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All hail the monkey king!

September 10, 2008 |  3:50 pm

I've seen too little of Sun Yue's game to know whether he has truly earned a title that declares absolute royalty over all monkeys -- although wisely, he avoided a claim encompassing all primates, which, given how many species are involved, is exceptionally bold -- but "Monkey King" would be Sun Yue's preferred nickname.  More important, the un-preferred nickname would be any version of "The Chinese Magic Johnson," a tag thrust upon him by some media and fans.  The nickname is a nod to Sun Wukong, a mythical monkey hero from the Chinese novel "Journey to the West."  And below is Wikipedia's list of Sun Wukong's powers.  If Yue can do even a quarter of these activities, dude is an absolute steal as a second-round pick.

Sun Wukong possesses incredible strength, being able to lift his 13,500 jīn (8,100 kg) Ruyi Jingu Bang with ease. He also has superb speed, traveling 108,000 li (54,000 kilometers) in one somersault. Sun knows 72 transformations, which allows him to transform into various animals and objects; he is, however, shown with slight problems transforming into other people, since he is unable to complete the transformation of his tail. He is a skilled fighter, capable of holding his own against the best generals of heaven. Each of his hairs possesses magical properties, and is capable of transforming into a clone of the Monkey King himself, or various weapons, animals, and other objects. He also knows various spells in order to command wind, part water, conjure protective circles against demons, freeze humans, demons, and gods alike, to name a few. Unlike most gods, he earned his immortality through battling heaven and earth.

AK


The comments to this entry are closed.

Comments

"Sun Wukong" Soon-Wu-Kong!

THE MONKEY KING!

I may actually become a major Sun Yue fan now.

THE MONKEY KING! How awesome is that?

GO LAKERS!

Yue has to make the team before he gives himself a nickname. Sasha didn't come from Slovenia and immediately demand to be called the machine. Yue will realize that nicknames come with time.

I think Farmar needs a cool nickname, any ideas?

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

"I think Farmar needs a cool nickname, any ideas?"

The guy with big ears that's still on the team.

The Black-cent mixed baller.

Better than Luke.

Javaris' threatened me.

The guy who could use Soul Glow.

Needs to drive to the basket more.

Finally, "The Monkey Prince."

LAMAR ODOM = LAKER 4 (the rest of his) LIFE

along with...

Bynum

Kobe

Fish

... wish I could say Pau but who knows

"Each of his hairs possesses magical properties, and is capable of transforming into a clone of the Monkey King himself,"

Dibs on sweeping the floor of the barbershop next time he gets a haircut.

mrbarneydangles,

"Yue has to make the team before he gives himself a nickname. Sasha didn't come from Slovenia and immediately demand to be called the machine. "

Right you are, brother, UNLESS THAT NICKNAME IS "THE MONKEY KING!"

I don't care what you say, that name is sticking!

Regarding Farmar, what do you think of the nickname "The Spark Plug"?

GO LAKERS!

"I think Farmar needs a cool nickname, any ideas?"

Shlomo Dumbo

Worst ever Framar nickname:

Pharmarcutical -- beuuase of the clinic he puts on every game. cricket ... cricket .... cricket....

NICKNAME ROLL CALL!!!!!

Kobe Bryant = The Black Mamba

Pau Gasol = The Spaniard/The Surgeon/El Gato

Andrew Bynum = The Beast

Lamar Odom = The Package

Derek Fisher = 0.4

Luke Walton = Cool Hand Luke

Vladimir Radmonovich = Rad Vlad

Trevor Ariza = The Animal

Jordan Farmar = The Spark Plug/The Tazmanian Devil

Sasha Vujacic = The Machine/The Destroyer

Chris Mihm = The Texas Tree/The Oak

Josh Powell = To Be Decided Later

Sun Yue = The Monkey King

Dwayne Mitchell = To Be Decided Later

Coby Karl = The Real Kobe/Swish

GO LAKERS!

Looks like Joey Crawford got signed. Probably not to a guaranteed contract, but who knows.

http://tinyurl.com/692qxm

GO LAKERS!

hey hey i was first to report this! :)

'The Monkey King' and 'The Machine'. I see a sitcom in their future.

that was a long time ago Jon K. LOL! Don't slack off :p

AK,

Last night I watched the new DVD release of The Forbidden Kingdom, the first martial arts flick to star both Jet Li and Jackie Chan. The story line of the movie centers on the Monkey King so perhaps Sun Yue is exercising his inner kung-fu to get ready to battle in the NBA.

>>>>>Jet Li and Jackie Chan join forces to create the greatest epic of them all –
>>>>>The Forbidden Kingdom. As ancient Chinese warriors, they must train and
>>>>>mentor a 21st century kung-fu fanatic who’s been summoned to fight a
>>>>>centuries-old battle and free the imprisoned Monkey King.

While I think what Sun Yue was trying to do was unsaddle himself from the Chinese Magic Johnson nickname out of respect for Ervin as well as to avoid the inevitably unfavorable comparisons no matter how well he does. Give Sun some credit for making a smart move.

While I was disappointed in general with The Forbidden Kingdom (more of a Disney family film although some great kung-fu), the portrayal of the Monkey King in the opening scenes of the movie really captures the true essence of the legend, primarily that the Monkey King is an downright rascal and rebel who loves showboating and taunting his rivals and fears nothing. The Monkey King is the worlds’ best stick fighter and could only be defeated by deceit.

By choosing the Monkey King as a nickname, Sun Yue is giving us an inside glimpse as to what to expect when he comes to camp and it ain’t going to be your grandfathers Chinaman. Think more Bruce Lee, Jet Li, or Chow Yun Fat all the way. Make way for the Monkey King. Sun Wukong! This is going to be a fun, exciting, and memorable year for Lakers fans.

Tom

Doing a little research for you Laker Tom and found out something interesting for Sun Yue or Sun Wukong. During the Olympics games he averaged 2.5 assists which should be the primary statistic for point guards. His was the leading assists guy on the Chinese team (and he even alternated being a point guard and a small forward) and had higher assists averages than Kobe (2.1 assists), Dwyane (1.9 assists), and was less than 0.3 assists from Deron Williams (2.8 assists). If his defense turns out to be true then he could really be the Sun Wukong (Defense) than the Chinese Magic Man. He could really be the Lakers Toni Kukoc, they are similar heights (6'9 for Sun and 6'10 for Toni) and plus he weighs more than Toni (205 for Sun and 195 for Toni). Plus Toni was drafted in the 2nd Round just like Sun. So perhaps a better comparison instead of Michael Cooper would be:

Toni Kukoc possibly (he certainly has the potential) with Eric Snow defense.

-blitz

AK,

Following up on my earlier post, The Forbidden Kingdom was a big hit in China despite the fact that the movie was designed for Western audiences. It took in $21M in the first 10 days. It’s a pretty good bet that Sun Yue saw the movie and Jet Li’s portrayal of Sun Wukong in the week or two before his decision to choose the Monkey King as his new nickname.

Studios tried to hide the fact that it was Jet Li playing the role of the Monkey King in the movie’s opening scene, where he has a fabulous mountain top fight in the clouds against hundreds of heavenly soldiers, but word leaked out and everybody was eager to see Jet Li’s version of the Monkey King, a role well reprised by many Chinese famous actors over the years. Li also acts as himself portraying the character the Silent Monk as well in the movie.

You should ask Sun in your first interview of him whether Jet Li’s Sun Wukong was what made him choose the Monkey King as a nickname. And if he is going to act like Jet Li’s Monkey King. Here is a YouTube of the movie intro with Jet Li as the Monkey King - with a lot of attitude. LOL.

http://tinyurl.com/6rnsmn

Tom

LMFAO at "better than Luke" that nickname could apply to a whole host of players now on the team.

blitz,

Thanks for the research. I’m really excited about the message that Sun Yue is sending with his choice of Sun Wukong as his nickname. I am sure his choice and the fact that the Forbidden Kingdom just opened in China are no coincidence. Jet Li’s Monkey King sort of fits the image I have of Sun as a player who has been held back by the constraints of playing on the Chinese National Team and may blossom in the NBA. If you watch Jet Li as the Monkey King in the YouTube, you can see that the character is a hot dog who relishes in the behind the back pass and dunking the ball or blocking the shot. Whether Sun Yue could adjust to in-your-face NBA style play or be another passive and unaggressive player from China was always my big worry. His adoption of the Monkey King as his moniker is telling me not to fret.

Tom

Charles-

The monkey prince? hahaha thats pretty funny but I think Farmar is the PG king. I really look for Farmar to "breakout" this year. He was on the right pace last year but got a little too comfortable with the three. If Farmar can find a balance between hitting the open three and using his 40 inch vert to attack and finish at the rim then Farmar should be good. He also needs to distribute the ball more (he shoots a lot) and play some decent D.

Personally I think his nickname should be J smoooooth hahaha. He just seems like a sweet talker. He also has some pretty cool and smooth passes, especially with Bynum in the lineup. I like his flash, he never hesitates to throw in a playground move when the appropriate time presents itself.

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

WALTON GIVES BYNUM A RAVE REVIEW

http://tinyurl.com/5lgt7j

As long as they're not going for "got paid more than Luke"...we got enough of those in the league lol.

Jordan does have a nickname...

the Farm.

As in "don't sell the farm" lol

Speaking of Luke Walton, here's some info news:

http://tinyurl.com/5lgt7j

He gives a great review of Andrew during a pick up game. Said Andrew looked great and ready to go for the season.

http://tinyurl.com/5vlopn

Looks like that ankle will take a bit of time to completely heal by Mid October he says it will be 100% healed. If it took that long for Luke to recover from ankle surgery (back in July 18th), one has to wonder if GINOBILI! will return soon enough, if GINOBILI! has the same recovery time as Luke does then GINOBILI! won't be back on the court till like December and won't be 100% until next year perhaps.

-blitz

Xodus,

Don't get too excited now, Karl. You're starting to get over the top, lol. jk. Thanks for the link.

Tom

Luke inherited two things from his dad!
1.Bad feet
2.Slow healers

If Sasha had called himself the machine before earning it, we woulda been sayin where's the machine's warranty.

So I ask you people, what the ... does one need to get a nick name, what's the requirements? Obviously you don't have to be a starter (Sasha), so can you be like the 12th man on the team, cuz right now I think that's what Sun Yue is? Does a billion people in your back pocket advance your status? Anyway who is Sun Yue besides some tall guard from China who apparently is the ChineseMagicMonkeyKing against those in scrubville.

And let me say that I luv Mitch's move to sign him, marketing wise. Plus Bynum worked out so who knows maybe you get lucky 4 years later. However, I haven't heard him in a press conference or anything. Come on, you on the Lakers now, talk trash like Mbenga did. The point is, brotha you better bring you A game- cuz you you got Bruce Lee(Kobe), Tony Jaa(Bynum), Jackie Chan(Gasol), and the real Jet Li(Lamar) as your teamates. And you lookin like Bruce Li right about now.

This guy is young and he's got the opportunity of a lifetime with the Lakers. Fish is the starter by legendary default and Farmar is backup. The job is yours if you want it, all you need to do is follow the dedication of your peers (byunum/sasha) and you could be the greatest chinese player ever to play the game. I know its a tall order, cuz Yao ming aint no slouch. But, your on the biggest hollywood stage and the position is ready for a new Monkey King. Go Sun Yue, Go lakers!

P.S. Hey Vince (Young), payback is a mutha- go USC and UCLA!

BRANDON HEATH!!!!!

http://tinyurl.com/62lq64

Don't know much about the guy, but I'm excited something to talk about other than Kobe's pinky or Sun Yue's nickname.

AK/BK, Do you guys know anything about this guy/heard about him before?

Thanks for the Walton info guys.

I actually have high expectations for Luke this year. I have always liked how he does all the "little things" and the fact that he's from San Diego. I think he just had a really bad season last year. While I don't see him throwing up monster numbers I see Luke having a good assist/rebounding/defensive season. If Luke can get back to hitting the open three in the corner that would be a huge plus. Pretty much Luke's responsibility when he gets in the game is to not screw up. Hopefully Luke can shed the Puke nickname next year and be respectable, I'm sure he will be.

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

lol, LakerTom

Brandon Heath is pretty legit. I'm from San Diego so I remember watching him play a lot at SDSU. I'm pretty sure he went to Westchester High with Ariza and Evan Burns. He isn't anything spectacular but he is very quick and good at distributing the ball. If I remember correctly he doesn't shoot that often or that well, I don't remember him taking any threes. I would be beyond shocked if he made the team but he will definitely do a solid job pushing Farmar and Yue during camp.

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

I actually just looked at his stats and he was a decent scorer (I still don't remember him shooting from outside often). But yea, he is very quick and very strong around the rim, I remember he had a good handle and would lay the ball up for most of his points. He also gets a lot of steals.

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

Laker Hopeful,

I vaguely remember Brandon Heath when he was at SDSU, but nothing specific. My guess is he's there for camp purposes only.

AK

"Odom didn't have issues until the finals so he played good "D" and contributed nicely until. The Celts were not a good match up for him."

Thing is he's been playing the 4 not the 3 ever since his Miami days. Odom in like bizarro Matrix. Matrix can defend the 3, but his offensive skills and shooting are too raw for the position. Odom has great offensive skills for the 3, but has always struggled to play the position defensively and there is little reason at present to believe it will be different now when he's several seasons removed from playing there and bulkier due to the needs of the position he's played in that time.

"In the western confrence there is no 3 other than Artest (who will most likely guard kobe) that can give him problems."

The problem isn't offense, it's defense and there are several 3's in the league that can give him trouble on that end. Notice how Phil had little interest in using him against Pierce despite what he was doing to the Lakers?

mrbarneydangles,

I agree with you that Luke could still be a valuable contributor on this team. As it stands now, below is how I would rank players as far as minutes they will play this year. The fact that Luke is ranked 11th really speaks for the quality depth of this roster. Same with Chris Mihm at 12th (assuming he is fully recovered). Unlike Sun Yue, Josh Powell, or Coby Karl, Luke and Chris have both shown they are capable of playing NBA quality basketball. If either of them recovers their best game, they could easily move up the ladder and get more PT. Actually, they are pretty impressive for your 11th and 12th players. Lamar is still 4th most important player.

(01) Kobe Bryant
(02) Andrew Bynum
(03) Pau Gasol
(04) Lamar Odom
(05) Jordan Farmar
(06) Derek Fisher
(07) Sasha Vujacic
(08) Trevor Ariza
(09) Vladimir Radmanovic
(10) Sun Yue
(11) Luke Walton
(12) Chris Mihm
(13) Josh Powell
(14) DJ Mbenga
(15) Coby Karl

It’s going to be a fun season.

Tom

I'm afraid I don't know much about Brandon Heath... nor do I expect to have the time to learn. But it'll be one more NBA team than I'll ever be cut from.

BK

"The problem isn't offense, it's defense and there are several 3's in the league that can give him trouble on that end. Notice how Phil had little interest in using him against Pierce despite what he was doing to the Lakers?"

Correct, Kobe at the 3 means more offense at the cost of defense. On offense not many Small Forwards are as fast as Kobe. On defense however bigger small forwards like Carmelo and Lebron can give him trouble since they are more bigger than him. Kobe proved he can slow down Small Forwards like Pierce in Game 6 (3-13 shooting) but his offense really went down due to the extra work of guarding small forwards. Same thing with Jordan, Phil knew Jordan loved playing 3 due to better offense but as great as Jordan's defense was he was at a disadvantage too against elite Small Forwards.

"Thing is he's been playing the 4 not the 3 ever since his Miami days. Odom in like bizarro Matrix. Matrix can defend the 3, but his offensive skills and shooting are too raw for the position. Odom has great offensive skills for the 3, but has always struggled to play the position defensively and there is little reason at present to believe it will be different now when he's several seasons removed from playing there and bulkier due to the needs of the position he's played in that time."

Actually both Shawn and Lamar are the same. Lamar is better off at defense at Small Forward than at Power Forward. At offense both of them go down when they play Small Forward due to being more matched up athletically wise to Small Forwards. Being stronger and working out to be quicker will help Lamar become a better player overall once he becomes a Small Forward again with stints at Power Forward for rotations.

Brandon Heath will be probably seen as a camp body and will probably be cut so don't expect much from him.

Laker Tom,

Jordan Farmar over Derek Fisher?? Derek will still get a wee little bit more time over Jordan since Derek is the more perfect match for the offense and is much better at defense (not to mention he hasn't wilted so far against Deron Williams). Jordan though if he doesn't wilt mentally again and his spot up shooting combined with his defense improves significantly then there would be no reason for him to get more time than Derek.

-blitz

blitz,

>>>>>Jordan Farmar over Derek Fisher?

Yes, in minutes played but Derek will still start. I think that we will run more, hence more time for Farmar, and that Phil will limit Derek’s time to keep him fresher for the playoffs. While the injury was a factor, Fish did fade considerably in the playoffs this year. We will need his vet leadership and clutch shooting in the playoffs so it makes sense that we ration his PT during the season. It will also give Farmar a leg up on transition and maybe even Sun Yue some quality minutes here and there. Anyway, that’s just my take off the top of my head. It’ll be fun seeing how the roster works out through the season. I think we still have a lot of young guys who are going to take their games to the next level next year, making the Lakers much better than the media and so-called experts predict. Think of a repeat in the growth we saw last year in Kobe and Drew alone. Anyway, see you guys in the A.M. Go, Lakers!!!

Tom

LakerTom's minute list looks like a wish list based on talent and potential. It is something that we could work towards at the end of the season if everything progresses in an ideal scenario for us fans.

To begin the season, Lamar, D. Fish and Vlad Rad will likely be higher due to experience and...well Phil, basically. Bynum and Ariza will move down and have to work their way up. You may recall that Bynum averaged about 29 minutes a game when healthy last season, and we still have no real idea of what Ariza can do.

I'm certainly someone who hopes that those two young, talented freak-athletes can fully realize their potential and play big minutes for us this season, even if everyone else is healthy. They'll certainly get a shot and Bynum seems like a lock in my mind.

The good thing is that if we can avoid injury (knock on wood) within reason, we should have tremendous depth and the luxury of playing with a lot of different lineups.

GO LAKERS!

As the NBA preseason about to begin, the freeway series is looming in the horizon. Congratulations to Mr. Art Moreno's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, they just sealed the American League West. Dodgers are also peaking while Lakers Blog is learning chinese as their superstitions for the coming season is also peaking up. Hopefully, the chinese Wang Tong Luk would be better than the american Walton, Luke.

Westchester Comets stand up!!!!!!!!!!!

B. Heath played on a Westchester squad that won state back in 2002, I think. Here's who was on that squad:

Brandon Heath
Trevor Ariza
Hassan Adams
Amir Johnson

So they had a decent team. Top 10 nationally as well.
But yeah, more than likely a practice body for camp and a potential add to the D-Fenders after pre-season to compete with Karl, Crawford, Mitchell, and Yue.

Hey Blogsters....
Somebody asked what the players have been up to this summer...Elie Seckbach reports:
http://tinyurl.com/56wffo

and Luke: "Larry Bird was my favorite player growing up" WORST ANSWER EVER!!!

Guys who I think will end up in Defenders:

Crawford and Heath.

Mitchell will probably be cut.

Hi guys, Some interesting trivia about the Monkey King, the japanese fantasy anime Dragon Ball Z is basically based on the Monkey King, Son Goku one of the charcter is most likely taken from Sun Wukong. Except in the story the charcters are human who becomes ape-like when they get angry or enraged. Anyone has any news on Luke Walton? and stats on the new signee Brandon Heath?
Go Lakers.

LakerTom,

i totally agree with you're ranking but im thinking luke should go up a little bit sun yue is still unproven in NBA floor

let hell be raiser LAKERS!!!

GO LAKERS!

GO MAMBA!

Bobie,

Luke's dad played for the Celtics for two seasons and Bill was a Celtic fan growing up.

Brandon Heath? Huh?

GO LAKERS!

Laker Tom-

I like your list a lot. I think its perfect for the start of the season. My first reaction was that Ariza should be higher but he still hasn't proven himself AT ALL, so I like where he's at. Also, I like how you have Farmar ahead of Fish and Sasha. If Sasha isn't hitting the three then we have a few players to pick up the slack: Vlad, Walton (hopefully), Kobe, Farmar. Farmar will be responsible for running the second team and sometime finishing the game at the PG spot, thats a lot of responsibility.

My end of game lineup looks like this for big physical teams:
PG: Fish
SG: MVP
SF: Lamar
PF: Pau
C: Bynum

And my end of game lineup for smaller teams that like to run:
PG: Farmar
SG: MVP
SF: Ariza/Walton
PF: Lamar
C: Bynum

The second lineup is so athletic, its scary. Its hard to predict the lineup though because it all depends on who's having the good game and I see Sasha getting some end of game PT but I see Farmar playing a lot more at the end of the games this year.

Lamar = Laker for Life

GO LAKERS

LakerTom,

Here's the REAL rankings:

(01) Kobe Bryant
(02) Pau Gasol
(03) Andrew Bynum
(04) Lamar Odom
(05) Derek Fisher
(06) Jordan Farmar
(07) Sasha Vujacic
(08) Vladimir Radmonovivh
(09) Trevor Ariza
(10) Luke Walton
(11) Chris Mihm
(12) Josh Powell
(13) Coby Karl
(14) DJ Mbenga
(15) Sun Yue

GO LAKERS!

 


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