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If the Hawks draft Yi,

Diesel

By Diesel
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Diesel Grand Master

Diesel

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They should hire Del Harris as the new coach.

Harris coached Yi as part of the NT of China.

This is from 2004...

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Since Yi Jianlian came out of nowhere two years ago, his weaknesses have been exposed to the whole basketball world – lack of upper body strength, experience, positioning skills, post offense go-to moves … All of these were magnified in the Nike Hoop Summit this April, thanks to Al Jefferson’s dominating power. It makes people wonder when Yi’s name appeared on the Chinese national team roster. Does China, a team short of power forwards, want to risk their chance for the coveted Olympic playoff run just for developing this 7’ tall skinny kid?

Del Harris doesn’t think so.

The new head coach of Chinese national team understands that Yao Ming is always the man on his team. But he’s also well aware of Yao’s stamina problems and below average explosiveness. Thus, Yao’s ideal front court partner would have to be an athletic freak, a great runner and able to knock down mid-range jumpers to open up space for Yao. As inexperienced as Yi is, he is probably the only one in China that fits those descriptions. Actually China had tried Li Ke (an average athlete) and the short-tempered Mo Ke at the PF position but never felt comfortable with them. Yi is way more talented and worth the experiment.

Harris’s staff designed a very intense special training program for Yi, focusing on explosiveness and upper body strength. It was difficult enough for the NT team rookie to puke (literally) after each session. However, by the time Yao and Bateer reported to the camp, Yi had made enough progress to take the spot of Li Ke, the starting power forward for China at 2003’s Asian Championships. During the following four-nation invitation match (China, Brazil, Canada and Croatia), Yi was awarded with extended playing time and even the opening jump for China.

From underappreciated rookie to Yao Ming’s valued partner, what has changed in Yi’s game? First of all, he’s chiseled his upper body (hasn't bulked up much though), staying at 230 lbs. The strength training has had some effect on his shooting touch. He didn’t look as smooth as before behind the 3-pt line but remained very sharp within 15 ft and at the free throw line. This shouldn’t be a problem once he gets used to the upgraded body. His post offense is still not very efficient, even though he used sound text-book moves. Surprisingly, it is his basketball smarts that stand out.

In the past 2 years, Yi’s well known athleticism has shadowed his intelligence. Let’s not forget, he’d played organized basketball for just 6 months before being drafted by the Guang Dong Hong Yuan Club – a CBA powerhouse team. Coach Harris saw the gem right away. Yi understands his game plan and executes as well as any veteran teammates. Despite his strength disadvantage, Yi never shied away from the contact in the paint. In the recent four-nation invitation game, Yi’s showed great courage and intelligence by getting best inside position at the best time and experienced Yao’s frustration seeing the guards’ inability to pass the ball inside. When he did catch the ball, he attacked the basket with determination and confidence Chinese fans had never seen in him before the national team training camp. He’s also used his speed exceptionally well, running fastbreaks and finishing with highlight reel dunks.

The national team is truly a learning process for Yi. China has always been weak on defensive rebounding.
Harris is trying to build Yi to a Tyson-Chandler type rebounder and gives him a “10RB per game” task. When the 4-nation tournament just started, Yi looked lost when banging with other big bodies fighting for the rebound. But at the last game of the tournament in which Yao sit out, Yi dominated the paint and scored a game-high 26 points.

Talking about defense, Yi has the luxury playing along not only Yao but also Zhu Fangyu and Zhang Jingsong, two best defensive small forwards in Asia. His main contribution is weak side shot blocking. He averaged 2 blocks per game in just 20 mpg. Harris also takes advantage of Yi’s great mobility, using him to set baseline traps and even to put pressure on the ball handler sometimes. Overall Yi did his job pretty well, although made rookie mistakes occasionally. His biggest problem comes when defending Corliss Williams - type strong low post scorer.

In the national team’s locker room, Yi’s got recognition from Harris and Yao. The coaching staff has spent extra time with him going through strength programs and other drills, and increased his mpg steadily. He is already the third best big guy in the team, only behind Yao and Bateer. Chinese NT team wasn’t known as a warm place for rookies but Yi has gained the respect from veterans by dominating practices.

Don’t get me wrong. Yi is in fact much more of a game-time player than a practice player. He seldom gets very excited after finishing a spectacular dunk, but is never afraid of tough competition either. He carries himself with great composure. Even when he’s not the focus point on the team, he takes his time, grab some rebounds, hits a few jumpers and free throws and quietly contributes a double-double to help the team. In the 2005 or 2006 draft, the NBA GMs shouldn’t just look at his athleticism. This kid’s got a total package to prepare him to be a star in the league.

The inevitable question: What’s Yi’s real age? 17 or 19? When the Chinese NT team published their roster a month ago. Yi was list as born at 1984. This news made a lot of noise even in the US media. When questioned by reporters, the director of the NT team, Gong Lumin was quoted “It may be a typo.” and offered no further explanation. It was reported that the NT team has already changed the official roster info and Yi’s 1987 again. Rumors swirl around China that Yi’s birth year can be anywhere from 84 to 86. Some sources claimed that Yi’s parents got married in 1985. Considering having children before marriage was extremely rare in China at the 80’s, Yi must be born at 1985 or later.

The biggest complication is how the NBA will deal with his age. If they determine he is born in 1984, he is then eligible to enter the next (2005) draft, and he will automatically become eligible for the 2006 draft due to turning 22 in that year.

If the NBA determines he's born in 1987, he will have an additional 3 years to decide when to enter the draft, and would not be automatically eligible until the 2009 draft.

Whether or not Yi is actually born in 1984 or 1987, he will likely be a top 5 pick in the draft, and has a legitimate shot to go first whenever he enters the draft.

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gsuteke Rookie

gsuteke

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I hope and pray that Yi can indeed play the post in workouts.

If so we'd still get our PG and Center out of this draft, just not in the order I thought we would.

So in 2004 everyone knew his lack of strength was an issue. He weighted 230 which scares the bejesus out of me considering he's a 7 footer. how much does he weigh now, 3 years after this was exposed as his biggest weakness?

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jerrywest Newbie

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I hope and pray that Yi can indeed play the post in workouts.

If so we'd still get our PG and Center out of this draft, just not in the order I thought we would.

So in 2004 everyone knew his lack of strength was an issue. He weighted 230 which scares the bejesus out of me considering he's a 7 footer. how much does he weigh now, 3 years after this was exposed as his biggest weakness?

I read somewhere its 246 lb. 7'4" wingspan.

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Diesel Grand Master

Diesel

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Right now, he's 246 as of last week.

A lot of the scouting reports about being weak were from 3 yrs ago. I read somewhere about him benching a good number of reps of the 235..

You have to consider he's been doing the same strength and conditioning drills for 3 years...

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gsuteke Rookie

gsuteke

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Right now, he's 246 as of last week.

A lot of the scouting reports about being weak were from 3 yrs ago. I read somewhere about him benching a good number of reps of the 235..

You have to consider he's been doing the same strength and conditioning drills for 3 years...

so in 3 more years he can reasonably be expected to come in at 260 or so. sheez, this guy is light in the pants and that's what's got me worried more than anything. well that and every scouting report I've seen on him says he is a perimeter player.

Marcus Camby is about as wiry as I want my Center to be. I'm going to go look up his height and weight.

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BusBoyIsBack Newbie

BusBoyIsBack

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The fact that Yi is actually listed as larger than Camby and still clearly has a whole lot of room to grow is very encouraging.

Of course this assumes he officially weighs in the 240s which I believe because why would they lie?

So he gets to 260 he will be plenty big enough to hold his own down low and he should retain all of that athleticism.

What a freak of nature he would be.

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thesheedera Newbie

thesheedera

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I'm not so sure Yi needs to bulk up too much. KG's listed as 220 in some places, 253 in others (very odd). I think adding strength would be vital to Yi's success, but no need to bulk him up too much just for the sake of hitting a certain target. He's not a traditional center, he shouldn't have to weigh like one.

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BusBoyIsBack Newbie

BusBoyIsBack

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I'm not so sure Yi needs to bulk up too much. KG's listed as 220 in some places, 253 in others (very odd). I think adding strength would be vital to Yi's success, but no need to bulk him up too much just for the sake of hitting a certain target. He's not a traditional center, he shouldn't have to weigh like one.

Well said. Adding strength is more important than adding pounds.

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BusBoyIsBack Newbie

BusBoyIsBack

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the problem is who is going to play the primary defense between he and Smoove down low outside of getting the cheapy blocks from the weakside?

Those "cheapy blocks" are actually how the Jazz play defense.

It's how the Florida Gators actually played defense.

You have two guys who can compliment each other with weakside shot blocking and it's so much easier than only having one guy who can provide this.

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Sothron Grand Master

Sothron

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We still need someone who can hold his position in the lowpost and offer some kind of lowpost game on the other end for our guys. I'm not convinced Yi can do that but I'm not convinced he can never do that either.

If we did draft Yi and not for another team then there would have to be a trade of at least one of our forwards.

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gsuteke Rookie

gsuteke

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the problem is who is going to play the primary defense between he and Smoove down low outside of getting the cheapy blocks from the weakside?

Those "cheapy blocks" are actually how the Jazz play defense.

It's how the Florida Gators actually played defense.

You have two guys who can compliment each other with weakside shot blocking and it's so much easier than only having one guy who can provide this.

using that logic we should have held onto Al Harrington.
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