Come on, this kid plays freaking high school ball in South Korea. There is no way that he can go straight to the NBA and survive. Someone may draft him because of his potentials, but there is no way that he can ever get off the bench. Those European teenagers can come in and play because they have been professional players for years (usually they become pros at 15), but a Korean high schooler who never played against any decent competition? You must be kidding me. I think that this kid should first go over here and play some college ball. Someone may offer him a scholarship simply based on his size. Then we'll know (and he'll know) if he can actually play. Hey, not every tall Asian kid can be Yao Ming.
I have never seen this guy play, but it's way too early to say he's the next Yao Ming. I don't know wtf is wrong with NBA Draft Net, first they predict Yao will be a bust now they predict a SK teen is gonna be the next Yao? Lets assume he does grow a nice boy like Yan AND assume injury doesn't end his career prematurely (which is a pretty big assumption), there are still couple of edges Yao has over him. For starters, Yao is pretty much a basketball prodigy. He's pretty damn smart on and off the court. Even IF this guy gets Yao's skills will he have the smarts? Also, Yao started playing in the CBA since what, when he was 17? He played in the Olympics against the best of the world, he played in the CBA and honed his skills. This kid is 17-18 and is running with a bunch of HS kids. Now he wants to come the the US and big the next big thing right away? I'm making no predictions on whether he will be the next Yao or not, but if he thinks he can just come over and take over then he's dead wrong. Also, last time I checked, China was THE TEAM in Asia despite Yao playing no more than 26 mins a game. When this kid can lead the SK team to knock off China, then we'll talk.
http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/yijianlian.htm The next Yao Ming is Yi Jianlian. Age 16, 6"11' 220lb. He went to ABCD camp and won a spot in All-Star team there. He seems to be a more legit prospect than this Korean giant.
Well. Who else in NBA is as nice as Yao? I just want to say B-ball skillwise, he is a better prospect than this South Korean teen.
By 2008, Maybe China will have some quality guards that can feed Yao the ball. Or some quality guards that can iso all game long. or they could produce two guards that secretly uh, <3.
No comparision. Yao playes in high level games like Olympics and he dominated teams like Yugoslavia, This Kid plays only Korean HS. Forget about this kid..He will fade away
Another interesting (albeit short) article: http://wk.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2003/02/06/200302060006.asp Dude looks HUGE, too...
nbadraft.net is on crack. first they said, in their nba comparison yao ming was the next rik smits. next, i think they compared nachbar to peja stojakovic. wrong they're always wrong. it's like reading one of dick vitale's detailed scouting reports. it's a joke. that being said, this kid won't be close to the player yao ming is. but he does seem to have potential and he'll most likely be better than shawn bradley.
Ok to put his 27 and 10 in perspective... I THINK Shegari Alleyne had a 100 point game and a 50 rebound game against French high school competition. You'd think they'd translate into huge numbers for US, but at camps he was only averaging meager numbers and was seen only has a "prospect." Point is, this Ha guy is probably not even close to being ready and if NBA scouts do not realize this then maybe he plans on taking his 3 years of first round money and run.
NY Times article on Yi Jianlian. Let the hype begins! http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/09/sports/ncaabasketball/09BERK.html International Presence at ABCD Camp By IRA BERKOW HACKENSACK, N.J., July 8 — At one point during a game at a basketball camp with some 250 of the best high school underclassmen to be found here and abroad, the coach waved to one of the players to draw his attention, got it, and went into a half-crouch and rose up a bit. He then drew a finger across his throat. Advertisement The player nodded. It was the signal by the coach, Jason Fawcett, to Yi Jianlian, a 16-year-old from Shenzhen, China, in the only language the two had in common — the universal hand language that meant: "It's not a good idea to do that again." Yi had jumped while going for a fake — he had reached a good height considering that he is 6 feet 11 inches tall — and when he descended he found that the man he was guarding had vanished toward the basket. This was in the 17th annual Adidas ABCD camp in the Rothman Center on the Fairleigh Dickinson University campus. The camp is a three-day showcase of games and is attended by numerous pro and college scouts and coaches eager to check out prospects. Once, pro scouts wouldn't deign to cover high school games. Such an attitude is ancient history. Alumni of the camp include scores of players who have gone on to make their mark beyond these courts, from Kobe Bryant to Allan Houston to Tracy McGrady, who will be speaking to the players Tuesday morning. But only recently have players been invited from outside the United States, mirroring college recruitment and the N.B.A. draft. There were two Chinese players in the N.B.A. this season, both centers, Wang Zhizhi, a 7-footer with Dallas, who was in his second season, and Mengke Bateer, a 6-11 rookie with Denver. There will be another next season — the first pick over all in the recent draft, Yao Ming, a 7-5 center picked by the Houston Rockets. Before Yi's game, George Felton, a scout for the Indiana Pacers, who had seen him play in games in Mannheim, Germany, a few weeks ago, said he liked what he saw. "There is a real upside to his game," Felton said. And what does "upside" mean? "That he has the fundamentals, a soft shooting touch, plays hard and has the potential to learn and improve. Right now, he looks to me like down the road he could be a solid Division I player, and beyond." Yi is only a sophomore while most of the players he played against today were juniors, and most of those he went against around the basket were beefier and stronger. He is not quite as thin as a lamp post, but he's not much thicker either. In his first game in the camp — there will be a total of four games over two days and then an all-star game involving the top 20 underclassmen — Yi seemed out of place at first. Perhaps it was nervousness, perhaps it was limited skills against superior competition, perhaps it was the stomach problems he developed after eating American food — pizza, to be specific. He spent a good part of the morning at a pharmacy, obtaining medicinal help. But he didn't look sick when he was on the court, and later he said he was "O.K." — an American word that is not uncommon in China. He had problems holding on to the ball and did not seem sure-handed. In a timeout, Fawcett told Yi's translator, who stood in the huddle, how to grasp a rebound. He played the pivot and got moved about. More instruction during the timeout. But then Yi began to find himself. He tipped in a rebound, he made a pretty drop-set shot righty, a driving hook left-handed and a neat turnaround jump shot. He also blocked a shot that drew raised eyebrows from the scouts seated in the nearby bleachers. And he began to muscle back when muscled inside. After the game, with his translator at his side, Yi was asked how the game went. "Very good," he said. He has a nice smile, and an appealing self-assurance. What did he need to improve? "Be strong with the ball," he said. Anything else? "Stay down when close to the basket. Don't jump when you don't have to." What are his ambitions? "To play in the N.B.A. It is a dream. Every player in China dreams that." What does he think of Wang? "In China, he played around the basket and was very good," Yi said. "But in the N.B.A. he plays too much outside. Not good." How will Yao Ming do in the N.B.A.? "Better than Zhizhi. He is strong, a good rebounder, a good shooter, and will stay around the basket." His favorite player? "Nowitzki," he said, referring to Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas forward. "He does everything good, and he came from Germany and made himself prominent and learned English good. English is a very hard language." What will he do if he doesn't play pro basketball? "Never think about it," he said. And where will he eat tonight? "We are going to try to find Chinatown," he said.
this guy Yi Jianlian is knocking wang for his lack of inside game, yet his fav. player is Dirk softperimeter nowiski...
Maybe he was saying you should play to your strengths. Wang Zhizhi's strength probably is his inside game because he was a C when he was in China but now he plays more like a PF.
