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**narek** · 02-10-2008, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Charlie Villanueva proved a point with his play against Memphis and Dallas last week, after being given a chance to start when rookie Yi Jianlian was out with a right shoulder injury.

Yi was back in uniform Saturday night as the Milwaukee Bucks met the New York Knicks at the Bradley Center, but Villanueva held on to his starting role and finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds in the Bucks' 99-98 loss.

Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak said Villanueva and veteran Desmond Mason will be his starting forwards now that he has more options with a relatively healthy roster.

"Charlie V. is going to stay in the role he was in," Krystkowiak said before the game. "I'm really intrigued by a power forward that goes and gets you 16 rebounds (against Memphis). He had foul trouble at Dallas, but he's been playing pretty hard.

"Yi needs to get back a little more rhythm after dealing with the shoulder thing. I'm certainly not saying that Yi has lost his job, but going down the stretch, he (Villanueva) has been there and kind of knows what to expect."

Yi started 48 consecutive games, beginning with opening night in Orlando, and was averaging 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds while playing 27.4 minutes per game in his starts.

He hurt his right shoulder one week ago, in the first quarter of the matchup against Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets.

Yi played 14 minutes in his first reserve appearance with the Bucks and finished with four points and five rebounds.

"Coming off the bench, it's the same mission as when I'm the starter," Yi said after the game. "I've got to go out there and play hard. I hope I can play well."

The rest of the story here: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=716491.

I'd still like to see CV, Bogut and Yi on the floor together more.

**bigbabyjesus** · 02-10-2008, 11:04 AM

Good, cause clearly he's better than Yi

nauynait · 02-10-2008, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigbabyjesus

Good, cause clearly he's better than Yi

where did you get that conclusion? have you watched any bucks games this year? CV has a more polished offensive game. and that's about all he has on Yi at the moment. and even with that, he is inconsistent. bucks are still going to lose with him in PF.

compsciguy78 · 02-10-2008, 07:04 PM

I think CV and YI are pretty equal in terms of what they bring to the floor.

They need both guys on the floor. Play YI at SF and CV at PF.

That is one good lineup.

**Yao Mania** · 02-10-2008, 07:06 PM

Yi's been on a cold streak. I think he's lacking confidence more than anything, and it starts with the players that he's playing with... the Bucks guards are just terrible at creating anything.

c_dog · 02-10-2008, 10:10 PM

I don't want to come off as a hater but the only reason yi had his starting job over villanueva was because he is more marketable. the entire china would tune in to bucks games to see him play.

In terms of their game there was never any doubt villanueva was the better player. even when he was coming off the bench he played with more efficiency whereas yi would have maybe 2-3 good games followed by a string of horrible ones. Yi will be a fine player down the line but right now, the starting pf spot rightfully belongs to villanueva.

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