With the emergence of players such as Doncic and Jokic, the gold content of international players in the draft is also soaring. Although the physical fitness of international players is mostly not explosive compared to most of the local rookies who play in the NCAA and development leagues, Jokic's excellent skills and superb ball intelligence have allowed Jokic to quickly occupy a place in the team's roster; Coupled with next year's draft favorite Victor Vambiama from France, it will once again expand the international roster in the league. In addition to Jokic, Doncic and Sabonis Jr., Rockets sophomore rookie Alperon Shin Kyung has also become the next international player expected to become an All-Star.
In fact, before the start of the season, Shen Kyung's position in the Rockets roster was quite awkward. Despite a strong off-season European Championship performance, the Rockets selected Jabari Smith Jr. and Eason in successive players who can play inside in the draft this summer; Coupled with the renewal of Fernando's contract, compared with the talented Tanhuaxiu, Shin Kyung seems to have gone from being the main development object of last season (averaging 9.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game) to a dispensable rotation player overnight.
However, since the start of the regular season, the Turks have forced Ethan, Garruba and others to firmly occupy the starting center position, and the overall performance has surpassed Smith Jr. by more than one point. The latter currently averages 30.7 minutes per game, with only 10.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks, while Shen Jing averaged only 26.7 minutes per game, 16.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1 block, of which the shooting rate was as high as 56.8%, and the inside scoring averaged close to 11 points per game ranked 17th in the league, ranking among the top in the team in many statistics.
In the previous two consecutive losses to the Clippers by the Rockets, Shen Jing contributed a total of 40 points, 22 boards and 5 assists in the two games, and under Silas, the Turk became the sharpest weapon on the offensive end of the Rockets' interior line; In the past four games, Shin Jing has made a total of 21 of 22 shots from the free-throw line, becoming the third center player after Yao Ming and Olajuwon to make at least 20 free throws and shoot more than 90% from the field; Being able to compete with Dayao and Olajuwang is enough to prove Shen Jing's potential.
Compared with Jabari Smith Jr., who is super athletic and has top physical condition, Shen Jing's athleticism is mediocre, and his height of 2.08 meters and arm span of 2.18 meters are only the average level of the league. But the Turk's most distinctive feature on the offensive end is that his skills are extremely mature, which is very similar to the Nuggets Jokic, and Shen Jing under the basket is an offensive kaleidoscope, whether it is hooking, back hitting or throwing, the Rockets inside can always use a soft touch to send the ball to the basket.
If you analyze it from a technical point of view, Shen Jing, who is only 20 years old now, is already one of the best big men in the league; Of course, Shen Jing's talent is relatively average, and his foul pairs and single defense ability are generally in urgent need of improvement in the future. But the Rockets' 16th pick in the first round of the draft last season proved how vicious management is.
In fact, before joining the Rockets, 18-year-old Shen Jing won the MVP of the Turkish league, and like Doncic, he is the pride of European basketball. Shin Kyung, who was predicted to reach the top five picks at one point, was favored by Popovich when the Spurs had the opportunity to use the No. 12 pick in the first round, but in the end, Popovich chose the younger Primo, giving the Rockets the opportunity to pick up Shin Kyung. Today, the Turk, who is averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game, is not inferior to any of the top five picks in terms of performance, while Primo has been cut by the Spurs and faded out of the league.