i also checked ahead to next year to see what we were projected to get with the bulls pick and look what i found
Yi Jianlian
Birthdate: 10/27/84-7
NBA Position: SF/PF
Ht: 7-0
Wt: 230
Int Team: Guangdong Tigers
Hometown: Shenzhen, China
College: Guangdong University of Technology
High School: The Athlete's School of Shen Zhen City
Strengths: Unlike other Chinese big men like Yao Ming or Wang Zhizhi, Yi is extremely athletic ... very good body type, long arms and big hands ... hasn't stopped growing yet, is projected to reach 7-2 ... great stamina ... nice ball handler and passer, some say he's able to play all 5 positions ... he has great speed at running the floor, jumps really quick and can dunk 360s ... amazing rebounder, anticipates well ... great defender, excellent shot blocker ... left hander with decent range ... develops more and more low post skills, like a jump hook ... intelligent player, knows how to use his physics ... battled fellow Draft prospect Ha Seung-Jin to a standstill, although Ha has almost three years, three inches and 70 pounds on Yi ... at the age of 15 he literally dominates 18-19 years old players, as he did at the Junior World Championships in Greece ... if you think of how good he'll be by the time he enters the NBA Draft (likely 2006 or later), it's hard to image he'd be something other than the first pick overall
Weaknesses: Still raw, because he didn't play organized basketball till the age of 13 ... has to learn the fundamentals of the game ... unpolished yet, especially on the offensive end ... needs to refine his post moves ... too thin to hold a place in the paint, needs to develop muscles ... questions about his real age, some say he was born in 1985
-Stefan Lorenz
Notes: He played at the U18 Tournament in Mannheim, Germany and averaged 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks mostly against players who are 3 years older than him. Dominated again at the U19 World Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece with 18.9 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
Made his first game in the CBA in December 2002, becoming the youngest player to ever player in Chinas highest league. Played only few minutes for Chinas top-team Guangdong, earned CBA Rookie of the Year honors, though.
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His team Guangdong Hongyuan used to train him as a guard when he was not very tall, so he has very good ball handling skill and shooting touch for his size. Superb body coordination ... very good 1-on-1 player. Probably the best leaper in China, can throw down wind-mill dunks easily. His style is a lot like KG's. He has played both PF and Center position in the CBA. A very good shot blocker, he swats the ball hard enough to make the fans crazy. When playing a bigger defender, he's able to dribble, spin, and out quick his defender. He can also back down weaker opponents, although he's usually one of the skinniest guys on the court. He also has the potential to play at SF position but might have problems staying with quick American perimeter players.
-Scouting Report from Xiang Long translated by Shawn
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He is a good athlete with the right size, and shows soft touch and also silky moves playing on the outside. He just has to add weight. He is able to make several leaps in a few seconds and watching him practice, Yi shows the ability to hit a pull up mid range jumper as well as from the long distance. He is only fifteen years old, and there is a long way till the NBA, but he is guy to follow in the future.
-Romano Pettiti
Articles:
The Next Yao Ming?
Chinese player eyes big future
China start to develop next Yao Ming
Yi jumps to Great Heights
Yi no Yao, but ABCD has Chinese flavor
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- translated by BasketballBoards.net member Tattoo - (Original Chinese article: Sina Online)
Jianlian might become the next Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming. Yi went to ABCD Camp in the US. This was not his first trip to the US. He was with the Chinese youth national team in the US last year. Because of an injury to a Chinese teammate and the Europeans not coming, Yi was the only non-American player at ABCD camp out 246 players. Several other Chinese players went to the ABCD camp before. In his first game in camp, Yi could not adjust to the game. He scored 1 point at the half. The coach was angry. By 2nd half, he scored 6 points. After 4 days at camp, he was selected to the All-Star game. His average at camp was 5.2 rebounds per game, 6.7 pts. He was ranked 5th in the entire camp.
In the All-Star game, he scored 8 pts (4 for 9) and 5 rebounds. An assistant coach form Phoenix Suns said that Yi is good enough for top level NCAA teams. During his stay in the US, everybody thought that he was Yao Ming. It mentioned all the flight attendents thought he was Yao Ming and treated him very well. A camper at ABCD asked him whether he was Yao Ming. After that, everyone at ABCD called him "Ming". An old official at ABCD camp liked him very much and gave him an English name "Sunny".
Yi was discovered in the summer of 1999. He entered a 3-on-3 tournament in Shenzhen with his friends. His team lost in the 1st round, but he was spotted by a coach named Dai. So Coach Dai approached Yi's parents and discovered he came from a family of athletes. Both parents were handball players. His mother was called into the training camp for the Chinese National team. The parents are 1.92 meter and 1.72 meter in height. Their parents were both athletes so they did not want their son to grew up to be one. They explained "hardship" as the reason. Until he was spotted by Coach Dai, Yi's father did not expect his son to be taller than 1.95 meter, and he thought his son was not good enough. Education was the number one priorty for them. Both parents had retired to become postal workers. They had played Amateur basketball for their unit team. They always took their son along.
In 1999, Yi joined the sports academy in Shenzhen with the help of Coach Dai. He trained there for a year. In 2000, Yi as a 13 years old, joined a youth team. Then, the national youth team head coach spotted him only a month after he joined the youth club. He began to train with the national youth team. The national team caoch said that he was better than Wang Zhizhi at the same age. Yi did not showcase his talents until a Beijing camp last Spring. They was a scout for players to be sent to ABCD camp. Yi did a 360 degree dunk on the Slam Dunk contest.
The coach said that he improved after ABCD camp. Before the US, a teammate named Tong (the same one who missed the ABCD camp) used to beat him all the same. Yi could not dominate shorter players. After the US trip, he gained confidence. His coach said that Yi would be best at power forward. His footsteps and his turns are not bad, and his shot is good. The next two years will be important for Yi. Yi has not played many real games. He's only played at the All-China youth league. The coach said Yi was unimpressive.
Yi does not know when he will play for his club team in the CBA. But he will try his best. In the meantime, his father says that Yi watches NBA on TV. He copies the moves by NBA players. With Tim Duncan being his favorite player. Yi prefers to keep the immediate task at hand which is improving every day and said that he has no big goal for the future. Although, he aspires to be on the 2008 Chinese Olympic team.
GOD IF THIS KID BULKS UP HE WILL BE UNSTOPPLABLE, AND HE MIGHT FALL INTO OUR LAPS!!!!!
4/25/2006 3:26 PM
