After the fireworks of the previous game, the Georgetown/Liaoning game was either going be World War III or a love-in. Fortunately, it was a much more convivial game with the Hoyas winning, 91-69 and good feelings before, during and after the match. Georgetown did a great job of turning things around and so did the Dinosaurs, in sharp contrast to their CBA colleagues the Bayi Rockets.
Mike Wise, meanwhile, looks at the mess and finds numerous possible culprits, but seems to focus mostly on Nike and African-American machismo, arguing that we are exporting the attitude through ads, NBA video and so on.
Okay, that's an argument, but when was the last time you saw an American of any race berate another team's coach when he yelled at his own players? Or to kick and hit someone repeatedly when they are down? Odds are one's own teammates would put a stop to that.
For that matter, he might have also touched on the unfortunate Chinese tradition of racism towards Africans and darker skin in general, including among Chinese.
He is right to say that what happened is difficult to understand, but Nike and street attitudes aside, as we understand it, Chinese people were not impressed with the behavior of the Rockets (or the fans).
Quite the opposite: quite a few Chinese logged on to register their disgust, to note the loss of face, and the dismal way the team met their obligations as hosts.
Our guess is that word came down to the CBA from the government that nothing of the sort would happen again or there would be grave consequences.
But we're also guessing that in the broader society, there was a quiet shaming.