Apr.12 - China's latest NBA prospect Yi Jianlian left for the US yesterday for a crash course ahead of the league's annual draft in June, and hopes to emerge from the shadows of his Chinese predecessors in the league.

 

Yi would go through a few specially designed training camps under some of the most recognizable names in the game's history, possibly including the legendary Hakeem Olajuwon.

 

"We want to do everything we can to better prepare him for an NBA career, which is always hard, especially for an overseas player," said Liu Hongjiang, a member of Yi's management team and an official with Yi's old Guangdong Winnerway club.

 

"No previous Chinese NBA prospect went through such an orientation before. Hopefully, it would raise Yi's game that meets the NBA standards and eases his route to success in the US."

 

Both Wang Zhizhi and Menke Bateer were thrown into high-octane NBA games without any counseling when they joined the league (Dallas Mavericks for Wang and Denver Nuggets for Bateer) as free agents.

 

Yao Ming descended on the Houston Rockets as the top pick of the 2002 draft but he didn't even attend the career-defining draft meeting in person - his commitment to the Chinese national team left him watching the event on television in Beijing.

 

But Yi has been luckier than the rest as the Chinese basketball authorities allowed the teenager to skip the national team's summer camps and a series of friendly matches in their preparation for next year's Olympic Games.

 

"Yi getting off to a good start at the NBA is in our best interests ... He will definitely be allowed to attend the draft himself," Chinese Basketball Association's deputy president Hu Jiashi was quoted as saying on the governing body's official Website.

 

"He will join the national team in July but in the next two months he can hone his skills at what is supposed to be the best training regimes in the world. We reckon that will help his stint with the national team as well."

 

Yi will be put through his paces under hall-of-famer Kiki Vandeweghe and former Portland Trailblazer's Chris Dudley, while talks are on to get Olajuwon in the fray as well, Liu said.

 

At 2.13 meters, it is inevitable that Yi draws comparisons with Yao Ming, a paint-dominating center. But Yi dismisses any such talk.

 

"I can play from very close and power my way to the basket but I feel more comfortable from the mid range," Yi told the Guangdong Winnerway Website. "Yao dominates as a center but I am more of a power forward."