It has been some time since the 21-22 Australian NBL Basketball League began, and Zhou Qi, as the representative of China's foreign development players & one of the strongest fighting forces of the Chinese men's basketball team, has been paying attention to the performance of domestic fans in the league. In fact, many people also hope that Zhou Qi can maintain a good state in the NBL league, and it is best to successfully raise the ball in the NBL and borrow that league as a springboard to return to the NBA.
I believe that senior basketball fans who pay attention to short videos or information areas will brush up on Zhou Qi's big devil-style highlights videos or see wonderful battle reports when they perform well. However, if you want to understand the level of Zhou Qi's current play in the NBL League, and even the approximate gap between the NBL League and the CBA League, it will be more accurate to start from the overall data.
In terms of personal data, as of press time, Zhou Qi averaged 21.2 minutes per game, contributed 10.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks, shooting 69.0% from the field and 64.0% from the free throws.
Looking at the entire NBL league, Zhou Qi ranks 37th in points per game, 9th in rebounds per game, 2nd in blocks per game, and 1st among players with an average of 10 points per game in shooting percentage.
From such data, Zhou Qi's performance is very efficient, a bit of the Australian League version of Gobert's meaning, the defensive performance is amazing at the same time, Zhou Qi mainly relies on incision follow-up and secondary attack to eat cake in attack, so the shooting rate is very high.
In terms of offensive and defensive performance, Zhou Qi's efficiency is extremely high. Translated into PER36 data, or PER30 data, he is quite good. However, Zhou Qi's playing time is not much, strictly speaking, positioned to the main force, but in fact, the time of the field can only hit the degree of semi-main force inside.
The reason why Zhou Qi did not eat more playing time, or the reason why the Phoenix team arranged it this way, was nothing more than to maximize Zhou Qi's efficacy. In fact, this is also related to Zhou Qi's actively blocked frame play and the NBL league confrontation is very intense. Yao remembered that Zhou Qi had left the field more than once when he would play a warm-up match when he landed.
According to the statistics of the NBL League, Zhou Qi's average time spent eating 3 fouls has been within 20 minutes, while the NBL League is five fouls to leave, which leads to Zhou Qi in many of the games are sitting in foul jail, playing a lot less time, which is also where Zhou Qi currently needs to improve.
However, this is completely understandable, after all, from the sudden rise of CBA confrontation to the NBL level, it is not so easy to adapt in a short period of time. Like Liu Chuanxing, a young player who went with him, the CBA in China can be competent as a starting center, but going to the NBL is even enough to choke on rotation, which is enough to show that there are some examples of gaps between the two leagues.
So, how many centers is Zhou Qi currently in the NBL League?
Looking at the NBL League, in fact, their center echelon level division is very obvious, just five players average points per game on the number of ten, down the center data is directly dropped, the average level of only five or six points per game.
How many centers is Zhou Qi in the NBL?
It is more difficult to distinguish specifically into the first few, but it is certain that Zhou Qi, who averages 10.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, definitely belongs to the list of the five major centers in the NBL's first-class echelon, but has no obvious advantage over other strong NBL centers, and feels that it is between the league's no. 3 centers and 5 centers.
As for the other four centers, who are they, what data is there at present, and what is their previous experience? In the following, the author will summarize it a little and introduce it one by one.
I. Yannick Wetzel
Yannick Wetzel, 26, 208cm tall, from New Zealand, currently plays for the New Zealand Destroyers Club in the NBL League, averaging 31 minutes per game, contributing 17.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks, shooting 61.0%, and is currently the center with the most points per game in the NBL League, the seventh in the league per game and the eleventh in the league.
Prior to playing in the NBL, Yannick Wetzel attended St. Mary's University, Van Derby University, and San Diego State University in the United States, and in the 2019-2020 senior season, he averaged 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in the NCAA First Division, shooting 59.2% from the field, and was defeated in the 2020 Draft.
Second, Joe Lua-Akul
Joe Lua-Akul, 211cm tall, 27 years old, from South Sudan, currently plays for NBL powerhouse Melbourne Tigers, averaging 26.6 minutes per game, shooting 54.0%, contributing 16.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.8 blocks, shooting ninth in the league per game, and averaging rebounds per game and blocking numbers per game, both of which are the first in the NBL League.
From the overall data, this Joe Lua Akul should be the best center in the Australian NBL League at present. Looking back on his past career, he spent his NCAA era at Baylor University, and in his senior year of graduation, he averaged about 14 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, and was selected to the best defensive team in the college league once in his career.
In 2018, Akul, who was already an elderly rookie with a history of heart disease, participated in the NBA draft, was not selected, and then went to Israel to play basketball for a year, and then went to Australia to play, and now seems to have been naturalized in Australia. He won the NBL's Best Sixth Man award the previous year and this year the Melbourne Tigers continue to shine as the NBL League's benchmark for both offense and defense.
Iii. Dupp Reas
Dupp Reas, 26, 211cm tall Australian national, currently plays for the Illawarra Eagles, averaging 26.8 minutes per game this season, contributing 13.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, shooting 44.0% from the field, ranking 13th in points per game and 15th in rebounds per game.
In college, Dupe Reas attended basketball-renowned Louisiana State University and worked as a teammate with Ben Simmons, also from Australia. In the NCAA era, Dupe Reas averaged 12.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks per game and 52.0% shooting. After signing up for the NBA Draft in 2018 as a senior, he returned to Play in Australia.
Iv. Stephen Zimmerman
Stephen Zimmerman, 26, from the United States, 211cm tall, currently plays for the Cannes Vipers, averaging 26.3 minutes per game this season, contributing 10.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks, shooting 48% from the field, ranking 37th in the league in points and second in the league in rebounds.
Looking back at Stephen Zimmerman's previous basketball career, he was the No. 41 pick in the 2016 draft, the draft was selected before Zhou Qi on the No. 46, and the Magic team began his NBA career, and when Zhou Qi went to the NBA to report later, Zimmerman had already lost his job in the NBA. In the 16/17 season, he played 19 games with the Magic, averaging just 1.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game before being cut. Since then, he has been briefly signed by the Lakers, but was cut 2 months later without winning the opportunity to play. It can be said that Zimmerman, like Zhou Qi, is an NBA loser and is currently working in the NBL.