He is obviously not attempting a lot of shots. His shooting % is 58% for two pointers and 29% for three pointers. If he want stats, I am sure he can jack up 10 more shots a game, oh he plays 32 min per game which is less than what Yao is averaging this season (due to the 40 min per game international rule I think).
So I guess there will be a dabate whether to draft this Yi kid or not at least once a month on this board from now on until he got drafted eventually. Another long debate on drafting this kid in another forum
Have you ever watched Wang play? Wang is no where even close to Yi in term of athleticism, it is like comparing Shawn Bradley to Yao.
Unless your name is Dirk, how many PF/C do you see shooting great from three point line? It is not like he will be the second coming of Reggie. There is a reason he is projected as a lotto and at least a first rounder and Wang was not.
3 pt percentage means very little IMO. If Yi is to be drafted in the first round (much less a lottery pick), we should be able to expect him to be or at least develop into a well-rounded PF. That means he would have to be able to box out opponents, rebound at a decent rate, play defense on bigger and stronger players and find ways to score. He may have all the athleticism in the world and he may be the next young Kemp or Stoudamire, but he won't succeed if he doesn't learn those skills.
If Yi is 19, he's definitely worth a lottery pick. If he's 22, I'm not sure if he should be in round 1 or round 2. Yi is currentyl too weak. He needs more time than Yao to gain muscle, But gaining weight in upperbody may affect his jumpin ability etc.
I'm not sure I agree with this... Age is not the deciding factor IMO. The thing I would pay most attention to is whether or not he has the body frame to add more weight without losing much athleticism, and whether or not he'll be a competent learner in the NBA.
I think age might be the deciding factor for Yi. Yi needs a lot work on his game and strengh. when Yao came in the league, he was much stronger than Yi because of tree trunk legs, and his game was so much advanced than Yi's. And Yao has a size advantage nobody can match. Yet it still took Yao like 4 years to fully adjust. Yi might need at least 6 years to reach his potential, if his potential is good enough and if he's given the chance. When you are young, you get more chance. So 19 will get him there in time. 22 might be too late.
I understand the time issue, but I mean to say that it takes a backseat to whether he has the ability to learn and develop physically into a serviceable PF. I'd rather have a 22 year old that can develop into something good instead of taking a 19 year old that'll be useless throughout his career. Before the drafting high schooler craze, there were plenty of project players that developed just fine. If he has the aptitude, I'm sure he will too.
I'd rather have a 22 year old that can develop into something good instead of taking a 19 year old that'll be useless throughout his career too. Heck, I'd take a 25 year old that can develop than a 19 year old who can't. But in reality, you don't know who is going to pan out, but the younger the player is, the better chance he gets, because it's harder to change when a person gets older. Being 3 years younger is a part of potential.
The Guangdong team starts two other CNT members (Du Feng, Zhu Fangyu) who are vets of international and CBA competition and thus those vets probably get lots of touches touches just because of Yi's rawness and their experience. I remember when Yi was all the rage leading up to the 2004 Olympics, and he sucked horribly there. Del Harris had to bench him b/c he was just not playing well at all. Maybe he's gotten better since then. I certainly hope he has; his athleticism for his size is special anywhere. A high projection is KG (not saying he's this good, this is a high projection). Hopefully he'll land in a good situation where he gets minutes and has a chance to develop immediately, not like Darko or J. O'Neal. If the Rockets draft him I think he has a chance to be their PF of the future based on potential. Of course we could say the same about Stro, but he's had 5 years in the NBA and ample opportunity to develop, so it's harder to make the same claim.
It's a no-brainer to take this guy at 32 or 33. He's probably going first round. He's 22 in NBAdraft.net's latest mock. He's not ideal for us but he appears to be a "range shooting 4" that JVG wants. If we could potentially address that need with a 2nd rounder you have to do it.
I don't know if he is qualified for "range shooting 4". After all, he's 57% with so many dunks, and his 3pt percentage is 29% with the 3 point line one foot closer to the rim than NBA. He's a athletic guy, not jump shooting guy. That range thing is hyped up.
