Please delete if this is an inappropriate post, or if this question has been posted before. With that said: Does anyone believe that many, or for that matter any, of the future basketball players from China will be taken in the high first round of future NBA drafts? Yes or no, and Why? I honestly cannot rule out that no other player from China will be taken as a high pick in the draft. But the idea that there is a huge learning curve needed to adjust to NBA play (I say this because most articles and statements I read give the impression that since he is from China and has had such a different upbringing that development may be more challenging/time consuming). And another possibilty is that the CNT may place similar guidlines/restrictions on its players as it has with Yao to play for them in the off-season just makes me wonder if other teams would be willing to risk all of the time and development. I also understand that ANY player goes through a learning curve, but in a way I feel that Yao is different, the expectations seem different, especially because he is the first Chinese player to get the kind of attention he has received and that he has such a huge weight on his shoulders from everyone that has a vested interest in him. Lastly I would just like to add that I am gald that Yao is on the Rockets, but I would prefer if he could have time off to rest his body and work on new basketball techniques that would obviously help improve his game, improve the Rockets, and help his country in the '08 olympics.
Exactly. Yao is the only chinese player that was selected in the 1st round (I think), Wang and Bateer were low picks. But if a player is good enough and there is enough potential, then they will take him.
Wang was drafted second round, Bateer was undrafted and signed as a free agent. I think teams will hesitate in taking a chinese player with all these strings attached, unless the player is a Yao type talent which is worthy.
After Hakeem was drafted, people thought Africa would be this huge untapped resource in which they could find talent. The problem with that was that Africa is predominantly a very poor country and there is very little organized basketball there. After scouts scoured Africa looking for the next Hakeem, all we really walked away with was Manute Bol, Yinka Dare and the Cookie Monster (and yes, I want to sex Mutumbo). China, however, is a very different story. China takes sports very seriously and has a system in place to support their players development. China has schools for potential athletes in which they put as much emphasis (or more) on athletic training as they do on education. These schools are scattered across the country. Yes, the basketball being played in China is different. Their mentality is different. Yes, there is a huge learning curve when they make the jump to the NBA. However, when European players first came to the league we saw much of the same thing. Yet, more and more, we're seeing Europeans make the transition relatively easily. If you watch olympic basketball, this comes as no surprise. The rest of the world is getting better and better. China is still a bit behind many other countries, but they are making progress and as hard as they work, they'll continue to make progress. Things like the hiring of Del Harris to work with their olympic team should help speed up the process. Sure, seeing Yao go back to China every offseason sucks for us and it sucks for the Rockets, no doubt, but do you think they have any right to complain? Yao makes us a better team, he does everything he's asked to do, and on the business end of things, he's turned the Rockets into one of the most marketable teams in the world. (Adding Tracy McGrady didn't hurt either) So yeah, undoubtedly we're going to see more and more Chinese players drafted in years to come. Perhaps few will go as high as Yao, but only one player a year goes as high as Yao anyway. In the end, the teams pick the best players available to fill their needs, and as Pharrell said, "It ain't where you been, but where you're bout' to go." Well, he said something like that anyway. Right before he said something about sweet, nasty, gushy stuff... So I guess take that for what it's worth.
i can't remember his name, but china has that small forward that is pretty good i heard, his name came up alot during the games last yr....
Yup, Yi Jian Lian is going to be the next Chinese first rounder. Even YM himself says that Yi Jian Lian is going to be better than him. I think he is 6'9 or 7'0 and is alot more versatile then YM, more hops, passing etc etc.
Except for the fact that agile, and athletic 6'10"- 7'0" footers are a dollar a dozen in the NBA (Swift, Kwame, Chandler, KG, Amare, Bosh, Gasol etc.) Not plentiful, but not completely rare either. But a 7'6" 310 lb monster with a big base and skills? Yi would have to bring a lot to the table, to be better than Yao.
Yi sucks big time! I watched this guy play many times during the Olympics and the CBA finals. The guy can't play! He has no shot, doesn't go for the boards, and can't defend. Guys like Lampe and Skitishvili would eat him alive. I doubt he has a chance to play in the NBA. He's still young though. But I don't think he has any future from what I saw.
Maybe he's just hiding his skills, you know how sneaky asians can be. Alot of people said YM would be a bust.....
You are right. They are plentiful. So much so in fact that they fill up the top of the NBA efficiency ratings every year.
I don't know what you're trying to say. I wasn't dissing Yi. I just said that he would have to bring a lot more than athleticism to be better than Yao. Out of the people I listed, only KG is far and away better than Yao and while Amare has developed into a very productive offensive player, I'd still take Yao and his improving defense over him. I'd easily take Yao over everyone else I mentioned, so Yi will have a tough time following Yao's footsteps.
I looked at the efficiency ratings per 48 a couple of year back,when I knew even less than I did now, to try and establish what characteristics made the best players in the league, and came up exactly with the answer 6'10-7'0 and athletic. [the rankings are now dominated by 6'6-6'8 guys for all I know]. So that fact that you said that was all he was amused me a little bit. Thats all. [I also understand that taller dudes are rare, athletic or not, and that that may be the main reason they do not dominate the rankings].
To be fair to Yi, his team doesn't feature him enough on offense. The guards are ball hogs on his team. Plus, they don't have a system past pick and rolls. So the guards tend to jack up a shot within 5 seconds past the halfcourt. With that said, Yi doesn't seem to be a lottery pick at this stage. His offense is obscured and underdeveloped on his current team. He has no reliable post game. His jumpers can be sweet at times though. His defense isn't that impressive either with exception of blocking some shots against the unathletic CBA players. Still, with his nice length and agility, if he can further develop his shot and bulk up more, he can be a NBA prospect. As long as comparing to Yao, I don't Yi has anything on Yao now, nor in the future.
