Why do you hate Yi?

[bigbreakfast]

Whether or not Yi will be good in the future aside, it's troubling that you've been on several different team forums bashing him. Do you go to team team forums looking for Yi threads to poop on? He's not the first or last foreign or domestic big man to receive alot of hype, but I don't see you talking **** about every single one of them except Yi. Makes one wonder if you really hate his game or you just hate him. To be honest, kinda petty...

I say this thread has lived its useful life. He's entitled to his opinions, and if he really does just hate Yi, that's fine too. Dragging this thread out only serves to help him troll more.
/thread

[Duncanfan]

I don't see much improvements from Yi in the future except for a couple of tweaks here and there.. You can't change a player's overall game, ESPECIALLY when the player is almost 25 yrs old. Its just like Raptors' Bargnani, no matter how much Sam Mitchell stays on Bargnani's ass to rebound, box out and play in the post, the guy just doesn't do it, its just the makeup of his overall game and thats who he is.

As for the Rasheed Wallace comparison, its apt in a way that their offensive game revolves around jumpers BUT Rasheed does have a turnaround jumper in the post which is almost impossible to defend due to sheed's high release point. Yi on the other hand, lacks physical strength to back his man down in the post and shoot a turn around J. Sure he weighs good enough for a PF, but weight is not always the best indicator of strength, if that was the case, Eddie Curry would probably be the most dominant player in the league at this moment.

Yi will be an OK player, but nothing great IMO.

[okanoho]

You would probably look strange trying to bash a chef on a basketball forum.

everybody knows "it" wasn't a chef
you changed it right after my post

[Tang_Man]

I am not going to disagree with any one that Yi hasn't showed he can play in the post in the NBA. However the NBA isn't the only basketball that's being played. I've already said, Yi is good post player at international level. People should watch him during this summer's Olympics and to see if he can do more than just shoot outside jumpers before making ignorant comments. While he has yet to translate the skills he display at international level in the NBA, the skills are there. He just needs to get used to the physical nature of the game in the NBA and needs a team to give him the opportunity to get consistent experience at playing in the post. The Bucks used him as a pick and pop guy. The people who continually claimed they 'watched' the Bucks will know that. He also had a couple of decent games before he got his season ending injury. He had 11 points, 7 rebounds against the Magic March 28th and follow that with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks against the Bulls a night later.

Again Yi is not going to be a superstar simply because he is now traded to the Nets. He will need to work pretty hard on developing his game and hope the Nets show patience and give him the opportunity to develop the right way. As for the comparison with Bargnani, I have not seen much of the guy outside the NBA. Did he play in the post in Euroleague and for the Italian national team? I don't know. What I do know is that Yi plays primarily in the post in China and for the Chinese national team and does it quite well. Again it's just a matter for him to translate those skill to the NBA.

On side note, Andrew Bynum was blasted by Kobe Byrant last summer for not living up to his potential. Based on what everyone saw of Bynum before this season, did anybody thought Bynum could develop into a really good big man that before his injury was borderline all star selection? Players improve if they want it badly enough and are willing to make the sacrifices to get there. If the player has no work ethic then yes, what you see now is what you're going to get.

[okanoho]

Whether or not Yi will be good in the future aside, it's troubling that you've been on several different team forums bashing him. Do you go to team team forums looking for Yi threads to poop on? He's not the first or last foreign or domestic big man to receive alot of hype, but I don't see you talking **** about every single one of them except Yi. Makes one wonder if you really hate his game or you just hate him. To be honest, kinda petty...

I say this thread has lived its useful life. He's entitled to his opinions, and if he really does just hate Yi, that's fine too. Dragging this thread out only serves to help him troll more.
/thread

you are so damn right

MOD, can you lock this please

[Tang_Man]

I don't see much improvements from Yi in the future except for a couple of tweaks here and there.. You can't change a player's overall game, ESPECIALLY when the player is almost 25 yrs old. Its just like Raptors' Bargnani, no matter how much Sam Mitchell stays on Bargnani's ass to rebound, box out and play in the post, the guy just doesn't do it, its just the makeup of his overall game and thats who he is.

As for the Rasheed Wallace comparison, its apt in a way that their offensive game revolves around jumpers BUT Rasheed does have a turnaround jumper in the post which is almost impossible to defend due to sheed's high release point. Yi on the other hand, lacks physical strength to back his man down in the post and shoot a turn around J. Sure he weighs good enough for a PF, but weight is not always the best indicator of strength, if that was the case, Eddie Curry would probably be the most dominant player in the league at this moment.

Yi will be an OK player, but nothing great IMO.

Man, I swear to god Yi must be living by a different calendar to the rest of us. One day he is 23, the next he is 24, the day after that he is 25. Going at this rate by the start of the season Yi's age will be 100+. He will surely go into the record books as the oldest living person ever.

Getting back to basketball, players with good work ethics will continue to improve into their early 30's. So even if Yi is 25 like you think he is (he could well be 26 by the time you reply to this post ) He's still got a good 5 - 6 years in him.

Also strength ISN'T the best indicator of the most dominant player in the league. If it were they would just get in all the guys in the world's strongest man competition to play in the NBA.

[Tang_Man]

Honestly people, just watch the guy. He can't play! Its really simple. I don't hate him, I just don't understand how people love this guy so much when he wasn't a very good NBA player last year and showed very little in the way of making people believe that he will become a very good NBA player in the future. It's an irrational love.

That's your opinion. If Charles Barkley a one time league MVP, multiple time first team All NBA teamer and an original member of the Dream Team can be proven to be wrong when he made his comments about Yao. Then surely you can't expect anyone to believe what an armchair critical with ZERO significant basketball achievements to speak of says can you?

BTW, I love the fact that you change your location to Prague now!!!!!!! That's just GOLD bro!!!! Keep up the good work.

[okanoho]

BTW, I love the fact that you change your location to Prague now!!!!!!! That's just GOLD bro!!!! Keep up the good work.

seriously man, this guy is an idiot, don't mind him, he changed both his sig pic and location just to... be an idiot

MOD, i beg you, lock this thread please

[Tang_Man]

BTW, I love the fact that you change your location to Prague now!!!!!!! That's just GOLD bro!!!! Keep up the good work.

seriously man, this guy is an idiot, don't mind him, he changed both his sig pic and location just to... be an idiot

MOD, i beg you, lock this thread please

Troll or not he is entitled to his opinion.

BTW, there's no need to lock this thread. Without this thread St Dick would still be using personal insults to abuse Yi, out of his own hatred. At least he has now refrain from doing that. I quite frankly don't have a problem with his opinion on Yi because his opinion counts for NOTHING! I mean what has he done that should make me or anybody else for that matter take him seriously? Has he played in the NBA? Is he a part of the Nets front office or coaching staff?

[Duncanfan]

I don't see much improvements from Yi in the future except for a couple of tweaks here and there.. You can't change a player's overall game, ESPECIALLY when the player is almost 25 yrs old. Its just like Raptors' Bargnani, no matter how much Sam Mitchell stays on Bargnani's ass to rebound, box out and play in the post, the guy just doesn't do it, its just the makeup of his overall game and thats who he is.

As for the Rasheed Wallace comparison, its apt in a way that their offensive game revolves around jumpers BUT Rasheed does have a turnaround jumper in the post which is almost impossible to defend due to sheed's high release point. Yi on the other hand, lacks physical strength to back his man down in the post and shoot a turn around J. Sure he weighs good enough for a PF, but weight is not always the best indicator of strength, if that was the case, Eddie Curry would probably be the most dominant player in the league at this moment.

Yi will be an OK player, but nothing great IMO.

Man, I swear to god Yi must be living by a different calendar to the rest of us. One day he is 23, the next he is 24, the day after that he is 25. Going at this rate by the start of the season Yi's age will be 100+. He will surely go into the record books as the oldest living person ever.

Getting back to basketball, players with good work ethics will continue to improve into their early 30's. So even if Yi is 25 like you think he is (he could well be 26 by the time you reply to this post ) He's still got a good 5 - 6 years in him.

Also strength ISN'T the best indicator of the most dominant player in the league. If it were they would just get in all the guys in the world's strongest man competition to play in the NBA.

Yi is believed to have been born in 1984 although it is widely speculated that his age was changed to make him younger. Going by the 1984 birth year, the guy is already 24, and going on to 25.

And my post didn't say that Yi won't improve on what he already does.. he'll improve what he does at the moment.. but to expect him to become a post up, phyiscal PF is unrealistic. Players of all ages improve thir game, but players aournd 24-25 don't really change their overall game. and thats what I meant. To expect Yi to develop great handles, become a great passer or a physical player is just living in fool's paradise. Yi is what he is, sure he'll improve on what he already does at the moment, but his game won't undergo a complete overhaul. Thats just not possible. Especially at his age. If he were 18-19 then yeah maybe his game could be altered a bit, but not after he has been playing ball for so long.

[Tang_Man]

Yi is believed to have been born in 1984 although it is widely speculated that his age was changed to make him younger. Going by the 1984 birth year, the guy is already 24, and going on to 25.

And my post didn't say that Yi won't improve on what he already does.. he'll improve what he does at the moment.. but to expect him to become a post up, phyiscal PF is unrealistic. Players of all ages improve thir game, but players aournd 24-25 don't really change their overall game. and thats what I meant. To expect Yi to develop great handles, become a great passer or a physical player is just living in fool's paradise. Yi is what he is, sure he'll improve on what he already does at the moment, but his game won't undergo a complete overhaul. Thats just not possible. Especially at his age. If he were 18-19 then yeah maybe his game could be altered a bit, but not after he has been playing ball for so long.

You may want to check your facts a little harder before posting. Even if you are right and Yi was born in 1984, his birthday is on the October 27th. Meaning he is actually 23 going on 24.

As for players not being able to change their game, my question to you is how much basketball have you watch? First Yi ALREADY plays in the post. THAT'S HIS GAME at international level. There is NOTHING to change. What he needs to do is get stronger, get use to playing in the post in the NBA. ie He needs to translate what he does at international level to the NBA. Granted this is not an easy task but one that is very do able if he has the work ethic.

Secondly did you ever get to watch players like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan play? Of course granted they are two of the best players ever and Yi simply can not be mention in their company but my point is that they both refine their game from year to year through sheer hardwork. The Jordan I saw as a rookie attack the basket. The Jordan I saw at 28-29 was a deadly jump shooter, with range extending out to the 3-point range but more impressively was the fact that he could post up as good as anybody in the league. Jordan didn't become a good post player because of his natural ability, it was through hard work. So it is not impossible as you suggest.

Also who says you need to be able to phsyically overpower your opponent to be able to play in the post? I guess too many people grew up watching Shaq too much. You don't think skill and footwork counts? Have you seen Hakeem or Kevin Mchale play?

Yi's destiny is in his own hands. What he becomes will be down to his work ethics. Using a couple Chinese players as examples, if he is lazy like Wang Zhi Zhi, then he will fail and be a bust. If he is a hard worker like Yao Ming, then he will be fine.

[St.Nick]

Tang, why do you always compare Yi to Chinese players when his game is completely different than theirs?

Okahono, the person in my previous avatar was the chef Gordon Ramsey. Do a wikipedia search on him. And btw, you are loony to say the stuff you do. Making up my location?

[paul]

You'll have to forgive St Nick guys, he's obsessed with telling everyone the world over that Yi is crap, it's what he does over and over and over again. The guy spent half of last season trolling on our board, I'd love to say just ignore him and he'll go away - but he won't.

Likewise you should expect a visit from 510Reggae if he hasn't been here yet for the same reason - just tell him Brandon Wright is rubbish and sit back and watch the fireworks .

From someone who watched most of Yi's games last year I really can't tell you anything you don't already know. The guy has MASSIVE potential, seriously, but whether he'll ever reach it or not is the great unknown. His ceiling is, well very very high. Despite what some are saying he does have more than a jumper (which is just as sweet a motion as you'll ever see), his handles are solid for a 7 footer, passing is only average to below average, hands are excellent one game and shocking the next, has solid defensive technique particularly on the perimeter but can get lost easily on rotations, has a very limited 'back to the basket' game (although the Chinese fans will tell you he has this in international ball, we never saw it), is extremely athletic and quick up and down the floor, is prone to silly fouls at times (as most rookies are).

He has all the tools to be a really great player - think Dirk - but is severley lacking in strength which leads to far too many fumbles, missed catches, being outmuscled on the block, and being blocked more than Mugsy Bogues. Seriously I don't ever remember seeing another player get blocked so often in my life when going up for a dunk.

If I had to guess I would agree with Sigra and say he'll probably end up somewhere in Rasheed territory, with a more consistent jumper but less defensive presence. Then again he could be a bench scrub, it's hard to say. He's a likeable guy but his handlers put many of us offside (including myself) right from the begining with the whole 'I'm not going to Milwaukee' crap, and the supposed 'promise' that he'd get a minimum 20mpg. I wish him luck.

[St.Nick]

All I do is refute the argument that Yi deserves some sort of pass for being a crap player his first year. I don't deny that he has the natural tools--size and athleticism-- to potentially be a good player, but he was so atrocious last year that his credibility is near nil now.

Comparing him to Sheed-- who has a completely different attitude and was far more developed at the same age than Yi-- is simply wrong.

People here focus on the things you read off of Yi's basketball card-- his size, his vertical leap, and the mechanical perfection of his jumpshot-- but refuse to acknowledge how poor he actually performed last year.

Its funny to me that I am called a troll just because I hold a negative opinion of Yi's game and share it in discussions about him. Basically people can't handle criticism of their favorite players so I become the villain.

Tell you what, you can call me a troll when I start making threads about Yi the loser or Yi the bust and cite false or ill-conceived information, not when I simply post in the already existing threads about him in a way that contradicts your opinions.

[paul]

All I do is refute the argument that Yi deserves some sort of pass for being a crap player his first year. I don't deny that he has the natural tools--size and athleticism-- to potentially be a good player, but he was so atrocious last year that his credibility is near nil now.

Comparing him to Sheed-- who has a completely different attitude and was far more developed at the same age than Yi-- is simply wrong.

People here focus on the things you read off of Yi's basketball card-- his size, his vertical leap, and the mechanical perfection of his jumpshot-- but refuse to acknowledge how poor he actually performed last year.

Its funny to me that I am called a troll just because I hold a negative opinion of Yi's game and share it in discussions about him. Basically people can't handle criticism of their favorite players so I become the villain.

Tell you what, you can call me a troll when I start making threads about Yi the loser or Yi the bust and cite false or ill-conceived information, not when I simply post in the already existing threads about him in a way that contradicts your opinions.

Dude if your not trolling, what are you doing here? And what were you doing on our board last season? If the Nets fans are anything like the Bucks fans they neither need nor want your incredibly biased opinion, we're really gonna miss you this coming season......

Yi is far from my favorite player (as I said his handlers got me off side pretty much from the start), but to deny he potentially has massive upside would be a huge mistake. Oh and despite all the conjecture over his age there is no proof that he's any older than 20, unless you were in China 23 years ago and have something you can tell us.....

At 23 Sheed had one of the worst attitudes in the league, but that's neither here nor there.

Yi finished the season very very poorly but was battling injury from before the allstar break until the end (which you would know if you watched him last season), and his outstanding start to the season gives him a hell of a lot more credibility in this league than someone like, oh I don't know, Brandon Wright . Plus the Bucks weren't exactly a healthy environment for an immature talent last season. Like I said he may be a great player or he may be a scrub, but I think having watched 60 'ish times last season I think I'm slightly better educated to answer that than you. But it's ok you should ignore all of that and stick to your guns.

[St.Nick]

I'm a troll in the same way as the guy that comes on every Yi thread and calls him the next Dirk Nowitzki/Rasheed Wallace. When those people disappear, you won't see me having to refute their statements.Until then, I find it entertaining to engage in conversation with people that are so overpowered by their fanaticism that they can't see something incredibly obvious right in front of their face.

BTW: @ Yi being 20 years old....lol. I like how you then immediately compare Yi to Sheed at age 23...oops...


Just wait until next year when the dude bombs even harder than he did this year and the NY press absolutely skewers him. Those headline writers for the Post are going to love him. The NY press tends to not focus on potential, or the hardship of being a foreigner, or the amazing mechanics on his jumpshot as much as just calling a spade a spade. It should be fun to observe.

Then again, Yi may all the sudden turn into a post playing demon with strength, toughness, assertiveness, and legit post moves. It will be a big leap from the perimeter based tweener weakling that made a steady decline over the last 40 games of the year. Miracles do happen though...if you believe! Just stick to your guns and don't listen to anyone that disagrees!

[paul]

I'm a troll in the same way as the guy that comes on every Yi thread and calls him the next Dirk Nowitzki/Rasheed Wallace. When those people disappear, you won't see me having to refute their statements.Until then, I find it entertaining to engage in conversation with people that are so overpowered by their fanaticism that they can't see something incredibly obvious right in front of their face.

BTW: @ Yi being 20 years old....lol. I like how you then immediately compare Yi to Sheed at age 23...oops...


Just wait until next year when the dude bombs even harder than he did this year and the NY press absolutely skewers him. Those headline writers for the Post are going to love him. The NY press tends to not focus on potential, or the hardship of being a foreigner, or the amazing mechanics on his jumpshot as much as just calling a spade a spade. It should be fun to observe.

Then again, Yi may all the sudden turn into a post playing demon with strength, toughness, assertiveness, and legit post moves. It will be a big leap from the perimeter based tweener weakling that made a steady decline over the last 40 games of the year. Miracles do happen though...if you believe! Just stick to your guns and don't listen to anyone that disagrees!

If you read my posts you'll see I wasn't talking him up blindly as a superstar and said that he has many flaws, and if you raised any valid points instead of just blindly hating (as you did all of last season) I'd listen to you. It wasn't an 'oops' that I mentioned Sheed at 23 then that Yi was 20, you've been constantly implying that Yi was at least that age (I saw you mention 24-25?) and then said 'Sheed at the same age was far more developed and had a different attitude', so I assumed you were talking about Sheed at 23 and I said that Sheed had one of the worst attitudes in the league at 23. Pretty hard to compare Sheed and Yi at the same age given I didn't watch much of Sheed in college and he was 21 when he entered the league (a rookie season which yielded very very similar numbers to Yi's interestingly). I'm now going to leave the Nets fans to enjoy their board, how bout u do the same?

[St.Nick]

I am happy to let things lie as long as people stop making incendiary remarks towards me and my opinions.

[REDDzone]

St. Nick hates "skinny PF's".

Enjoy Randolph/Wright St. Nick!

[St.Nick]

St. Nick hates "skinny PF's".

Enjoy Randolph/Wright St. Nick!

I hate PF's that have no skills to play in the post.

BTW: Brandan Wright has gained 20 lb this offseason* and has a world of skills in the post compared to Yi. He is also a more fluid athlete, longer, quicker, has better basketball IQ, a more refined game, and plays with aggressiveness and assertiveness. Yi is a better jump shooter though

*http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=822032&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

If you need to see the skills of Wright for yourself, then go ahead....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EykyuxQnEms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qd4RlhB8 ... re=related

PS> Anthony Randolph is a small forward.