Chinese center Bateer awaits Nuggets debut
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Updated: 2002-02-26 10:01

Menk Bateer scored 13 of his 32 points in the first quarter of his last match in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) on Sunday, leading Beijing Ducks to a 102-91 victory over Beijing Olympician.

Chinese center Mengke Bateer is expected to be unveiled as a player with NBA franchise Denver Nuggets at a press conference on Tuesday.

The 6ft 11in (2.10 meter), 275-pound (125-kilogram) center was in training camp with the Nuggets last year, prior to returning to Beijing to fulfill a commitment to the Chinese national team.

During his brief time with the club, the Mongolian impressed players and coaches with his ability to adapt to the tempo and complexity of the high-tempo professional game in the United States.

But Bateer, who is following a path blazed by the first Chinese player in the NBA, Wang Zhizhi of the Dallas Mavericks, will find a greatly changed club.

Team president and head coach Dan Issel has departed, and he has been replaced on the bench by interim coach, Mike Evans, who was an assistant to Issel when Bateer was in camp last year.

Kiki Vandeweghe, the team's general manager, traded four players with whom Bateer had worked: Nick Van Exel, Raef LaFrentz, Avery Johnson, and Tariq Abdul-Wahad, who went to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Juwan Howard, Tim Hardaway, Donnell Harvey, one million dollars in cash, and a first-round

draft choice.

The Nuggets have lost both games played since that deal was concluded late last week, lowering their record to 16-37.

The team is looking forward to the return of star forward, Antonio McDyess.

He underwent surgery in October, while Bateer was still with the team, and has not played yet this season.

His partially-torn patellar tendon has healed, and he is expected to return to the lineup some time this week.

How much playing time Bateer will get remains to be seen. Based on remarks he made while in training camp, what matters most to him is that he's back with the club.

Last year, he said, "All I want is a chance to prove myself, and I hope that I'll get to do it in Denver."

Bateer is one third of what has become known as China's "walking Great Wall" of basketball centers, alongside Wang and the promising 7ft 6in (2.24 meter) Yao Ming.