Yi is still too inconsistent and a streaky shooter to be a starting player who is expected to make the kick out shots. What if we start Boone at pf and have Lopez start at center. You could have swat back up lopez, and have ryan and Yi compete for minutes as back up PF. Now i understand we traded a big time player for Yi and Simmons. Simmons is starting for now but i'm getting the impression that Yi just isn't ready yet. Maybe its a cultural type of thing that Yao had to go thru, but he need a mean streak or some kind of killer instinct. You can't be starting in the nba and have a good game every 4 games or so. Boone and Lopez will get just as many rebounds and points as would Yi and Brook. The defense would be a bit better with boone and lopez. And the foul shooting wouldn't change much since Yi shot 50% from the line tonight. Maybe he needs some more time to mature or whatever, but he shouldn't be starting right now. Boone may lose his job to brook and he was playing decent except his foul shooting. I say start Boone and Lopez and have Yi sit for a while, and earn his way back into the rotation.... Your thoughts....
A team usually needs a PF that can at least, or somewhat, stretch the defense with either 3 point shooting or mid-long range jumpshots. Neither Boone nor Lopez can hit those, let alone consistently. Yi can, although, at times, not too consistently. We need Yi to start. Think about it, benching him last year did him no good as it demoralized him even further. His confidence is shaky right now and the worst thing that can happen is repeat history.
Lopez has range of like 18 feet and did so all thru college. Boone can do the pick and roll really well. Yi may not be ready yet. Just cause your drafted in the lottery doesn't guarantee you a starting position. RJ had to wait a few years to earn his way onto the starting lineup, and he got better each year. I think part of the reason Yi is so inconsistent is because people he doesn't have the pressure of losing his job. In the nba you earn your minutes, its not a birth right casue your seven foot. There are alot of seven foot stiffs in this league that never make it on the court. Yi has to prove to people he's no stiff. One good game out of four isn't cutting it, so far he's just a tease. How many months or years do the nets have to invest in him before he pays off? I'm not saying this is forever, but like when ryan anderson was taken out of the rotation for a few games, he picked up his game. Maybe the same should apply to Yi. I hope he does well, but so far he's kinda soft. There is a fine line between winning and developing younger players. The nets have alot of good players especially in the 4 or 5 position. Why should they just make everybody fight for their minutes, but not yi?
Right now Yi is just flat out playing some horrible basketball. That there is no doubt. He has to realize he needs to bring his A game every night and stop being so dependent upon everyone to create shots for him. However since when has someone who shoots 80%+ from the line for their career but because of one off night is suddenly being view as being no better than a career 50% ft shooter? Come on I think you're better than that!!!
its happened before in net land. Jason Collins came out of college being an 80% foul shooter from Stanford, then regressed once he started playing for the nets. And each year his percentage dropped and dropped until it was a dreadful 50 or 60%. I don't know how it can happen, maybe its something in the water at the swamp. You also mentioned Yi doesn't really create his own shot. therefor he won't be shooting many foul shots anyway. Still he doesn't really deserve starters minutes, not now anyway.
The Nets are stuck with Yi, so they better be doing all they can to get him to improve. Let's give him credit for his tenacity on the boards. Also, his three-point shooting has been very good, although in limited opportunities (most of his missed shots must come just inside the arc). Boone cannot start at the 4--and it is more than just his range (which would disqualify him, IMO). The Nets only have two legitimate centers! They can't use one as the starting PF! A better idea might be to use Swift as the starting 4 once he returns. Swift has a decent 18 foot jumper, and he really isn't big enough to play center, even though the Nets list him there. All we know is that Swift allegedly looked good in the early part of training camp. I'm not a believer in Swift--who is, really--but on its face it would seem to make more sense.
Only Yi, Anderson, and Najera make sense at PF. They're just better all around players. Boone, Swift, and Swat, combined with the hole at SF, would kill us because of their almost complete lack of offense.
well Swift is an idea but dumpy your a braver man than me to suggest it. If he ever played to his contract year potential he could actually do well there. But then people will claim that your stunting the rookies growth. I'm not proposing kicking Yi out of the rotation yet, but reduce his minutes to around 16-19 and have him try his luck against other teams second teamers. He's not getting done against starting players. But i think we've had a good sample of Yi after ten games to know that he's really not far off his first year pace of being inconsistent and kinda soft. We will just be lowering the bar for him, and if he excels and eats up the second stringers he will be a big asset to the nets. Give someone else a try...
one night of bad free throw shooting doesn't translate to a season of bad free throw shooting. boone just isn't a pf, its as simple as that.
Ok i'll give you its just one night of free throw shooting so far, but what about the rest of his poor shooting? His lack of toughness? Lets address the other serious issues. Isn't that enough to lose your starting job? And, boone has played pf before and really didn't hurt the nets. The nets have played Collins and Boone before. The nets have played Boone and swat before, and before the season they have had boone and Lopez in together before. How can you say there is no way a 6 foot 10 inch can't play PF. Is there that much of a difference in positions? I understand boone is not a three point shooter, but brook has a sweet touch from 18 feet. What good is a 3 point shooter who is shooting under a third of his shots anyway. Try someone new the nets have more shooters this year. Again i'm not saying forever, just till he gets his act together... Let him prove it against the second teamers first.
You can share time with Yi for all i care. Play C, PF by committee for all i care, the nets have done that in the past with Uncle Cliff, and Collins, Boone, and swat. Remember the second team center usually plays against the second team center, unless the starting center is in foul trouble. If that occurs then move boone to center and bring either yi or ryan.
You've got to look at this year and not the past. Boone could play PF with RJ at SF, because that was two defensive big men and three small scorers. But without RJ we must get production from the PF spot. That rules out big slow people who can't shoot. Yi is still the best we've got at the moment.
I'm sure he will because he's actually playing well this year. With the exception of foul shooting he has improved over what he did last year. The question why are we playing an under preforming player at the PF now. Yi just ain't getting it done, and show little promise that he will improve anytime soon. If you don't like Boone at power forward then try someone else, but why Yi. I personally don't believe he is the best we have at PF , not now anyway. Then go with Brook and Ryan, try something else. Crazy is trying to do something the same way and expecting different results. The nets do have other options, and plenty of them cause they are rich in 4's and 5's.
I really don't get the notion where you think that Yi DOESN'T have to compete for his minutes. Yes Yi may start but that doesn't mean he is playing 30 minutes every game. In games where he has played poorly Franks has had no hesitation in benching him and rightly so. Ryan Anderson has been given more minutes than Yi when he has been playing well and Yi has been playing crap. In fact in the Cavs games Franks yank Yi really early in the 3rd but putting Anderson in did nothing to stem the tide. Also young players performances tend to be up and down. It wasn't that long ago Brook Lopez looked like he was more suited to the D-league than the NBA. However Josh Boone's injury has open up opportunities for him and he has taken it with both hands. I think the word here is PATIENCE. Anyway, it looks like you may get your wish after all as Yi may missed some games with an injury at training.
All this promoting Yi is such bullshit and waste if time.Were still getting the same low amount of ppl going to games, he makes no difference
Well if he keeps playing like he has in the last 3 games then I don't think anybody will be interested to see him play, Chinese or otherwise. ie Just because he is Chinese that doesn't mean performance doesn't count.
