Dictated by Bob Chen, Written by Wang Di
 
Standing between two “towers” with heights of 2.19 m and 2.06 m, my head is filled with memories...

When I first met Li Muhao and Sun Tonglin, they were only 12, just arrived at the Dongguan New Century Basketball Team.  They were part of the “Future Star” training plan for the Dongguan New Century Club, and the club was willing to train them from zero.  Nine years ago, in 2005, I worked together with their coach to carry out a full range of tests and analyses on their growth, development, physical fitness, and injuries.  At that time, they were both at the height of 1.80 m, as tall as me, but compared with other players, they seemed skinny and small.  Although Li Muhao is much taller than Sun Tonglin now, Sun was bigger built than Li in those days.  Dr. Chen recalled with a smile, “tiny Li Muhao couldn’t even lift up a barbell.”
 
I watched these two grow up!
 
At that time they were so young, and their physiques were so slight, plus they had introverted characters and did not like talking, so they seemed somewhat out of place on the team, and I felt sure that they would be bullied.  But I could see that both of them had their own ideas.  Especially Li Muhao, who was very assertive, had great imagination for his own basketball career, personal image, and future development.
 
At the age of 16, during puberty, his height had reached 2.13 m, and he was depressed about it, even asked me if I had any method to stop his growth because he felt it was inconvenient and uncomfortable to be so all.  But today, after going through much experience and discipline, the “potentials” of those days did not let us down; both of them were selected for the National Team.  They are young, passionate, and love the sport of basketball, and they will become the icing on the cake for basketball careers in China, and even the world.
 
 “It takes ten years to nurture a tree, but a hundred years to train a man.”
 
In fact, I have mentioned that the Dongguan New Century Club has a very high level of strategic measures and vision for their talent pool.  They scientifically select their talents and develop them from a long-term perspective.  Such development for a club is rare and commendable.  As a long-term sports science career worker, I examined their physical development – skeletal, joints, physical qualities, developmental rate, and periodical injury checkups – and I gradually watched them grow up.  As the Chinese proverb goes, “It takes ten years to grow trees, but a hundred years to train a man.”  Their success is the result of long-term planning and hard work of the whole team.  The “Twin Towers” are the two advantages of the Dongguan New Century Club.  Especially Li Muhao, he is only few a centimeters short of Yao Ming’s height of 2.36 m, and if he brings his ability and his physical fitness to a higher level, his future is very bright.  As the power forward sitting at the fourth position, Sun Tonglin, is young, smart, and has a passion for this sport; the sky is his limit.  As the cutting-edge strength of the basketball field, they will be a “double-edged sword” not only in China’s basketball arena, but in the world’s basketball arenas, as well.