Yabu Sucks, should have taken Ellenson

[hwangjini_1]

*sigh*

Two points to the doom-and-gloom crowd.

(1) The defensive schemes Yabu's part of are abysmal. They were last year for his European team and they are almost non-existent this year. It's impossible to judge Yabu's defense in context with a mismanaged/over-matched team. Until he's part of a team that actually emphasizes defense with some decent defensive players around him there's no way to judge how he can perform on that end of the floor.

(2) Stop saying Jimmer got 33/8/8 and using it as a comparison. Fredette is in the absolute prime of his career (27), has years of prior NBA experience and dominated the D-League. Yabu is 20 with no NBA experience. If Yabu is putting up stats anywhere near comparable to Jimmer then you have to look upon those as a win and not a negative given the age and experience differential.

------------------

On another note, I have no idea where the narrative came that Yabu was going to be like Draymond Green. No one else is like Draymond Green and Yabu wasn't drafted to be his clone. Their games aren't comparable. Even if they were, Green didn't even start at Michigan State until he was 20 and was a 4 year college senior and still didn't play even 20 minutes per game at Golden State until he was 23.

Using that as context, trying to pass judgement on the prowess of a 20 year old kid who joined a Chinese team 2 months ago is absurd. The fact that he's actually performing well is something to be encouraged about. Complaining that he's not dominating the league like the next Charles Barkley is an entirely unreasonable expectation. When taking everything into consideration, it's hard to argue that Yabu isn't meeting or exceeding expectations.

We all know that some people don't like Yabu. They didn't like the pick on draft night. We know that they want to continue to justify their dislike. We know that they like to think Ainge's drafting record is poor despite all evidence to the contrary that Ainge (at worst) is no worse than average in his drafting and most evidence points to him being quite a bit above average). We understand they have a right to their opinion even if we don't agree with it. But if someone's complaint is that on a night Yabu went for 24/12 is that the defense of his overall team was poor, then they have nothing.

granath, thanks for the good post, even filled as it is with some frustration. you raise excellent points, provide insights, and were articulate. a well deserved tp for you sir.

p.s. for those judging yabusele already, dont forget how disappointed many of us were over rozier last year. i was among them.

[KG Living Legend]

 For those who don't know me that well, I have the power of smack talk. A Freind brought it to my attention a while back.

 It goes like this, If I'm sincerely frustrated with a players performance and I state how much I think they suck, they invariably turn it around.

 It must be sincere though, I can't just say Marcus Smart can't shoot and then he's Bird. I don't really get frustrated with Smart because I admire his overall game.

 So if Yabu turns into a beast you can thank your truly.


 Seriously though, I actually like his shooting touch. If he can shoot and rebound at a high level he could be useful.

[KG Living Legend]

OP, the reason we took a stash at 16 was for a shot at Durant. Zeller and Jonas would have been gone in that situation too. Taking Ellenson at 16 would basically have meant no shot at Durant. Whether Ellenson was a better choice is irrelevant.

Unless you didn't want a shot at Durant?

 Durant was a nice feel good story, Did you really believe he was coming here? I didn't. I hoped he would.

 If Ellenson is a monster in the league it certainly won't be irrelevant.

[kraidstar]

here is a slightly longer highlight clip than the one posted earlier in the thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwJ64tQx1g4

Looks to me like he has very good quickness and a nice handle. I love the way he draws fouls around the rim.

[Ilikesports17]

OP, the reason we took a stash at 16 was for a shot at Durant. Zeller and Jonas would have been gone in that situation too. Taking Ellenson at 16 would basically have meant no shot at Durant. Whether Ellenson was a better choice is irrelevant.

Unless you didn't want a shot at Durant?

 Durant was a nice feel good story, Did you really believe he was coming here? I didn't. I hoped he would.

 If Ellenson is a monster in the league it certainly won't be irrelevant.

We were never likely no get Durant but we had a shot and that shot was worth passing
Up Henry Ellenson in favor of yavusele

[spikelovetheCelts]

OP, the reason we took a stash at 16 was for a shot at Durant. Zeller and Jonas would have been gone in that situation too. Taking Ellenson at 16 would basically have meant no shot at Durant. Whether Ellenson was a better choice is irrelevant.

Unless you didn't want a shot at Durant?

 Durant was a nice feel good story, Did you really believe he was coming here? I didn't. I hoped he would.

 If Ellenson is a monster in the league it certainly won't be irrelevant.

We were never likely no get Durant but we had a shot and that shot was worth passing
Up Henry Ellenson in favor of yavusele

Durant would be here if GSW did not have the cap space. We have two top 4 picks coming plus two stashes that can play. Only 2 players over 30. Life is very good in Boston.

[PhoSita]

Yabu's shot, handle, and body control looked pretty good in the highlights I've seen of the Rockets game.

Not sure he's an NBA player defensively, and like Sully and Glen Davis before him, I worry about his ability to avoid getting blocked inside.  These days, being a "tweener" isn't such a bad thing, but my ongoing concern with him is his lateral quickness and vertical explosiveness. 

He's an interesting prospect.  Maybe he could deliver on the "Brandon Bass 2.0" promise that epic-bust Anthony Bennett seemed to have back in 2013. 

I will maintain my skepticism of him as a 1st round pick, especially when more traditional wing / shooter prospects were still on the board (Luwawu, LeVert, Korkmaz), not to mention similar but more physically gifted raw big man prospects in Skal Labissiere and Henry Ellenson.

The fact that he was willing to be stashed at least one year pretty clearly held value to the Celtics, and whether or not we agree with that decision-making, we ought to credit that when wondering why he was drafted at #16.

In any case, Yabu is a fun prospect with a fun name, and I think there's plenty of reason to think he might justify (or even exceed) his draft slot. Time will tell. For this year, he'll likely put up crazy numbers in China.

[Alleyoopster]

here is a slightly longer highlight clip than the one posted earlier in the thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwJ64tQx1g4

Looks to me like he has very good quickness and a nice handle. I love the way he draws fouls around the rim.

On draft night and beyond I didn't like this pick on many levels. However, watching this video he looks a lot better than he did in the Summer league. Maybe there is hope.

My biggest gripe has been his lack of awareness on defense. Watching some of his pre-draft videos (at times) it looks like he's not even at high school level. Maybe with the right coaching he'll learn that defense takes a total commitment.

[Rosco917]

I viewed two clips of this game, in one clip the team from China was on offense 100% of the time. Yabu looked aggressive, with a nice handle, and he was quick to go to the hole.

On the other clip the Rockets were on a huge run, leading by 21 points. Yeah... Yabu and the entire team were back on their heals, with heads hanging down. The entire team were getting run over by the Beard and Co.

This team from China was in no way talented enough, or experienced with NBA play to compete with the Houston Rockets.

I saw a young ball player, an inexperienced player being schooled in the speed of the NBA game. Not much more. 

[nickagneta]

Why was I not surprised when I saw who the OP was on this thread. Minutes into an exhibition game between our mid 1st draft pick playing on a Chinese team versus the NBAs Rockets, and Yabusele sucks and is a lost cause.

SMH. Outstanding patience there.

[KG Living Legend]

Why was I not surprised when I saw who the OP was on this thread. Minutes into an exhibition game between our mid 1st draft pick playing on a Chinese team versus the NBAs Rockets, and Yabusele sucks and is a lost cause.

SMH. Outstanding patience there.

 And some people don't understand the Jinx, Reverse Jinx, Triple double Jinx theory of Revelations.

 It's a think peace, artistic experiment, working  to Solve world peace, and Bring a title home to Danny Steven's and Brad Ainge.

[ManUp]

I loved what I saw Offensively.

Defense will get him on the floor and rebounding will keep him there.

[alldaboston]

Why was I not surprised when I saw who the OP was on this thread. Minutes into an exhibition game between our mid 1st draft pick playing on a Chinese team versus the NBAs Rockets, and Yabusele sucks and is a lost cause.

SMH. Outstanding patience there.

 And some people don't understand the Jinx, Reverse Jinx, Triple double Jinx theory of Revelations.

 It's a think peace, artistic experiment, working  to Solve world peace, and Bring a title home to Danny Steven's and Brad Ainge.

only LarBrd can do that, KG. sorry, but he got us the top 3 pick this year. i put my trust in him to lead us to a top pick again this year




LarBrd33 2016

[KG Living Legend]

 For those who don't know me that well, I have the power of smack talk. A Freind brought it to my attention a while back.

 It goes like this, If I'm sincerely frustrated with a players performance and I state how much I think they suck, they invariably turn it around.

 It must be sincere though, I can't just say Marcus Smart can't shoot and then he's Bird. I don't really get frustrated with Smart because I admire his overall game.

 So if Yabu turns into a beast you can thank your truly.