Smart decision. Adam Silver talked about how disappointed he was in the lack of Chinese players, letting the best Chinese players in the world play in front of their country should be a positive for the popularity of the game over there.
Yup, and it's not even close. His lateral quickness and perimeter defense would still be a big liability at the 5 spot. Qi's only chance at breaking the rotation is getting strong enough to guard true large centers. As much as I'd like him to be what people think he is, he just isn't. He's in no way a 4, he's in no way an acceptable perimeter defender from what I've seen.
Yeah, he actually tested slower than Kyle Wiltjer at the combine, and he is super uncomfortable defending in space. He would maintain a quickness advantage against a lot of Centers though, which is vital to his success, and good luck muscling a guy with a 7-8 wingspan. At Center he can focus on rim running and finishing with those soft hands of his. If he can be a 15 minute backup C I would be ecstatic. (I do think he has that ability - Those highlights are super encouraging)
This picture is concerning. It takes every muscle in his body at maximum power just to shoot a free throw.
Its not that he's quick, its that he has such an insane reach that other players have to cover a ton of distance to escape his tentacles. Similar to Rudy Gobert in how they really aren't that quick but can still stay within arms reach of their man due to their arm's reach.
You know, when it comes to racism people say, "I don't care if they're black, white, purple, or green...", hold on now. Purple or green? We gotta the line somewhere. To hell with purple people!
Yeah, because Ryan Anderson and Melo are such extremely quick lateral defenders, amirite? He is a big man why are you worried about his perimeter defense? You want him in the paint taking up all the space and preventing drives not switching so he can defend Steph Curry in the perimeter wtf you leave that to super athletic guys like Capela. Not everybody is quick laterally, Joe Chee can make up for that by being over 7 foot tall whereas PJ Tucker is only 6'6. Making him strong enough to guard true centers would break him because his body frame isn't built for that kind of mass just like Yao Ming. Take a step back and think how many of the team's big men last year can defend the perimeter? There is just 1, Clint Capela. Ryan Anderson, Nene and Black certainly couldn't defend the perimeter, and Tucker, Ariza, Luc and Green aren't big men they are SFs.
Qi definitely has the potential to defend C's, but some peeps around here would tell you he can be an NBA level forward. HECKKKKKK NAW...
All bigs having to switch and adequately guard the perimeter is the future of the NBA, hell... it's the damn present. Did you see what Paul and Harden did last season? Now that players are SO good at hitting 3's, switching all picks is a necessity, and it's not something that will go away unless you think 3PT shooting will. Capela IMO, is BARELY quick enough to not be a (big) defensive liability at center when switched IMO. I think any center noticeably slower than Capela doesn't stand a chance defensively and will completely crash most teams defensive systems. It's why great bigs like Rudy and Towns got absolutely clowned by the Rockets. Who said I was a fan of Anderson or Melo's lateral quickness? They are both absolute garbage defensively and crash teams defensive systems. Anderson doesn't stand a chance against 4's and can't play 5 due to his lack of rim protection. It's why he's unplayable against the Warriors and will likely be traded. Nene and Black also were unplayable against the Warriors due to their poor lateral quickness. Melo doesn't stand a chance against 3's, Melo... perhaps can be good enough offensively to slightly outweigh his poor defense against 4's. I think him guarding any offensive oriented 3's will be an absolute nightmare, but at PF he might be able to be not so horrific that his offense can balance it out. I really think Qi's only chance is to gain enough bulk to the point where we can use him situationally against large bigs like we do with Nene (Whiteside, Cousins, Embiid), if he can't gain that type of weight then I doubt he will ever become a rotation player. Because if he isn't being used situationally against bigs like that, I don't see where he's going to have a positive impact. He isn't going to be an offensive star, he has to hold his own on defense. This is what happens when 7'0 use their length when being switched on good shooters. They don't stand a chance, and it's only going to get worse as 3PT shooting keeps growing.
Switching is just 1 defensive style it doesn't mean everybody has to switch. Using the Warriors is a horrible example there are 30 teams in the NBA not all of them have 5 3 pt shooters on the floor in fact the Warriors are the only team like that in the NBA. Just cause you can't be played against the Warriors doesn't mean you are useless already wtf. Gobert and Towns got clowned by the Rockets and you even posted a video of Cp3...what does that have to do with Qi he isn't gonna defend Cp3 in the playoffs. I agree with you the 3 pt shooting isn't going away, but apart from the Rox and GsW no other team features 4+ spacers so there is no need for extreme switching. For majority of the teams 3 pt shooting is still just part of their offense not their main offense and so against those teams space eating and paint blockage is still important. In fact the Rox offense also feature lots of drives to the paint so I would argue paint defense is still important. You shouldn't expect Qi to be the key to GSW, GSW features 5 all stars the key against them is an all star as well not somebody the Rox got in the 2nd round.
I don't see why not we don't know what he can and cannot do at this point we havent even seen him play major mins in an NBA game.
The lateral quickness for big men argument has gone a bit too far. While it is true that it is becoming more of a necessity, we are not yet at the inevitable point in time where the NBA is essentially 5 players all of whom are between 6'6 and 6'9. Today, you have to be able to not be embarrassed on the perimeter, but you also still have to be able to guard a big man. There is still differentiation between wings and C's. Capela is not good at guarding perimeter guys, it's just that he's adequate enough not to be targeted. It's also true that big centers are going out of existence. The position is shrinking in strength, if not height too. Qi should not be as strong as other C's. He should be strong enough not to get abused is all, while maintaining enough agility and preserving the little quickness he has already to catch up when he's beaten and keep his reach high when he's one on one at the rim. To that end, Qi seems excellent at blocking little guys from behind based on the tiny sample size we have. He is tall enough to bother ANYONE inside, even if they try to bully him. What he's missing at the moment is being good at any particular offensive category so that he can take advantage of his unique characteristics. I don't believe that he is any less likely than Kevon Looney or Javale McGee or David West to be a backup C in this league. Getting a backup C in the second round is a win imo. The moment he starts hitting 36% of his 3's, this guy becomes a legit backup in the NBA imo, and the rate at which he is gaining strength is totally adequate. Further, if he starts bringing in more viewership, that will make the organization more financially comfortable, which is a win on its own given we are operating in LT territory. He's just been through 1 year of NBA while being less prepared than even undrafted college players. Language, shelter, bureaucracy, speed, training. Think about how much difference these things made for Yao, who was groomed for the NBA. Qi is no Yao (not by any stretch) but those factors are still likely to have mattered in his development. This is the year we find out if he has the Capelaesque work ethic to develop his strengths and minimize his weaknesses in line with NBA trends. We certainly have the staff to do it, let's see if he wants it bad enough. Nothing thus far has said to me this guy isn't heading for a rotation spot. For me, his disappointing quickness is balanced out by his incredible length. He can make it if he wants it.
