them off after Yi's pre-season departure for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks.

With teams fighting for eight spots in the post-season play-offs that begin next Wednesday, the final week of the regular season saw a series of closely fought games that left fans in an angry mood if the hometown side lost.

Guangdong -- championship winners in three of the past four years -- was the victim in two of the altercations, losing an away game against the Shandong Flaming Bulls 104-106, and then beating the Nanjing Dragons 125-114 in Nanjing.

"We are again seeing large groups of fans cursing the referees and throwing objects onto the floor at visiting teams," the China Basketball Association said in a statement over the weekend as the regular season drew to a close.

"This has seriously tarnished the image of the CBA."

Shandong and Nanjing were fined 30,000 yuan (4,100 dollars) each for failing to rein in their crowds, while the CBA threatened to make Nanjing hold all its play-off matches away from home should trouble erupt again.

Although the CBA strongly condemned the rowdy fan behaviour, observers said much of the extra emotion has come as the level of China's basketball improves and games became more competitive.

Despite losing stars like Yi and Yao Ming to the NBA, the CBA is riding a wave of popularity with younger and better homegrown talent working alongside a group of largely American imports who are increasingly comfortable playing in China.

"The CBA is getting better and better every year, play is more and more competitive and the games are more exciting," Bruce O'Neil, director of the United States Basketball Academy that supplies foreign players to the CBA, told AFP.

"The foreign players are important for the league and important for helping improve the Chinese players, but it all gets down to how good the Chinese players are, if you don't have good Chinese players on your team you are going to struggle."

During the season Guangdong swept to a club-record 22 straight victories, helped by American Jason Dixon, a nine-year CBA veteran, and former NBA shooting guard Lamond Murray.

The leading Titan Sports Weekly newspaper also on Monday named Guangdong's sharp-shooting national team starter Wang Shipeng as the league's most valuable player.

Xinjiang Guanghui, which plays in China's westernmost Xinjiang region, also had a 26-4 record, but finished second due to two regular season losses to Guangdong.

The team is led by former NBA centre Menk Bateer and American imports David Jackson and Aaron McGhee. Jackson was named by Titan as the CBA's most valuable foreign player.

The team boasts several young stars including 22-year-old ethnic Kazak guard Mulati.

Nanjing finished third at 21-9 and last week brought in for the play-offs former NBA centre Sharone Wright, who will team up with 23-year-old centre Tang Zhengdong and 20-year-old power forward Yi Li.

Shandong, which finished fourth with a 19-11 record, boast Americans Herve Lamizana and Mack Tuck and are bolstered by 21-year-old point guard Sun Jie.

Last season's champions Bayi Rockets finished seventh at 18-12 with centre Wang Zhizhi, China's first-ever NBA player, unable to carry the military-run club that plays without the help of foreign players.