Though I am a huge college basketball fan, I didn't really see most of the guys projected to be available to us enough times to comment on them at length.

Fortunately, one of the beautiful things about this here Internet is there are many blogs out there that follow these guys all year long and can give insight into what kinds of players they are and what they are capable of becoming.

Today we continue our series with Chinese 7-footer Yi Jianlian, who is a possibility for the Hawks at #3.

We really got lucky with the preview today, as the writer of The China Sports Blog went well above and beyond the call of duty and got Ma Yue, the basketball editor for the Chinese edition of Sports Illustrated, to give us the scouting report on Jianlian (with translation by June Chan and Mary Nicole Nazzaro).

Not bad, eh? Here's what Ma had to say about the mysterious Chinese big man:

Yi Jianlian:
Draft Express profile

How he got here:
Just like the Chinese men who preceded him to the NBA draft, Wang Zhizhi and Yao Ming, Yi also had to leap a barrier before finally being able to enter the draft. In 2005, Yi had the chance to enter the NBA draft, but his China Basketball Association club, the Guangdong Hongyuan Tigers, forced him to withdraw his name from consideration. After almost two years of negotiations, in November 2006 Yi's club announced that Yi would be eligible for the 2007 draft. It is believed that the Hongyuan team has an agreement in place with Yi regarding both sides' business interests. (This would be similar to the deal struck by the Shanghai Sharks to allow Yao Ming to enter the 2002 draft.)

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) says that they fully support Yi in his development in the NBA, but they also point out that Yi's new NBA team must sign a contract with the CBA to promise that Yi will be made available for the Chinese national team whenever he is needed. Again, this is similar to Yao Ming's deal with the Houston Rockets - both Yao and Yi will be cornerstones of the Chinese national team at the 2008 Olympics.

Strengths:
Yi is tall and he has long arms. He is a good runner and jumper, and he is very athletic. He is also an excellent shooter.

Weaknesses:
Yi needs to work on his post-up game. He may also find it is hard to fit one position perfectly, because he is too lean and weak to play power forward, and he may be a little slow to play small forward. He needs to improve both his offensive and defensive skills.

Why Hawks fans should want him:
He has excellent basketball IQ and works very hard, which means he is a good learner. He is a 7-footer low-post player, whose movement is very quick considering his size, and this kind of player is seen more and more in the NBA nowadays. (Nicole adds: And the Hawks will inherit a brand new legion of fans from China should Yi Jianlian join the team - the NBA is extremely popular throughout mainland China and the Rockets' games are all broadcast on live television.)

What might give Hawks fans pause:
There are many big men who can run and jump in the NBA - so Yi might not stand out as a superior talent compared to others with the same skill set.

What current player he reminds you of:
To be honest, he reminds me of nobody. There are people who say Yi is like Kevin Garnett, Toni Kukoc and Dirk Nowitzki, but in my opinion they just don't know him. Perhaps he would remind an NBA fan of Andris Biedrins, but Yi's shooting is better.