Sun Yue

Despite having one of the more unconventional styles of play of anyone here, Sun Yue continued to drop glimpses of his potential in rare occasional moments in his last game in Orlando. When he wasn’t forcing the issue or getting muscled around, he created his own shot on two separate occasions to dish off a very nice assist, showing an average first step but crafty timing and ball-handling skills in realizing how to get by his man. He also showed some toughness going down into the paint to fight for a rebound, despite his skinny frame. All in all, it’s hard to decipher exactly how to swallow Yue as a player. He doesn’t really have a position on either end of the floor, and his skinny frame and average athleticism might limit his potential in the eyes of some scouts. Not being much of a shooter from outside doesn’t help matters much, but he does have some talent to him. At the end of the day, he’s probably a long-shot to get drafted.

An intriguing prospect who has gained notoriety playing in the ABA, Sun Yue displayed some good potential during his first game today. Yue possesses a very good handle, and plays a very cerebral style of basketball which leads to a number of positive plays for his team.

Yue must improve his shooting mechanics before he will be taken seriously at the NBA level, and his release point must become more consistent. He also lacks the ideal athleticism for the NBA, as he proved on a drive to the basket where his lay-up attempt was sent back by Russell Carter. He still managed to make a number of nice dishes while attacking the hoop, but it’s tough to project him to the NBA at this point in time. Sun Yue will certainly attract the attention of some NBA decision makers, and could be an interesting candidate to draft in the second round and send to the D-League.

Coming off the bench, he played the role of sixth man, although not like your typical offensive spark. He scored 41 points in the whole tournament (8 games), and actually more than half of those points were recorded against Uzbekistan. It’s not hard to conclude that Yue still hasn’t solved his scoring struggles. His perimeter shot doesn’t look good: he fires static and wide open, and still shows very inconsistent mechanics and poor results. He looked a little better shooting off the dribble from the mid-range area, but nothing to go crazy about. The most depressing part is to watch him slashing and attacking the rim: despite his great size and wingspan, he rarely dunks the ball, while his layups are not reliable, usually exposing too much the ball. As a result, he frequently prefers to pass the ball taking advantage of his nice court vision, but neither here was he brilliant. Mixed feelings in the defensive end: on one side, Yue kept his hands very active looking for the steal; on the other, his lateral quickness was exposed going against point guards. He did play some point as the tournament advanced despite being assigned to the wings in the first games. Anyway, beyond other issues as his skinny body, Yue’s lack of a position hurts him NBA-wise. It’s really hard to picture him being effective at any spot even in the long run, and therefore, his draft chances are completely in the air.

Sun Yue on the other hand played very sparingly in this exhibition, logging only six minutes. He played point guard throughout the majority of his time on the floor, looking quite natural in doing so. Yue really struggled on the defensive end, as ex-NBA player Troy Bell gave him fits in his limited time on the floor. He made a few bad passes, resulting in turnovers and showed very little to the numerous NBA scouts in attendance.

On the bright side, Sun did have an incredible block on an Albuquerque player trying to coast in for a breakaway lay-up, but that’s where his positives end in this game. He still remains an intriguing prospect due to his ability to play point guard at 6’9, but is currently on the outside looking in as far as the 2007 Draft is concerned.

Strengths
Yue is a very unique player in this draft, being a very long 6-9 international who shows legitimate point guard skills. Watching him move with the ball in his hands, its hard not to be impressed by the talent he shows. Strongly favoring his left hand, Yue is a remarkable dribbler with his good hand, while improvable with his bad one.

Already an excellent passer, he takes advantage of his size to see the entire floor thanks to his impressive court vision. Displaying solid athleticism, he slashes well to the hoop with a good first step, primarily looking to dish the ball or sometimes finish with an elegant finger roll. He plays under control and appears to have an excellent feel for the game, being highly unselfish, almost to a fault at times. The game looks very easy for him, particularly playing in the minor leagues. Defensively, he is capable of getting in the passing lanes, pulling down rebounds and even blocking some shots on occasion, being a true stat-stuffer for his team.

Weaknesses
Yue looks far from becoming an adequate shooter. He doesn’t show any reliability, delivering awful jumpers from time to time, and his mechanics don’t look particularly consistent, and he has a fairly slow release. He needs to develop more of an in-between game, particularly a pull-up jumper. He has a tendency to go left almost exclusively when driving to the basket.

The biggest problem for Yue is his position on the court. He’s probably not quick enough for a point guard and he doesn’t have the shooting touch that you look for in a wing. He picks up his dribble at times and suffers from intense pressure he occasionaly sees from smaller and quicker guards. He also needs to add some bulk to his skinny frame. Defensively, there are concerns about him whether he’s playing the point or small forward. He has a tendency to be a little too passive at times, passing up scoring opportunities and not being quite as dominant offensively in a league where he is always the most talented player on the floor.

Competition
Yue plays for a Chinese team that migrated to the American ABA, a semi-pro minor league that is now a shadow of what it used to be 20-30 years ago. He puts up excellent numbers in this competition. He has some experience internationally with the Chinese national team, but has been inconsistent playing with them.

Outlook
Even without the flaws he shows, Yue played in the American ABA and therefore has not been scouted extensively against top-level competition, which makes him difficult to evaluate as an NBA prospect. He would probably be best served pulling his name out of the draft, improving on his highly correctable weaknesses, and playing in a setting next year that would allow him better competition both as a challenge as well as a comparison for NBA types to use.

Sun Yue is certainly not a common player. The exception is the rule for him: the 6-9 player with the skills of a point guard is a youngster from China playing in an obscure professional American league, the ABA.

Not a top prospect at this point, it’s still extremely interesting to watch him considering his peculiarities and the hype he enjoys in China. It’s gotten to the point that several ABA games, obviously featuring Sun Yue and his team Beijing Aoshen have been broadcasted in his homeland. Yue appears to be the biggest reason that Aoshen somehow made it to the States, as his team was suspended from the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) for refusing to release him to play for the under-20 national team. Or at least that’s how the legend goes.

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Hyped or not hyped, Yue features rare abilities for a player listed at 6-9. He plays like a true point guard, and a talented one at that. He’s one of those extremely smooth players who evolve on the court with a certain flair, for whom the game comes naturally and just flows with the ball in his hands.

Very much left-handed, Yue is a remarkable dribbler with his good hand, while improvable with his bad one. Already an excellent passer, he takes advantage of his size to see the entire floor, while it’s a pleasure to see how the ball leaves his fingertips towards an open man. Displaying solid athleticism, he slashes well to the hoop, primarily looking to dish the ball or sometimes finish with an elegant finger roll. He plays under control and appears to have an excellent feel for the game, being highly unselfish, almost to a fault at times.

All in all, the game looks easy for him, particularly playing in the ABA. This third-tier competition severely lacks any kind of serious defense and intensity. Yue saw some action already with the Chinese National Team last summer and things were definitely tougher whenever the rival had a minimum level. Of course he didn’t have the same leadership role that he enjoys in Aoshen, but his flaws were better exposed, like his right-handed dribbling (there’s next-to-no pressure on the ball in the ABA) or his ability to penetrate, as his quickness—albeit good for his size--is not incredible for a guard. He does move his feet fairly well on the defensive end, probably not quite being quick enough to defend guards in upper level competition, but certainly leaving some room for optimism at the small forward position considering his excellent length and decent footwork--especially once he adds some bulk to his frame.

Anywhere he plays, there’s one glaring weakness screaming to get addressed: his shooting. Yue looks far from becoming an adequate shooter. He doesn’t show any reliability, delivering awful jumpers from time to time, and his mechanics don’t look particularly consistent. It would also be nice to see him develop more of an in-between game, having the ability to pull up sharply off the dribble for a mid-range jumper, something that is clearly not in his repertoire at the moment.

He’s rather slow with his release, so even if he improved his accuracy he still would have troubles creating his own shot, although he usually takes advantage of his size here. It’s something he can do playing the point, but it’s not clear at all that he will be able to reproduce his current role at a top level.

That’s the biggest problem for Yue when you think about a hypothetical NBA future, his position on the court. He’s probably not quick enough for a point guard and he doesn’t have the shooting touch that you look for in a wing. Besides, his physical build, although not nearly as bad as what some of his countrymen exhibit, still needs serious work.

It’s hard to imagine an NBA team putting the ball in the hands of a 6-9 player exclusively and asking him to be their point guard, since we’re not talking about a Magic Johnson type talent. Yue would certainly be the target of intense ball-pressure from the most athletic 6-2 guards in the world, which would make even the best 6-9 ball-handlers turnover prone considering the sheer physics involved. With that said, there are many ways for a creative coach to take advantage of the talent Yue possesses passing and handling the ball, possibly in a role similar to the one Boris Diaw plays with the Suns. He will have to work on his small forward skills extensively first, particularly his outside shooting, mid-range shot, defense and adding some weight to his lanky frame.

Even if Yue’s future at the top level is very much still in question, his intriguing characteristics will surely make us keep an eye on him.