Post by Lebron23 on Apr 28, 2007 22:52:46 GMT -5
Yi at 19 is alot better than Yao at 19
It’s not easy to picture the areas in which Yi has developed his game. Actually, there’s not any dramatic change in any of his strengths or flaws. His averages, for example, have evolved pretty steadily from the past season, going from 20.5 to 24.8 points and 9.7 to 11.4 rebounds.
Perhaps his shooting stroke has emerged as his best weapon when thinking about a NBA future. It could become both a way to take advantage of the open looks generated by his teammates, as well as the easiest resource to create his own shot. Yi shows growing consistency knocking down jumpers from the mid-range area. He enjoys nice mechanics and elevation releasing his shot, which makes it quite difficult to stop, and even you can eventually see him stepping back and shooting off the dribble while creating separation from his defender. Still the foundation of his ability to create his own shot mainly rests in his turnaround jumper and with an occasional fade-away move. He becomes almost unstoppable in this fashion, particularly when you consider his size and athleticism. Actually, this is a rather usual way of finishing low post situations for him. His free-throw percentages reflect his increased accuracy pretty well, as he’s hitting close to the 80% mark, which is pretty remarkable for a 7-footer. This shooting stroke will likely be translated easily to the NBA and could become quite helpful in order to play the power forward position there.
If we talk about the center position, Yi enjoys a nice frame and he’s relatively strong for his age, but still suffers noticeably against more physical rivals. Indeed, perhaps the main reason why Guangdong lost both games versus Jiangsu was Yi’s inability to properly challenge Tang Zhendong’s dominance in the paint-- even if he made Tang pay for his lack of quickness with perimeter shots and some slashing moves-- as he was regularly outmuscled by the strong center on both ends of the court. In the low post on the offensive end, Yi offers little else than the aforementioned turnaround jumper whenever he faces serious competition. His low-post moves are very simple and his semi-hook shots still a work in progress. When he faces inferior competition, he usually just turns around, easily gets off his feet, and puts the ball in the net over his rival. Meanwhile, he often fails to get a high enough arch on his hook shots when he needs to, particularly if the rival is being physical with him, so it becomes a difficult task to release the ball over bigger defenders. However, he displays a decent soft touch with his right hand, although he struggles quite a bit with his left.
Still in the low post, Yi can put the ball on the floor trying to take the baseline and look for a reverse layup, although he often gets out of control in the process. To be more productive off the dribble, Yi needs to take his matchup further from the basket and enjoy spaces to attack him without drawing defensive rotations, as his ball-handling skills are not anything more than average at this point. On defense, it’s all a matter of strength. He has the physical-athletic gifts to dominate most of the CBA competition, but he can be pushed around by guys like Zhendong. Besides, we still don’t see a proper team-oriented defense, as he persists in going after blocks instead of focusing on stopping his rival, which he would easily be able to do on a regular basis thanks to his mobility and lateral quickness. On the other hand, he looks a bit more physical than last season in his match-ups.
Whenever Yi makes it to the NBA, we will likely see him much more active playing without the ball than he looks now. As the centerpiece of the Tigers, he’s often the first offensive option, asking for the ball to start the offense through him. Actually, his most usual move is to gain position in the low post. But Yi enjoys terrific potential as a pick-and-roll finisher. With his length and athleticism, he would be really difficult to stop once he received in motion after setting the pick and heading towards the basket.
With the CBA allowing Yi to enter the NBA draft and the Chinese big showing improvement –even reaching the 40-point mark twice in January-- he will have a legit chance of making the lottery in June. The CBA playoffs, and especially the hypothetical Finals against Tang’s Jiangsu, will help to clarify his stock. Even more important could be the private workout process, but we’re yet to know which strategy him and his American agent Dan Fegan will take, although let’s remember that a different caliber of player, Yao Ming, settled for a lone workout shared by all NBA teams. Anyway, weighing Yi’s characteristics, it won’t be easy to see him falling out of the top half of the first round. After all, it’s not every day you find big guys with his athleticism and skills. At this point, chances are some NBA team will indeed play the Chinese lottery.
Yi will have easy time destroying stiffs like Andrew Bogut and Andrea Bargnani. :no:
Source: www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=1863
It’s not easy to picture the areas in which Yi has developed his game. Actually, there’s not any dramatic change in any of his strengths or flaws. His averages, for example, have evolved pretty steadily from the past season, going from 20.5 to 24.8 points and 9.7 to 11.4 rebounds.
Perhaps his shooting stroke has emerged as his best weapon when thinking about a NBA future. It could become both a way to take advantage of the open looks generated by his teammates, as well as the easiest resource to create his own shot. Yi shows growing consistency knocking down jumpers from the mid-range area. He enjoys nice mechanics and elevation releasing his shot, which makes it quite difficult to stop, and even you can eventually see him stepping back and shooting off the dribble while creating separation from his defender. Still the foundation of his ability to create his own shot mainly rests in his turnaround jumper and with an occasional fade-away move. He becomes almost unstoppable in this fashion, particularly when you consider his size and athleticism. Actually, this is a rather usual way of finishing low post situations for him. His free-throw percentages reflect his increased accuracy pretty well, as he’s hitting close to the 80% mark, which is pretty remarkable for a 7-footer. This shooting stroke will likely be translated easily to the NBA and could become quite helpful in order to play the power forward position there.
If we talk about the center position, Yi enjoys a nice frame and he’s relatively strong for his age, but still suffers noticeably against more physical rivals. Indeed, perhaps the main reason why Guangdong lost both games versus Jiangsu was Yi’s inability to properly challenge Tang Zhendong’s dominance in the paint-- even if he made Tang pay for his lack of quickness with perimeter shots and some slashing moves-- as he was regularly outmuscled by the strong center on both ends of the court. In the low post on the offensive end, Yi offers little else than the aforementioned turnaround jumper whenever he faces serious competition. His low-post moves are very simple and his semi-hook shots still a work in progress. When he faces inferior competition, he usually just turns around, easily gets off his feet, and puts the ball in the net over his rival. Meanwhile, he often fails to get a high enough arch on his hook shots when he needs to, particularly if the rival is being physical with him, so it becomes a difficult task to release the ball over bigger defenders. However, he displays a decent soft touch with his right hand, although he struggles quite a bit with his left.
Still in the low post, Yi can put the ball on the floor trying to take the baseline and look for a reverse layup, although he often gets out of control in the process. To be more productive off the dribble, Yi needs to take his matchup further from the basket and enjoy spaces to attack him without drawing defensive rotations, as his ball-handling skills are not anything more than average at this point. On defense, it’s all a matter of strength. He has the physical-athletic gifts to dominate most of the CBA competition, but he can be pushed around by guys like Zhendong. Besides, we still don’t see a proper team-oriented defense, as he persists in going after blocks instead of focusing on stopping his rival, which he would easily be able to do on a regular basis thanks to his mobility and lateral quickness. On the other hand, he looks a bit more physical than last season in his match-ups.
Whenever Yi makes it to the NBA, we will likely see him much more active playing without the ball than he looks now. As the centerpiece of the Tigers, he’s often the first offensive option, asking for the ball to start the offense through him. Actually, his most usual move is to gain position in the low post. But Yi enjoys terrific potential as a pick-and-roll finisher. With his length and athleticism, he would be really difficult to stop once he received in motion after setting the pick and heading towards the basket.
With the CBA allowing Yi to enter the NBA draft and the Chinese big showing improvement –even reaching the 40-point mark twice in January-- he will have a legit chance of making the lottery in June. The CBA playoffs, and especially the hypothetical Finals against Tang’s Jiangsu, will help to clarify his stock. Even more important could be the private workout process, but we’re yet to know which strategy him and his American agent Dan Fegan will take, although let’s remember that a different caliber of player, Yao Ming, settled for a lone workout shared by all NBA teams. Anyway, weighing Yi’s characteristics, it won’t be easy to see him falling out of the top half of the first round. After all, it’s not every day you find big guys with his athleticism and skills. At this point, chances are some NBA team will indeed play the Chinese lottery.
Yi will have easy time destroying stiffs like Andrew Bogut and Andrea Bargnani. :no:
Source: www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=1863