The Vegas Summer League has begun, and Yi sounds pretty much like advertised: able to score, has some problems on the defensive end, and is a work in progress.
His box score is perplexing. Team China lost 86-77 to a Memphis team that featured Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry, Alexander Johnson and Mike Conley. Yi started and played 29 minutes, putting up 23 points on 7-15 shooting and going 9-12 from the line. He did not attempt any 3′s. Pretty efficient scoring.
However, the rest of his game was somewhat lacking. No assists or steals, one blocked shot, only 4 rebounds, and SEVEN turnovers. He also committed 7 fouls (summer league play allows 10 fouls). I have my own system of ranking players and that performance, prorated out over a whole season, would rank him between Linas Kleiza and James Jones.
Yi also got posterized a couple of times, by Alexander Johnson and Rudy Gay. At least it was actual NBA players that were punking him.
I’m trying to figure out how disturbing it was that Yi only got 4 boards. On one hand, Memphis shot 55% so there were only 25 missed shots to go after, of which Yi got 3 (1 out of 8 ). That doesn’t sound so bad, but 4 boards in 29 minutes is a rate similar to players like Hedo Turkoglu, Grant Hill and Kyle Korver. Specifically, not power players. However, it was a summer league game, and the rest of the Chinese team might not be all that good. The only other NBA player on China (Zhi Zhi Wang) got 7 rebounds, which led the game. The weakness of Yi’s teammates may also in part explain the turnovers.
All in all, this debut looks good because of the 23 points, but when you look further into the numbers, it sounds like he as a lot of work to do.
2 responses so far ↓
1 The Spin // Jul 7, 2007 at 2:51 pm
I think its a tremendous start for Yi, considering his lack of experience in the American style basketball. The problem is, he also isn’t playing with any Americans on his side. This might pose as an issue shortly down the road, but I don’t see it being too much of a concern for the Bucks.
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2 T.Vincent // Jul 7, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I came away from that Yi viewing extremely optimistic. I saw much more than I was expecting. If indeed the kid is only 19, he has the most polished set of offensive skills in a 7 footer I’ve seen. I saw an 18′ step back jumper off the dribble, a beautiful little turnaround jumper in the post, a jump hook from the post, ability to come off screens as a catch and shoot guy, a wicked quick spin move and dunk in the post, and the ability to catch in traffic and finish strong with dunks! Also he was more physical than I expected and didn’t shy away from contact. Defense and playmaking skills were not great but Yi will be a dynamic pick and roll guy with a good point guard in the nba. Kid is a great looking prospect for the Bucks!!!
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