Well, this is the first week of the Spring quarter so there's nothing special; the good news are the I got into the honor list of 2003 and the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi www.phikappaphi.org (ex-president Jimmy Carter and best-seller writer John Grisham among others were member of the fraternity) offered me an invitation to join . I know that I should be humble, but this is the first time I can brag about something good @ school , and yes, I don't sleep anymore in class .

 

I couldn't slept tonite so I have been searching about Chinese basketball players. The one who catched my eyes with all the hype from the scouts is "Yi Jian Lian (profile), a 7'0" 240 lb. left-handed 17-year old (playing for the Guangdong Tigers), who has his own shoe - NIKE SHOX JUMP OFF AF.  Here is the Chinese NIKE commercial (lackadaisical half court, perimeter shooting, old school v. sonic speed ankle-breaking, crossover, toss-it-up, ally-oop, free-style). Also, if you can view simplied Chinese, go to Yi Jian Lian's page on NIKE China (from www.morganchiu.com). Here's an in-depth article: TIME Magazine: What's Next?"

 

Strenghts: Unlike other Chinese big men like Yao Ming or Wang Zhizhi, Yi is extremly athletic ... very good body type, long arms and big hands ... hasn't stopped growing yet, is projected to reach 7-2 ... great stamina ... nice ballhandler and passer, some say he's able to play all 5 positions ... he has great speed at running the floor, jumps really quick and can dunk 360s ... amazing rebounder, anticipates well ... great defender, excellent shot blocker ... left hander with decent range ... developes more and more lowpost skills, like a jump hook ... intelligent player, knows how to use his physics ... battled fellow Draft prospect Ha Seung-Jin to a standstill, although Ha has almost three years, three inches and 70 pounds on Yi ... at the age of 15 he literally dominates 18-19 years old players, as he did at the Junior World Championships in Greece ... he's one of the top 2005' Draft prospect.

Weaknesses: Still raw, because he didn't play organised basketball till the age of 13 ... has to learn the fundamentals of the game ... unpolished yet, especially on the offensive end ... needs to refine his postmoves ... too thin to hold a place in the paint, needs to develope muscles ... questions about his real age, some say he was born in 1985.