04-16-2008, 05:05 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 5,786
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JS: Bucks hoping Yi can add strength
Quote:
For rookie Yi Jianlian, the season's end means a return to China, where he will begin training with his national team for the Summer Olympics in Beijing. The Bucks are hoping it will be a productive off-season for Yi but mostly they would like to see him get physically stronger.
There is uneasiness, though, about whether Yi will actually be able to accomplish that considering the busy summer that lies ahead for him with the Chinese team.
"I don't know how his strength will be improved (over the summer)," coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "It's really hard in the middle of our season to get stronger because most of our lifting is maintenance where you're just trying not to get weaker. You do light weights and higher repetitions and you're just trying to maintain where you are because of all the calories and energy that you burn with practice and the games.
"In the off-season, which there may not be much of (for Yi) with all the basketball, where you don't have to run so much is an opportunity to get bigger and stronger."
The Bucks plan on providing Yi with a summer conditioning program, yet they're not sure how much good it will do considering Yi's busy off-season schedule.
"We'll give him something that he can follow but the challenge with all the international competition this summer, with all the practices and with all the games, is he's not going to have a chance to get that much stronger," Krystkowiak said. "It's going to be maintenance again, just to try and maintain his strength. He's not going to have two months off where he can go and lift and start getting his muscles bigger. . . . You can't do that with all the exercise."
Asked if it was something that could set Yi back next season in the NBA, Krystkowiak said, "Potentially."
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http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=739857
It would be nice if Yi would get a chance to work on his strength, but I don't see it happening. I'm afraid he'll come back to camp in October tired.
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JS: Bucks hoping Yi can add strength
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