[Yao Mania]

Well, a disappointing rookie campaign for Yi.... showed some flashes of brilliance in the beginning, but eventually his body wore down, teammates stopped looking for him, and showed very little improvement as the season wound down.

So now begins another very busy off-season for my boy Yi, starting off with:

[narek]

I'm looking forward to seeing him play in international competition. I wonder if the tv schedule has been set.

[Deke]

chinese players cant last 81 games. in fact the nba season is too long. should be 50 games and have 10 playoff teams per conference.

yi was good though. i think he will be an allstar eventually. hes only 20.

[sasaint]

Originally Posted by Deke

chinese players cant last 81 games. in fact the nba season is too long. should be 50 games and have 10 playoff teams per conference.

yi was good though. i think he will be an allstar eventually. hes only 20.

BINGO, YOU SAID IT, Deke. The NBA needs to cut way back on the regular season to avoid killing its players. Make up the revenue by adding however many teams necessary to the playoffs. Players' health would improve and the quality of the game would improve. I never thought I'd see anybody who agreed with me!

I didn't see Yi. The rest of the world never saw him - not even on ESPN. I would be surprised if he is ever an allstar, but he IS young, so maybe he'll get there.

[Deke]

good to see you agree.

but yeah yi has a very good offensive skillset. once he develops his body and toughens his game to take contact he will be one of the leagues best scorers. he kind of reminds me of a very young dirk nowitzki.

[billfindlay10]

I think 82 games is fine....no more than that though. I would like to see the first round go back to 5 games...also maybe teams will be able to go 12 deep in games if the proper development is done (too many scrubs)....that would cut down on injuries.

[narek]

Yi showing he cares:

Milwaukee Bucks forward Yi Jianlian on Friday taped public service announcements urging fans to support disaster relief efforts in his native China.

Jianlian, who is in China training with the national team for the upcoming Beijing Olympics, taped the messages in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. The public service announcements are expected to be shown immediately on NBA playoff broadcasts.

Fellow countryman Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets also recorded a similar message in support of victims of the earthquake in China.

Yi personally donated nearly $15,000 toward earthquake relief efforts, and the Bucks also made a donation.

The National Basketball Association announced that, in response to the quake in China and the devastating cyclone in Myanmar, its NBA Cares program would support efforts of the Red Cross and UNICEF to provide emergency relief.

In a statement released by the Bucks, Yi said the news of the earthquake dominated discussion.

"The topic after training these days was the earthquake," Yi said. "We exchanged updated news, talking about our feelings. Almost every dorm had the television channels set to the earthquake news.

"All I can do now is to do all my best at the Olympics."

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=751867

[Yao Mania]

Great to hear. Yao donated a big chunk of money too, but he does make more than Yi of course. I would encourage everyone here to donate as well, they need as much help as they can get over there.

[narek]

The journal has a story with the links to Yi's appeal and a link for further information.

http://blogs.jsonline.com/bucks/arch...quake-aid.aspx is the story with the links, and this is the direct link to the video if I figured things out right: http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/..._cross_psa.asx.

[Yao Mania]

wow, I wish I hadn't read some of the comments on that site. I wish people would take time to think before they talk.

[narek]

Yi's back on the court, and Bucks.com has a report:

It may have been half a world away, but Yi Jianlian is back in uniform and playing basketball.

On Wednesday, June 11, Yi’s Chinese National Team beat the Croatian National Team 65-60 in Yantai, Shanxi Province. Yi had 8 points with 7 rebounds.

Details are sketchy at this point, but Yi was a starter for China, although his minutes were held down. Yi made one of two free throws early in the game, and apparently did not get into his rhythm until the second quarter.

More at http://www.nba.com/bucks/features/Paschketball.html.

[OutOfPlace]

Yi had 18 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists in 28 minutes in the game against Croatia today. He looks to have added some bulk and it shows. He's doing a much better job on the boards.

[narek]

There was another Croation/China game Monday:

Yi Jianlian’s return to basketball exploded on Monday in China’s third straight victory over Croatia.

The Bucks power forward erupted for 26 points with strong play under and around the basket. As in game one, China scored its first points on a pair of free throws by Yi.

http://www.nba.com/bucks/features/Paschketball.html