Chinese Officials: Xue Not Quite Ready

Chinese basketball officials said Denver Nugget prospect Xue Yuyang is not ready for the NBA and will not be allowed to play in the U.S. next season.

“It’s an internal matter that we are going to work through the proper channels to resolve,” Nugget spokesman Tommy Sheppard said.

The 7-foot Xue was drafted 57th overall by the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, then traded to the Nuggets for a second-round pick in 2004.

In a statement appearing in Chinese newspapers, the Chinese Basketball Assn. said Xue wasn’t ready for the NBA and his participation in the draft violated regulations.

“Xue Yuyang’s selection shows China’s own-trained athletes have received international recognition and is a good thing,” the statement said.

But it added that Xue needed to “train with the national team, play in international competitions, build up experience, improve his skills and strengthen himself physically for the grueling competition of the NBA.

“When conditions are ripe, the Chinese Basketball Association will support him to go play in the NBA.”

The statement said Xue’s agents violated notification rules in declaring him eligible for the draft but didn’t say if anyone would be punished.

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Mickael Pietrus likes the ring of his new team’s name: the Warriors.

“I like the combative aspect. Warrior -- it suits me pretty well,” the Golden State draft pick said in an interview published Saturday.

The 6-foot-6 French swingman was among a record 21 international players chosen in the NBA draft, going 11th to the Golden State Warriors.

Pietrus expects life in the NBA will, initially at least, be tough.

“The Americans will be waiting for us,” he said in the interview with the French sports newspaper L’Equipe. “But I’m going to do my utmost to be a complete player and become an All-Star in two years.

“I’m going to have to be mentally strong because I’m going to be playing in the Western Conference, with the challenge every night of Kobe Bryant, [Michael] Finley or [Peja] Stojakovic,” he said.