Scouting Li Yueru
What to Expect from the Chicago Sky's Newest Arrival
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It is always exciting whenever a new rookie enters the WNBA. This year, a late arrival gives fans a delayed jolt of intrigue and optimism. 2019 third-round pick Li Yueru, acquired by Chicago in their sign-and-trade of Lexie Brown, stands 6’7” tall and has starred for the Chinese national team since she was a teenager. While she signed her rookie contract in March, she has only recently been able to come to the United States.
I have analyzed Li’s play in a few games that she has played in international competition. Considering how her height stands out even at the WNBA level, I have made sure to exclude games against opponents whose front lines are notably undersized. Without further delay, let’s take a look at what makes the Chinese center’s game tick!
Offense
On the offensive end, the first element that stands out is how Li is truly able to use her size to her advantage. She may not be the fastest center, but she makes herself an excellent target in the pick-and-roll game because she gets her arms up so her ball-handling teammates can make high passes where only she can reach. This means that she can catch the ball cleanly even in traffic. On this play, she uses this advantage to draw a pair of free throws.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxfxFAkI5xUqUES9y2YwCITxn4HocN4Cme
Even if longer and more athletic opponents can limit some of these opportunities, Li should be able to use her body to carve out space for herself.
It is also worth noting that Li is a good free throw shooter—and not just relative to her fellow post players. Across the Olympics, last year’s FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, and this February’s World Cup Qualifying games, she shot 49-63 (77.8%) on free throws across 12 games. This makes sense as her free throw form is not very complex and has little extraneous movement.
That quantity of free throws, more than 5 per game, is also impressive because of how the team splits their center minutes between her and Han Xu of the New York Liberty. While the player’s minutes will wax and wane game by game, it is rare for either of them to play 30 minutes in any one game. Li’s ability to get to the free throw line consistently speaks to her physicality and willingness to play to contact.
She has also shown some aptitude as a passer, especially kicking out to shooters. This particular play where she passes out of a pick-and-roll catch to an open shooter should work well with Chicago’s personnel. She should definitely have opportunities to make plays for others in 4-on-3 situations when she slips screens as she does here or if teams elect to send two to the ball against the Sky’s trio of dynamic point guards.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxWHHRPqYutcQzAQ7kTn93SWWKSSpx5Ccr
For all of her physical gifts, Li does sometimes struggle to convert opportunities near the rim, particularly misjudging the angle she needs on close-in bank shots. It also seems like she occasionally panics and rushes shots. For example, she runs in transition and gets great post position against the much smaller Sika Kone here yet still misses the shot.
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx0D6NualrlmYG0pRYbnNLBbKvOT36aPh4
This problem is likely to become more pronounced in the WNBA, where more opponents can at least approximate her size and strength. Post-ups are generally more likely to be reserved for established players, and this weakness in finishing gives me no reason to believe that coach James Wade should buck that trend. However, that absolutely does not mean that she should have no role in the offense—setting ball screens and rolling to the rim would be a great way for her to flex her skillset as she grows accustomed to WNBA action.
Both because of her interior dominance at the FIBA level and the overall skill level of China’s perimeter players, there are certain skills that Li has not had much opportunity to demonstrate playing for her national team. For example, she rarely shoots jump shots, and she almost never dribbles while facing the basket. As a result, it is unclear whether she possesses these abilities. At best, it's possible that it's just hidden during international play or will be unlocked over time with continued development.
Defense
Defensively, her size and length make her an active deterrent at the rim. When opposing drivers are brave enough to challenge her for lay-ups, Li is more than capable of swatting their efforts aside and forcing opponents into wild misses. Here, the victim is former Wake Forest forward Alex Sharp.
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx-8tudlERZav5gX49xTmT041zPvNQwsLI
The big question with any post player and especially larger ones is how they hold up on the perimeter, especially in pick-and-roll actions. Well, there is a bit of a limit for how closely we can judge because China, as far as I can tell, exclusively uses drop coverage in actions attacking either of their centers. Drop coverage asks the center to “drop” back to protect the paint while their teammate reenters the play. This sort of coverage helps prevent slower post players from getting beaten to the rim by quicker ball-handlers at the risk of leaving space for pull-up jump shots. As a result, there are limited observations of her footwork defending on the perimeter.
The good thing about Li Yueru is that she has definitely shown that she can ably corral agile guards when they do attack the paint against her. For example, she does an excellent job backpedaling here to keep up with WNBA draft pick Marine Fauthoux and ultimately annihilate her lay-up attempt.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxWy0EsnYW0DRPJqreXhOqzzZ7lT6d-bYv
While Li Yueru usually defends much deeper in the paint, the fact that Li played higher up the floor on this play and still got a good result for her team is a clear positive for her skillset. The deeper the screener’s defender drops, the more opportunity she cedes for pull-up jump shots. If Chicago does not necessarily have to put every last chip toward protecting the basket with her guarding pick-and-roll, it is more likely that she will be able to earn consistent playing time. On a related note, she was able to keep up with France’s perimeter-based power forwards when they tried to drive on her from the three-point line.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxtFcXczby-UpUuNfeFwx19o1Ucx56FKJi
Chicago definitely likes to use more aggressive coverages that require more mobility from their post players, but they do play drop against less threatening ball-handlers even with the smaller, quicker power forwards and centers already activated on the roster. Moreover, those smaller, quicker players—and Candace Parker in particular—are known for their communication skills. These are especially important in those more aggressive coverages that can create temporary 4-on-3 advantage situations for the offensive team. The other players’ abilities might free up opportunities for Li to play slightly higher up the floor as long as the language barrier is not a major issue, admittedly no minor concern and one where I lack any particular insight. I still have my doubts about Li playing even “at the level” of the screen, let alone “above” it, yet I still think she can have an impact defensively against a wide array of pick-and-roll ball-handlers.
When Li has to rotate out to the perimeter in a halfcourt setting, she is sometimes slow to recognize her responsibility. However, she demonstrates no lack of effort once she does notice that she has to get out to a shooter. On this play, she tries to switch back onto center Helena Ciak, but her teammate Li Meng is attached to Ciak. As a result, Li is left to run to close out on stretch power forward Alexia Chartereau a beat too late.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxTbdd6znpbhAMnw6CaxTJ-kQ327LwzRwT
She is also not always the fastest player back in transition which can put her team’s defense into rotation and allow open shots. On this particular play, her slow change of ends leads to a wide open three-point attempt for Darcee Garbin. Garbin might have missed this particular shot, but she is an absolutely deadly shooter, making just under 40% of her threes on more than 6 attempts per game in Australia’s WNBL this past season. You do not want to leave her open.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxFljrVGqIWOxnBvQIy_svcCbA1BmyGqtp
Conclusion
While Li will likely have clear weaknesses in the WNBA, there is also a viable chance that she will demonstrate equally clear strengths in time. If she can use her size and reach to her advantage at both ends of the court against this level of competition, she will provide coach James Wade with a different look he can use to pummel opponents.
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