An international scout from the NBA Portland Trail Blazers
voiced his concern about the age of potential NBA player Yi
Jianlian after watching China's second group match on Monday at the
Doha Asian Games.
"I was wondering if 19 is his real age. There is a rumor going
around the United States and pretty much every NBA person has asked
this question," Jason Filippi told China Daily on Tuesday. "In the
NBA, age is a very important issue. But we have no way to confirm
that. This is just a rumor. We have heard it and we question
that."
Yi is seen as a future NBA star center, similar to Houston
Rockets' legend Yao Ming, and announced in October he is to enter
next year's NBA draft.
Filippi said the age issue urgently needed an answer. "I just
have my doubts. For any player, it is just like that. We have no
proof. Obviously, that's no the priority. The rule is that if
somebody tells you that a player is older, you look at him in a
different way," he said. "This is not the first time that players
may have had this age problem."
Filippi added that NBA needed young players in a bid to dig out
their potential.
"Youngsters are very important for basketball in particular. The
younger he is, the more potential he has. They say you're 19, but
you are really 21. You can still be a good player. You may not have
much potential as someone who is two years younger.
"If I have two players, one is 19 and one is 21. I will choose
the 19. Unless, one is so much better than the other."
But Filippi said he was not good at judging people's age and his
main job in Asia was to have a closer look at Asia's young players,
including Chinese people as long as they are under 22.
"I have more interests in 22-year-old players so that they can
be drafted. There are some good players in Asia including China,"
he said.
"It's good to see them. Because I spent more time in scouting in
Europe. But I saw them in Japan (world championships). But in
Japan, China's youngsters did not play as much time as they did in
this tournament. It's good for them to play a lot at Asia Games. My
team will send another scout to China to follow these
youngsters."
Filippi refused to comment on Chinese players' performances,
citing it against NBA protocol.
"But China has good players with great potential. It is the
world's biggest nation. China will certainly produce some good
player in the future."
As a senior NBA scouts, Filippi urged Chinese players to be
meaner on court and drop the "nice guy" image.
When asked how to grab a position in NBA team, he said Asian
players should get more physical and become "bad-boys" on the
court.
He said Chinese players, such as Yao Ming, were known to
apologize after fouling, hardly a killer attitude.
"In NBA competitions, Asian basketball has less athleticism.
They have trouble with athletic players," said Filippi, adding that
is also the reason why the Blazers ended the contract with South
Korea giant center Ha Seung-jin.
"In NBA you need intensive defense and to be aggressive. Also I
think players from China they are very respectful of their
opponents. Like Yao Ming, they apologize after a hard foul. But in
NBA, players have to be mean, strict and physical on the
court."
(China Daily December 6, 2006)