Bogut: Chinese star will need to adjust to NBL

Sydney Kings and Australian basketball legend Andrew Bogut said Chinese star Zhou Qi will need to make some adjustments in his game to survive in the National Basketball League. 

Bogut was speaking after Qi’s debut performance for the South East Melbourne Pheonix on Saturday night in the NBL Blitz against the Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings in Melbourne. 

The 216 cm centre scored 10 points and took eight rebounds in 14 minutes of play before fouling out as the Pheonix held out a fast-finishing Kings to win by six points. 

Despite the short stint on court, Qi did enough to impress Bogut. 

"He is a big unit,” Bogut told sydneykings.com. 

“His presence in the paint will be a big one for an NBL season 

“He does have to come to terms with the way the NBL is refereed.  It’s not the most big-man friendly league and he’s going to have to adjust to that." 

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It was an adjustment Bogut himself had to make when stepping back into the NBL after a decorated 13-year career in the NBA with Milwaukee, the Golden State Warriors, Dallas, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers. 

While there was enough on display in Saturday’s game to say Qi will be more than a handful for opposition NBL clubs, Bogut said clubs will look to challenge Qi at the defensive end.  

“Teams are going to put him in a lot of pick and roll action and SEM will have some schemes to protect him a little bit,” Bogut said. 

“SEM been a hard show team, getting up and putting pressure on the ball ... with him they’ll have to keep him in the paint and make the guards cross over. 

“If they put him in a situation where he has to show and be up, it’s not a great situation.” 

Bogut acknowledged Qi’s presence will be a strong boost for the league in China and said Qi’s mere presence in the NBL was a sign of his commitment to better his game. 

"We know the league loves to cross promote the fringe NBA players and we’ve not had a quality Chinese name in our league so this is a first. The league needs to exploit that as much as possible,” he said. 

“This is an interesting step for (Zhou Qi) rather than going the easy route. With his celebrity in China he could have earned a lot more money than coming here. 

“Good for him. It’s a good sign that he is here to better himself as a player, that can only be a good thing.” 

Sydney Kings fans will get a chance to see Zhou Qi in person early in NBL22 when the SEM Phoenix come to Qudos Bank Arena on December 18.  

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