China - The relentless Sun of Chinese basketball

From universalsports.nbcsports.com
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If you were vacuuming your living room or tending to some other household chores late last week while the Orlando Magic took on Team China in Macau, there were likely long stretches of time during which you could ignore your TV and focus on the tasks at hand.

After all, the Chinese team was without its two best players (Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian) because of NBA training camp, leaving ground-bound set-shooter Wang Zhizhi as the most prominent face on the squad.

So even if you were tuned in, with the Magic leading China 64-39 at the half en route to a 116-92 victory, it’s safe to say that you weren’t regularly chucking aside the vacuum cleaner to stare slack-jawed at the spectacle on your TV.

But there were moments in the midst of this one-sided paddling when the Chinese team seized your attention. And virtually all of those moments were authored by Sun Yue.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the 6-foot-9 point guard was drafted 40th by the Lakers in June. And if the name sounds unfamiliar, well – it’s because the 6-foot-9 point guard was drafted 40th by the Lakers this past June.

Whether you’ve heard of him or not, the 21-year-old put his raw potential and blissful naïveté on display for all of Macau to see.

His first flash of moxie came midway through the second quarter with a smooth catch-and-shoot left-handed three over Kevin Kruger. At this point, your reaction probably would have been "Hey, that’s Lon Kruger’s son,” which is to say that Sun had yet to truly get your attention.

That all changed midway through the third quarter. Pulling up at the top of the key, Sun bricked a three short off the front rim. J.J. Redick grabbed the rebound for Orlando and flung the outlet to Keith Bogans, who appeared to have an easy lay-up on the other end.

But that appearance proved deceptive. Streaking into Bogans’ comfort zone, Sun vaulted upward, and with one quick swipe of his left arm, the formerly uncontested attempt was redirected off the right side of the backboard.

The packed house of fans – relatively reserved for much of the game – now unleashed an audible gasp. Back in your living room, you may have even forgotten that you were holding that vacuum cleaner.

The crowd quieted down after that, and Sun followed suit for a stretch. His next noteworthy move came later in the third, when he drove hard to his left and buried a 17-foot pull-up jumper over Redick.

Then in the fourth, Sun caught the ball on the left wing, made a quick move to his left to lose Redick (again), then drove to the rim to put down a two-handed dunk as a pair of Orlando defenders looked on in surprise.

But it was not all silky jumpers and authoritative drives for the young Chinese prodigy. In the closing minutes, Sun threw an awkward pass on a pick and roll to trigger a Magic fast break. The ensuing outlet pass found itself in the hands of burly Magic forward Bo Outlaw, who steamrolled towards the rim with all the force of a wayward stagecoach.

And in what looked like a flashback to the Bogans blocked lay-up, Sun – showing remarkable burst – came streaking into the play out of nowhere, not unlike that renegade friend who gets diabolical joy out of diving into a photo at the last second.

While that approach had worked well for Sun earlier, this time the basketball gods were not as kind.

Sensing the opportunity to frame a wall shot, Outlaw took a standard dunk and blew it up to poster size. Freeze the picture and there’s Sun at the peak of his jump with one hand in Outlaw’s face. Unpause it and there’s Outlaw swinging on the rim for emphasis as the ball bounces on the floor.

In this case, lunging into the picture at the last second was clearly ill-advised. But don’t expect Sun Yue to dodge future opportunities to dive into a fast-developing play.

Standing idly by is just not his style.