Clippers rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser showing growth
Las Vegas – Yanic Konan Niederhauser received the pass near the semi-terrain line of a clippers teammate who had just stealed basketball. The 6 -foot 11 inch center maneuvered on the ground, its long progress allowing it to use only two dribbles before taking off in front of the circle and throwing a thunderous dunk on the defender of helpless Lakers Cole Swider.
The crowd inside Thomas & Mack Center entered a frenzy, including the owner of the Clippers, Steve Ballmer, who jumped from his seat on the ground, pumped his fists and shouted.
At that time on Monday evening, Niederhauser posted his agility, speed and ball handling skills. It was another step in his progress while playing in the NBA Summer League on the UNLV campus.
The Clippers had used the 30th and last choice in the first round of the NBA draft to select Niederhauser from Penn State because they saw the potential.
This exciting game, and in many unexpected respects, was an encouraging sign for the mowers.
“I did not see Mr. Ballmer because I was in the moment,” said Niederhauser, laughing late Monday evening. “These are the care skills that I have been talking about and I had a few fast breaks in recent days and I have exceeded the ball. Now I said, “Naw, guy. I can go up alone. I told myself that I was going to soak it and I did it.
During her first three games from the NBA Summer League, Niederhauser showed various skills.
It was his defense and rebound in the first match, against the Houston Rockets in which he blocked four shots and collected 10 rebounds. Although he missed his four shots and only scored one point, Niederhauser has found other ways to contribute.
It was a bit of everything in his second match, against the Milwaukee Bucks in which he had two points, three rebounds, two interceptions and a block.
It was his attack in the third match against the Lakers in which he scored 10 points, seized two rebounds and had two interceptions.
“He stops just,” said Jeremy Castleberry, assistant and coach of the summer league. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s going well or badly, he sticks to that. He does his best to do everything we ask him to do. And as I said after the last match, he continues to improve. From the last match [against the Bucks] at this game [against the Lakers]He was a little better than the last match. He obtains the dunks, catches basketball, ends it, being a rim protector, constantly leading the ground. As you can see progress.
Niederhauser was born in Bern, Switzerland, a city of around 135,000 hours of Zurich. Even, at the age of 15, the International Scouts of the Clippers learned from Niederhauser when he played in the Swiss national team under 16. At that time, he was a 6-1 goalkeeper.
Niederhauser had a growth thrust at 17 which pushed him to the position of the game center. He said that he was 6-5 years old when he broke his knee and was forced to sit for a year.
The Center des Clippers Yanic Konan Niederhauser rises for a shot at the center of the Christian Koloko Lakers in a summer League match in Las Vegas.
(Garrett Ellwood / NBAE via Getty Images)
“I was like for an entire year and once I came back, after an entire year to sit down and I come back to the field, now I am 6-11 years old,” he said. “Yeah, in a year, I had to change my whole game, to be like an attacker / a goalkeeper at a center. So, yes, I had guard skills. That is why sometimes I dribble the ball.”
Niederhauser has laughed, accepting these daycare skills helped him do this electric dunk against the Lakers.
Its size, its weight (242 pounds) and its youth (22) are all part of the packaging that the clippers love.
“We think there are many advantages,” said Clippers general manager Trent Redden. “You know, the famous recovery word, of course. But for a guy who is his age, he learns and always grows in his context that he did not really have all his life. We simply had no guys this size in a rescue role which is young that we can feed and give to our development staff.”
Growing child in Switzerland, Niederhauser learned to speak four languages – Switzerland, German, French and English.
His parents, Dominique and Nadege Niederhauser, made sure that their son knew well.
“Since I was a baby, I’ve been talking about all these languages,” said Niederhauser. “My mom, she speaks French. She is from Côte d’Ivoire and this is where I learned French, and my father mainly speaks of German and this is how I learned my German. ”
Now that Niederhauser is with the Clippers, he will have tutors to teach how the NBA game is played.
He can learn from Ivica Zubac and Brook Lopez centers.
Lopez is 37 years old and a 17 -year -old veteran who signed with the Clippers this summer.
He mentioned how he played with great players like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Now, it is up to him to transmit knowledge to Niederhauser like the others that have passed him.
“I am absolutely ready to get on the field, help him and help him adapt and become a great player in this league,” said Lopez.
Niederhauser is soaring everything in Las Vegas, from games to practices to the conversations he had with the coach of the Clippers Tyronn Lue.
“He gave me advice. I can just say that he has a lot of knowledge,” said Niederhauser. “I love it. I am in an excellent situation with experienced players to learn. I just take the time to learn and get my experience. Everything is new to me, so I do my best to dip everything and get better every day. ”
