I don't care how much weight he has to gain, he still should come over and play now. Go through summer league and get a chance to compete right away. None of this draft and stash foolishness.
Don't know too much about Zhou Qi, but I actually like this pick!! He's only 20 yo. He will definitely need to gain some muscle mass to hold his own in the NBA, but he has a lot of potential. Great footwork and skill for a big his size and a nice outside shot. He could turn into a really, really solid player!!
Guess you guys like to see this. btw, Ainge talk about him at the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiTDST24Sy4
I really dont' like Qi at all. He is soft, can't play defence (unless ofc it's compared to the chinese league standards where defence is just a word in the dictionary), he is very thin and has a bad frame. And most importantly he is 4 years older. Supposedly he enrolled in a school for 13 year old when he was 9. That's the explanation that the chinese officials gave when his teammates brought this to light lately. That they gave him a special permission. Complete BS.
I combined all of the draft combine results into one picture with Zhou Qi and Chinanu Onuaku highlighted. http://imgur.com/Zquey2A source Zhou Qi has some great physical stats as well as athleticism stats. He has a ridiculous wingspan at 7'7.25" and a standing reach of 9'4.5", both are tops for the combine. His athleticism stats are also generally very good. His standing vertical leap of 31.5" is 4 inches higher than Onuaku's (0.5" less than Thon Maker, same as Andre Drummond at the combine). His max vertical leap is less impressive though at only 32". His lane agility and shuttle run times are both pretty decent as well. I think ZQ has all of the physical tools to be a good weakside shot blocker in this league. I will be curious on seeing how he plays against international competition this summer.
So I've done a reading of some of the analysts grading the draft, and NONE of them mentioned the Rockets picking this dude as a Le$ move. In fact Draft Express had him at 36 and mentioned that some teams were looking at him mid to late first round, guess all these other teams be needing that Chinese money hmmm? Zhou Qi looks like a fantastic prospect even if you disregard the Chinese connection, according to several sources he is at the top of draft models considering his height, bball IQ, mobility and offensive skills. The reality is, talent and athletic ability requirement severely drops the taller you become, at 7'2 all this dude really needs to do is to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time and he'll be fine. Maybe he is soft and needs to add muscle, well at the end of the day he is just a late 2nd round pick, are you expecting Brandon Ingram quality at pick 43? The "age" debate is useless, age is really only a factor because people think if a dude is 18 then maybe he can still grow a couple more inches. But this dude is already 7'2 you actually don't want him to grow anymore because then he might be too tall to add muscle, the taller you are the more dangerous it is to add weight because the stress on your body becomes greater due to gravity. It might actually be preferable for him to already be 24 because he'll be mature enough to learn how to play at the NBA level, I don't have the patience to see a guy fumble around for 5 years. Obv, the Chinese connection makes taking him better for Le$ but its not the only factor for taking him, its more like the whipped cream on your frappe you like having it but you bought the drink for the coffee. I think people are just pissed Demetrius Jackson slipped all the way to the end of the draft and the Rox didn't take him. Well tbh Jackson could turn out to be a superstar but considering every team passed on him and he was already a junior its highly unlikely so I'm not too worried about him. We also still have Bev and just signed Gary Payton II so its likely there would be a glut at that spot if we had taken him.
What a racist Btw Nate Robinson is 1/8 Asian, Jordan Clarkson is 1/2 Asian and Jeremy Lin is 100% Asian.
I think if you want to pull the draft model card, you should also factor in that "age" played a crucial role in their calculations. Zhou's frame and age were the main reasons not being picked in the first round.
i'd like to see what dawson can do with this kid, plus that south texas diet. He should be up to 240lbs by next week.