qwerty Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 (edited) I did not think it was real until i saw the pictures. http://www.news-record.com/graphics/april/...ball_041305.jpg The hoop hangs within arm's reach of Sun Ming Ming. The 7-foot-8 3/4 center positions himself under the basket and awaits a pass from trainer Keith Gatlin. Ball in hand, Sun muscles his 350-pound frame into training partner Dshamal Schoetz, a 7-footer who played at Greensboro College who is nearly nine inches shorter. Sun pivots and places the ball firmly into the hoop. Swish. Sun, who is from Harbin, China, is training in Greensboro for a shot at the NBA. His agent, Charles Bonsignore, paired the prospect up with former client and former professional basketball player Keith Gatlin. Gatlin, a managing partner with 334 Sports, a local firm that trains athletes, has worked with Sun for about five weeks. "With his size, that intrigues everybody," Gatlin said. "He can really shoot the ball to be that size. The challenge for him now is to get mobile, to get up and down the court." Sun also can handle the ball and has a sweet outside shot that swishes with the quick flick of his wrist. When it comes to dunking, he doesn't need to leave the ground. Basketball, Gatlin will tell you, is not Sun's problem. Sun's weakness is his flexibility and his lack of weight training. While playing for the Junior Olympic team and then Da Qing, his province's club squad, Sun never lifted weights and is just now building upper-body strength. Trainer James Wilson, who coaches track and field at High Point University, has worked with Sun on his mobility for about five weeks. During the first workout, the color drained from Sun's face, and he tired easily. Now Sun completes the workouts. His flexibility has improved to where he can lift his knees higher, and he gets up and down the court smoother. Wilson said Sun is young in terms of his training years. "I treat him like he is a high school senior lifting weights," Wilson said. "You build from that. ... There's a progression that you need to go. You can't just go everyday hard, hard, hard. It just doesn't work like that." Sometimes the language barrier can be a problem, Wilson said, because Sun is mentally tough and wants to complete the workouts. An "OK" from Sun isn't always good enough for Wilson, who looks for other signs. Is he wincing? Is there color in his face? "You push a person, but you don't want to push a person where they get injured, and that happens with a lot athletes with a lot of willpower," Wilson said. "It's better to undertrain than overtrain." The risk of injury is too great, especially with NBA teams already asking about Sun. The possibility of making the NBA thrills Sun, who is happily working toward his future. "I have more opportunities here," Sun said through interpreter Hsiao-Yin Chu. "I have the opportunity to play with the best players in the world and get into good basketball." Bonsignore saw the raw potential while watching Sun play for the Junior Olympic team in China and again when he played for Da Qing. "More than anything I saw his size," Bonsignore said. "I just thought it was a complete waste of a kid's life: That he's so big, and they don't have the resources to train him." That's why Bonsignore asked Gatlin to train Sun. Gatlin spent eight years playing professional ball in Europe, so he understands what it's like to adjust to a new culture. "Keith believes in basically the old style of basketball fundamentals," Bonsignore said. "With his personality and demeanor, I knew he'd make Sun comfortable." Since arriving in North Carolina in early March, Sun has become more comfortable with his surroundings, particularly around his support team and host family Rocky and Celeste Manning, friends of Gatlin's. During the week, Sun climbs into the back seat of Gatlin's SUV and rides to the Greensboro Sportsplex or Fitness by Design. His days are devoted to basketball, but he spends the evenings lounging around the Manning's house in Summerfield. He is another member of the Manning family whether he's cooking on the grill, driving the golf cart or writing in his journal. The Mannings don't speak Chinese, but sign language does the trick. "He's been great," Rocky Manning said. "He totally changed from when he first came here. He didn't seem that happy, but now he smiles and laughs and knows a couple hundred words in English. He's a very smart guy." Sun will stay in Greensboro until May when he'll return to China for 45 days to play in the national games with his club team. He is expected to return in June for the NBA draft, but Bonsignore isn't interested in hyping Sun's situation because it could create unfair comparisons to recent China product Yao Ming. If Sun is drafted in June, Bonsignore hopes he'll be picked by a team willing to develop Sun's skills. If he's not drafted, he will become a free agent, and Bonsignore said they will consider taking next year to continue building his skills. "If a team doesn't show that they are willing to be patient," Bonsignore said, "we'll just wait and show him when he's ready." Edited April 15, 2005 by qwerty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabroni Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 "WEEELLL... WELL IT'S THE BIG SHOWWW!!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 I am curious what age this kid is, and any guesses at projecting his draft position? He sounds like a 2nd round pick to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 QUOTE(Jabroni @ Apr 14, 2005 -> 09:37 PM) "WEEELLL... WELL IT'S THE BIG SHOWWW!!!" HA, he's about 400 pounds too thin to be the Big Slow! That's a tall drink o' water, though....taller doesn't necessarily = better, as Giant Gonzalez and Shawn Bradley have proven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T R U Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 QUOTE(The Critic @ Apr 15, 2005 -> 08:14 AM) HA, he's about 400 pounds too thin to be the Big Slow! That's a tall drink o' water, though....taller doesn't necessarily = better, as Giant Gonzalez and Shawn Bradley have proven. Yeah Undertaker kicked Giant Gonzalez ass at Wrestlemania back in the day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Critic Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 QUOTE(T R U @ Apr 15, 2005 -> 10:00 AM) Yeah Undertaker kicked Giant Gonzalez ass at Wrestlemania back in the day True, but Gonzalez's furry Wooly Mammoth bodysuit was ALL THE RAGE!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlliniKrush Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Augie could take him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamTell Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 What a monster. It doesn't mean he's going to be very good though, we'll see I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted April 15, 2005 Share Posted April 15, 2005 Gheorge Muresan was useless as well... Look at the forehead on that guy, he is like a genetic freak or something. I wouldn't be surprised to hear China was genetically creating these guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonkeyKongerko Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 I can't wait hardly til the epic Ming vs. Ming matchups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nokona Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 you mean Ming squared vs Ming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoxFan562004 Posted April 16, 2005 Share Posted April 16, 2005 This is the type of player who can shoot up the draft board quickly. All it takes is 2-3 teams to get a hard-on for him, then other teams start to panic that they will "miss out" on him. However, with this raw of talent I would guess late 1st round is the highest I could see him going. It seems he is "naturally" tall though, not "disorder" tall. I know 7'8 isn't really natural, but he doesn't have the freak forehead and facial features that signal a pituitary disease, kind of like Yao Ming, yeah he's tall, but his whole body is proportinal, not like Murheson (sp?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesox91403 Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 QUOTE(The Critic @ Apr 15, 2005 -> 10:15 AM) True, but Gonzalez's furry Wooly Mammoth bodysuit was ALL THE RAGE!!! Yeah but he was even better as El Gigante back in the old WCW days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rangercal Posted April 17, 2005 Share Posted April 17, 2005 lol check out the mullet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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