Zeng Fanbo - China next NBA Prospect (CBA U19 Video)
Zeng Fanbo is currently the top prospect in China with nobody coming close to his upside and potential. He joined the Beijing Ducks youth team as a player chosen in their youth identification project when he was only 11 years old. 3 Years later at the age of 14 he moved to the US and went on to join Windermere Prep in 2018. During the 2020 COVID outbreak Zeng returned to China in March to train with the U17 National team and later joined the Beijing Ducks U19 team to play in the National U19 CBA Tournament in Yibin. Although the Beijing Ducks only finished in 7th place, Zeng Fanboy was without a doubt the most talented player in the tournament. Being younger than most opponents he had to carry his team on both sides of the floor as Beijing was one of the weaker teams in the tournament. Over 5 games Zeng Fanbo over 27.4 minutes per game, he averaged 20.6 points, 9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists to go with 1 steal and 2 blocks. Even more impressively he shot 56% from 2FG, 41% from 3FG, and 91% from the FT line, joining the “50-40-90 club” although only over 5 games in a CBA youth game it is still impressive. Recently it has been announced he will be joining the Gonzaga Bulldogs which is a great step for his development.
Physically Zeng Fanbo has great size at 2.06m with long arms and excellent quickness and mobility. His explosiveness and leaping ability is elite in China and even considered impressive by world standards. Right now he lacks strength and has a thin frame only weighting 86 kg, but is not soft and will definitely add weight to his frame as he ages and body matures. There has not been a physically talented player in China like since Zhou Qi, who obviously play different positions, but Zeng might be China most physically talented wing player of all time.
Offensively he is a left handed very well rounded skilled forward who is capable of playing inside as well as out on the perimeter and can handle the ball. He has the ability to push the ball in transition and attack closeouts but needs to improve his ball handling as he is currently turnover prone often losing his dribble when pressured. He has good vision and makes passes to open teammates, his assist numbers where not high mainly because his teammates did not make shots as he posses above average passing ability. Other than his breakaway dunks, he was aggressive going to the rim often getting fouled. His 41% 3-point percentage and 91% Free-throw percentage is good evidence for his shooting touch.
Defensively he is someone that can guard multiple positions and is quick enough to guard the perimeter. He showed the most value as a help defender, clogging the lane and quickly closing out and getting back to his defender. He has better defensive habits than most other players in this U19 tournament. A good off-ball defender he uses his length and quickness to get steals and blocks. Inside he lacks strength to be physical with stronger opponents but shows toughness and isn’t afraid to play physical. Overall he is was of the better defenders as nobody has the defensive tools and physical talent he has.
Overall Zeng Fanbo is by far the most talented player in China within the next generation of youth, his ceiling is tremendous and although saying he is a NBA talent might be too much he is someone that will be able to play in the G-League or Europe. If he was to come back to the CBA after his college career he would instantly dominate the league, although the CBA is not a strong enough league for his development. Currently we predict that he is already an average level player in the CBA and would be able to compete with most starting level players on average teams. If he fulfills his potential he will come close to the level of Zhou Qi and Yi Jianlian, but not even Zeng Fanbo will be able to fill the shoes of Yao Ming.
曾凡博，中国目前最顶级的青年球员
曾凡博是中国目前最顶级的青年球员，他的潜力更是首屈一指。在他11岁时入选了北京青年队，并加入了“雏鹰计划”，2018年年满14岁的曾凡博远赴美国，在温德米尔中学开始了他的异国篮球生涯。在今年新冠疫情爆发之后，曾凡博于三月回国并入选中国U17国家队，之后在宜宾的CBA U19青年联赛中为北京队效力。尽管北京U19队最终只得到了第七名，但曾凡博毫无疑问是这个锦标赛中最有天赋的球员。虽然比大部分的对手都要年轻，但他在攻防两端都引领着球队，这支北京青年队是联赛中实力较弱的一支球队。在五场比赛中，他的平均上场时间为27.4分钟，场均20.6分、9篮板、1.6助攻、1抢断、2盖帽。更让人印象深刻的是他的投篮数据，两分球命中率为56%，三分球命中率为41%，罚球命中率为91%， 加入“180俱乐部”，尽管只是CBA青年队的五场比赛，这样的表现依然让人印象深刻。最近有确切消息称他将加入NCAA篮球名校冈萨加大学，这对他的个人发展也会是很好的选择。 曾凡博身高2.06米，臂展很长，有着极佳的速度和移动能力。他的爆发力和弹跳力在中国算是精英水准，即便对比国际球员也属于相当不错的。目前他的力量稍显不足，身材也较为单薄，他体重只有86kg，但并不瘦弱，随着年龄的增长和身体的成熟，他的体重肯定也会增加。中国在周琦之后还没有哪位球员有着这般极佳的身体天赋，曾凡博可能是中国历史锋线球员中身体天赋最优秀的一位。
在进攻端，曾凡博惯用手为左手，是非常全面的技术型前锋，他能里能外，也可以处理球，拥有出色的快攻转换能力和接球突破能力。但他仍需要加强处理球的能力，当面对对手压迫式的防守时，他经常会把球运丢。曾凡博有着良好的传球视野，能够看到空位的队友及时把球传到。他的传球能力也属中等偏上，但在本次系列赛中他的助攻数并不多，主要是因为传给队友之后没有能够命中。除了能贡献惊艳的扣篮外，他在篮下也非常有侵略性，经常造对方犯规。
在防守端，曾凡博可以防多个位置，因为他出色的速度和脚步，使他也可以防守外线球员。他目前在防守端表现出的价值是作为协防球员，他能够封堵对方进攻路线、快速扑防三分和迅速回到自己防守位置。在U19青年联赛中，他的防守习惯比大部分球员都要好。作为一名优秀的无球防守球员，他懂得如何充分的利用自己的臂展和速度优势抢断和封盖对手。由于力量稍显不足，在面对更强壮的对手时他的防守优势没有那么明显，但他足够强硬并不害怕身体对抗。总的来说他是一名不错的防守球员，因为他的防守天赋太过突出。
曾凡博将会成为中国年轻一代球员中的佼佼者，他的未来不可限量。如果说对他来说有些遥远的话，那我们认为他应该在毕业后尝试挑战NBA发展联盟或者欧洲联赛。他现在已经达到CBA球员的平均水准，如果在大学毕业后选择回到CBA，他将立刻兑现天赋。如果能够把自己的潜力发挥到极致，他可能会达到周琦和易建联的水准。但需要说明的是，即使像曾凡博这样天赋异禀的新星，也无法企及姚明职业生涯的高度。