Yi talk reminds me of a story...

[Gambit99]

The summer before my senior year at Marietta High, we received a tape for head football coach Dexter Woods. It was a tape of this quarterback from Germany, who was shopping Marietta and Warner Robbins to see which school he wanted to play for. The seniors watched the tape to determine if we wanted to help Coach Woods recruit this kid. He was big and could throw, but we all thought that he wasn't all that good due to the talent he was playing against. The kids on the military bases in Europe were small, slow, not that athletic and didn't have the attitude of stateside ballers. We decided we'd help, but didn't think much of the guy.

He shows up during summer training and although he was bigger that all us linebackers, we were convinced that once he gets hit by one of us, it'll be over. That summer/fall we "acceidently" hit him a couple of times and he did ok, but we still weren't impressed.

Our first game was againt a Westminister (private school)...we destroyed them 41-0. We still weren't impressed. It wasn't until we played a true AAAA team that we realized that this guy was the truth. We won our region and he went on to break all High School/College records in GA. His name, Eric Zier.

For semilar stories see: Roy Jones, Larry Holmes and Babe Ruth. These guys played against lesser talents, but their talent was the truth.

Yi's post fade away reminds me of Hakeem/Jordan/Malone. Some guys take years to develope a got to/unstoppable move. His timing will be off until the All-Star Game, but after that he'll be blocking shot like Josh Smith/Camby.

What will make him great is the system he's in and his mental toughness. That why some players are great and others are average. Fan want this player or that, but in the wrong system CP3/Deron are average. Very few players are baller reguardless of system (Jordan, Kobe, Duncan, Shaq, Chamberlin, Russell, Magic, Bird, Kareem, Walton, Hakeem, Labron, Pistol, Dr. J, Nique)...everybody esle needs the right system. They all have to have the right attitude/fight.

Yi's got the talent! If ASG/BK reads this...I'm buying club season tickets if we draft Yi at 3 and a PG at 11.

[DJlaysitup]

Basketball is such an individual game (with only 5 players out there). It's hard to make an analogy. But I'll try a bit.

I remember a few years back when a Russian L.L. all-star team from Moscow came through to play as many American teams as they could to get experience. We (East Marietta Little League) adapted to their schedule (the games hadn't been scheduled that far in advance). My son was an 11 year old catcher but the logical all-star catcher was in FLA on vacation so he got the start. Ours was a "who's around ? all-star team". We beat them 22-2 with probably the 3rd and 6th best pitchers in our league throwing. They had never seen a curveball. Athletically they were just as good (or better) than us...skill-wise they had no chance.

It always makes me wonder about players that haven't faced REAL competition. You never really know.

[KB21]

I think a legitimate comparison of situations relative to the overall talent level that Yi has faced in China would be when the NBA allowed high school kids to enter the draft. When scouting the high school guys, you have to take into account the lack of talent these guys are generally facing on a nightly basis.

I think the same thing works for Yi. The only difference is that Yi is facing older guys in his league and is older than a high school kid.

When scouting and evaluating talent for the big leagues, whether it is the NBA, MLB, or NFL, everything you do is a projection and there is no such thing as a sure thing.