New Orleans Pelicans C Yves Missi Posts Absurd Numbers For Cameroon
The New Orleans Pelicans entered this season needing to find a new option at center that fits with their starting unit, but the player could have been on their team the entire time.
Yves Missi started at center for the Cameroon National Team for the FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers. They had advanced to the second round back in July, and that kicked off at the end of August.
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Through three games in the second round, Missi led Cameroon to a 2-1 record. They are 7-2 in total for the tournament, tied for first place in their group.
The Pelicans took to social media on Thursday to highlight their performance with the National Team. Through these three games that he participated in, he put up 18.0 points, 11 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game.
Obviously, he isn’t playing against the best competition in the world right now. Still, it’s great to see Missi compete with such confidence. He looked like a new player in most ways; he even shot a three and made it.
Physically, he looks bigger and stronger. He looked like he was able to diagnose the game a bit quicker and move with some assuredness. At times in the NBA, Missi has looked a little bit like a baby deer. It’s to be expected, as someone who didn’t pick the sport up until he was in high school. He has been a raw athletic talent, but looks to have taken a bit of a leap.
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The 22-year-old already made major strides as a rim protector last season. He has a 3.8% block rate, which ranked in the 95th percentile for bigs in the NBA. He also had an 88th-percentile offensive rebounding rate of 13.6%.
Now, with this momentum heading into camp, the former first-round pick has a chance to win the starting job to start the year. It’s either going to him or Derik Queen at center, and Missi has the upside on defense.
There is also still a future where Queen shifts over to the four, and Missi is the long-term starter at the five. There will be a large focus on how they fit together with this new coaching staff. The front office, at least, knows his value, as they have had to turn down offers for him from other teams.
Training camp begins in a month, but Missi has already had his big head start to the year.
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