I remember seeing Splitter in WC and he was outplaying yao in some moments. I had the man crush right there and from that moment ive been dreaming about our second twin tower with 2 international players in Yao + Splitter. He was even better than Varejao in WC and i saw in some mock drafts that he was going to be picked around 22-25 and that made me think maybe we could get him.
his stock has peaked because people think that he's reached his potential... I think he'd be a solid role player.
I dont care about his potential. He will never be a superstar but a PJ Brown kind of player. Im fine with 10 points and 9-10 rebounds with some good defense. His potential is low because his best asset is his defense. same reason why justin williams wasnt even drafted and signed months later, because his offense isnt the best.
10points 10boards? dude, you're looking at a 10mil/year guy now... easy man. keep ya expectations low. i'd be so happy just for a 5/5/1 guy...
I remember he pulled out of the last draft. Before he did, the draft projections I remember had him in the top 10. He won't be available when we pick.
Yes, he's pulled out the last 3 years, but he's automatically entered this year and has to stay in. He supposedly has some buyout issues too. No telling where he goes in the draft. He's one of those guys that some scouts love and others are totally indifferent to (from what I've read). From what I've seen, I like him.
China didn't play Brazil in the WC. Brazil had a first round exit. Splitter scored well for Brazil, but didn't rebound too much. Yao 25.3pts 9rebs 2.3blks 32.3mins Splitter 16.4pts 6.7rebs 0.6blks 33.3mins Yi Jianlian 6.2pts 5.7rebs 1.3blks 17.7mins I don't think he has too much upside.
You are right. Splitter did outplay Yao in that exhibition game. But that was Yao's 2nd game coming back from the injury. Yao had 8 TOs in the game. He was really rusty. Splitter 18/6, Yao 16/6, Yi Jianlian 19/12, Varejao 12/8.
He's contracted with TAU until 2008. Buyout issues shouldn't be as big a problem as it was in the past.
He's already clearly better than Varejao, bigs are rare to find so he could end up being alottery pick although he is not as good imo.
