As the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) begins to drift into its final few regular season games, the leading scorer in the league, predictably some would say, is the Zhejiang Bulls, JR Smith (33.8ppg), who has earned himself rave reviews and put up highlight reel stuff on a nightly basis.

Yet, what is equally interesting is that just behind the former Denver player is the Qingdao Eagles’, Lester Hudson,  a late second round pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, who was a bit part player for three teams in two seasons and left the NBA without anyone really noticing, is averaging an impressive  33.3 points per game.

How Hudson can come out here and be a stand-out scorer in the league underlines the quirks of the CBA and how different teams utilize their overseas players. It’s no fluke that Hudson is able to excel at a rate comparable to more highly regarded players like Smith, rather that the former UTM man has found the perfect environment for a player of his type.

Moreover, his success in China not only tells you about how certain players can reinvent themselves here but also how certain CBA teams structure their teams and how this can affect their fortunes in a thirty-four game season.

In the CBA, Hudson is a big deal- he won a championship the previous year with the current powerhouse in Chinese basketball, the Guangdong Tigers, and so can justify a team being structured around him in a similar way to Smith. Not only has Hudson experienced the league before- meaning he is more prepared for the differences in facilities, temperature, refereeing and environments within China- he will also be familiar with the tempo and style of Chinese basketball itself.

As well as being a big deal, Hudson (6’4″, 190 lbs), like Smith (6’6″, 200 lbs), is literally a big player for his position by Chinese standards. There aren’t a lot of Chinese scoring guards who can contest with either of the aforementioned Americans. Equally, both men make three’s and drive to the basket, with the latter being another rarity amongst players in that position in China. This skill set, in a league where defence isn’t a big priority and with teams regularly getting scores in the triple figures (currently eleven of the seventeen sides in the CBA are either scoring or conceding over a hundred points a game) give them substantial advantages within the CBA.

When all of this is added to the fact that both Zhejiang and Qingdao have structured their teams around their scoring guards, it seems almost an inevitable that these two players lead the league in scoring.

Yet scoring titles don’t guarantee championships and the problems facing teams that set themselves up around one player are obvious. Defensively savvy sides in the CBA, or simply ones with competent overseas guards to match up with Smith and Hudson, will look to isolate the two players and force their teammates to keep the scoreboard moving. Zhejiang have the former New Jersey Nets’ swingman Josh Boone to help Smith out when times get tough but Hudson has by and large carried the team himself, making his achievements that little bit more impressive.

Despite the obvious drawbacks, Qingdao and Zhejiang have managed to get by with their predictable offensive set-up and can still make the CBA play-offs in late February. The two sides will meet on February 1st in Yiwu, the home city of the Bulls, although after this, the Eagles have the easier run down the stretch whereas Zhejiang will have to play another four of the sides in playoff contention (Shanghai, Guangsha, Liaoning and Jillin).

When the 2011/12 CBA finishes in March, the fates of the two men could hardly be more different. Smith will arrive back in the States to be the final piece in an NBA contenders playoff run. It’s doubtful that those GMs who miss out on Smith or Wilson Chandler will be queuing up to offer a contract to the twenty-seven year old Hudson, who left the league averaging only 2.1ppg.

More likely then, the only man to have ever picked up a quadruple double in the NCAA will stay overseas and enjoy cameos in one or two overseas leagues before coming back to China the following year. It would be interesting to see if he were to play for a contender again, if he could curtail his free-scoring ways now they’ve been unleashed with the Eagles for a more patient, cooperative role or if he would sign up for smaller side that will make him the offensive fulcrum.

Regardless, for now at least, Hudson is just as much as a star in China as Smith, Chandler or even Stephon Marbury.