Tang man nice post. I agree he has lost minutes when Ryan is playing well and he's not or kinda disappearing. My discussion here is is should he be starting. Its a matter mostly of what players are going against the other teams A team type players. If he's not quite ready for prime time then let him take a step back and work on his game against players who aren't as good. He's getting minutes and valuable training against backups. If he improves there he can once again work in way into the starting lineup. You mentioned that Ryan hasn't been perfect either, and i agree 100%, nor has brook and where the hell is CDR. But Ryan anderson has been playing better more often than Yi. In 7 games vs 9 for Yi he has scored as many points while playing half the minutes. These are the stats prior to last game. I have trouble with poeple telling me that it would hurt his feelings if he goes to the bench, or hurt his confidence. Really?? I didn't know this is the girl scouts, its men playing basketball at its highest level. Enough with the feeling stuff. Are they men or not? There are going to be injuries all season long, and i'm sorry to hear about Yi's neck. It tells me he hustles during practice, or the rest of the nets are playing real hard, and thats part of the process as well. Thank Nagira probably for that, all though i hear swat plays real hard in practice as well. Don't be surprised if Ryan does well in the starting role, just like brook did, or he may stumble, and if he does then Yi can step right back in. I like Yi and hope he makes it with the nets and i think he will eventually. I also think he will be like RJ and not be a successful starter until maybe his 3rd year like Richard did. Richard coming off the bench, and so will he. The nets also have 3 PF's that all have the potential to be great PF's and they deserve a chance just as much as Yi does. Thats all i'm saying. Oh yeah, go nets!!!
To be honest I really don't care whether Yi starts or not. The guy right now just has get into his head that he has to come and compete EVERY night. As someone who has follow him for a while I though he was making great strides in the games against the Suns and Piston where he actually created offense for himself off the dribble. Then he went and had that terrific shooting game in Miami, which was great but I fear that he would start to hang around the perimeter more to look for the 3 point shot. That's basically what has happen. The only improvement that I see in his game is his rebounding. Very disappointing. Also I think you're overrating a lot of the Nets bigs. Anderson has done very well and all credit to him. However once team starts to pay more attention to him, you'll find he too will start to struggle. The release on his 3 point shot right now is pretty low. That means he'll only get that shot off if he is wide open, which right now he is. However if he continues to hurt teams like he did the Hawks then they will start taking away that shot. Then we will see if he can really play. As for Sean Williams, the guys is an energy guy and great on the defensive end. However he has a LONG way to go to even be decent at the offensive end. IMO aside from Brook Lopez I really don't see any other future all stars in the Nets front court and that includes Yi. Yi may have the potential but there is so many things he need to improve on that I sometimes doubt that he'll ever get there.
What about Boone, he can't shoot he needs an alley for a bucket, doesn't lock down anyone, he should be on the bench.
Well if you had to choose between Yi and boone and their contributions this year who would you choose to help win now. Who has been more consistent of the two? I know boone can't hit a ft btw.
I think we'll just have to be more patient with Yi until he becomes stronger. I think playing wears him down physically that's why he is not consistent. You're completely right about the other bigs. Anderson is not ready to play full time yet, partially because of his poor shooting technique. His making all those shots just puts off the necessity to learn to shoot the ball properly. When he is wide open it doesn't matter that he brings the ball down to his waist as part of his slow motion move. But once he plays more, the other teams will guard him out there and he'll never get that shot off. I'd like to see more of a healthy Najera though.
This is a very silly thread. --The Nets REALLY like Yi and unlike "fans" here are willing to be patient with him. This trade wasnt so much about cap space or marketing opportunities as it was a sincere belief that he could be a special player. Kiki Vandeweghe said last LAST YEAR when he was an ESPN commentator. He said it this year as GM of the Nets. --Josh Boone is a center right now, period. He played it last year and will continue to play it this year because he cannot shoot or at least has no confidence in his shooting. He can rebound...period. He has no post moves, doesn't drive the lane, doesn't shoot. He is a backup center. The Nets are 10 games into the season. Yi has played two very good games--his 24-10-4-1 game was the best game any of the Nets bigs have played this season, and yet people want to bench him...for what??? Really, for what? Ruin his confidence for what? For a couple of lousy wins, MAYBE, in a season where the stated priority is to develop the young bigs. As for the comments that Yi has to learn to bring it every night, I attribute so much of that to racial profiling of the "docile" Asian. The kid stays in the lineup.
I know i have only college to go by with Ryan and preseason, and the summer league mostly against other college players. But at Cal he was there real only go to guy. To beat Cal you had to stop Ryan Anderson. And if you watch the tapes you will see his shots are very contested and he gets it off with nba distance and accuracy. He was doubled teamed all the time, yet continued to lead the team in scoring with a high shooting percentage. I understand this is the nba, but so far his game has transended to the nba so far, and more consistent than Yi's so far. Ryan is going to be a keeper just like brook will be as well.
For real that was one of the silliest replies ever on this board. you dont hear people crying when everyone questions swats brain capacity when its obvious he is a very smart kid. scored 1250 on his sat's yet everyone calls him dumb. that could be taken as racist. netincome get over yourself. yi is soft, asian or not. we said the same thing about jason collins and van horn!
well let net income go on the record as thinking this thread is silly. But you bring up an interesting point .... in your words you say Yi has played two very good games in 10. He's on a 20% success rate at his high profile position. To me the PF position is one of the most important pieces on the court. Also in his 2 successfull games how did his opponent do? Did he shut them down, or did he break even with them in pts, or possibly score more? Did he have a defensive presence in the paint, was he aggressive on both sides of the ball? Or did he just get hot and hit a large number of 3's, sorta like a streak shooter ala Boki? Did he attack the rim? Did he establish position in the post and score. Maybe i should stop asking questions before i'm called a raciest or something worse... But to those who think those questions are important i hope you don't mind if we continue to discuss them. oh yeah, go nets!!!
Did you not watch those games? If so why do you need to ask these questions when you should have already known the answers? Just for the record, Jamison was 6-18 for 14 points and 3 rebounds in the opener. Beasley had 19/6 but only 4 after half time, when Yi step up his defensive pressure on him. There is no doubt that Yi has performed below expectations so far. There's no arguing against that. However I just don't get where you think he doesn't have to compete for his minutes when his playing time has been proportional to his on court performances thus far. If Franks thinks the Nets are better off starting Ryan Anderson, then I am sure that is going to happen at some point in the season if Yi keeps on under performing.
Jason Collins was soft? When the Nets played the finals against the Lakers, Collins was the only big-man we had that reasonably defended Shaq...
Exactly... and soft players don't sacrifice their bodies night in and night out taking charges in order to protect the paint. The reason you don't see it a lot is because few players are willing to take the hit.
I'd take Collins back for Hassell's or Swift's expiring deal to serve as the backup center if the Nets were able to move Boone in a deal that would net a huge upgrade at SF.
