Simmons looked good... Yi did not
Its only one game, but the early signs from Bucks first rounder Yi Jianlian are not encouraging in the least.
Its not that he had a really bad game. He did. But that can happen to anyone, and is probably something to be expected from a rookie.
Its that he looked like he just didn't belong anywhere near an NBA court. Three off-the-ball violations in four first half minutes? And he struggled mightily just to stay with the decidedly limited Joakim Noah? What if he's matched against a real player? Not good.
Then his response to the performance was even more troubling. Unless something got lost in translation, Yi sounded like a guy who is confused and scared and has no confidence at all.
Listen to a sampling.
"There is a lot of attention on me. I feel the pressure."
"There aren't just one or two things I need to work on. There are a lot."
"Lots of my old habits I need to change."
So, Yi... you're saying there's a chance?
And the Bucks are obligated to play this guy 20 minutes a night? What's Chinese for anticipatory breach of contract?
Or wait, maybe the Bucks can fulfill their contractual duties by playing Yi at a few American football positions -- guard, tackle, and end. ("Yi, sit at the end of the bench, guard the Gatorade cooler, and tackle anyone who comes near it. Can you manage that?")
posted by Ty Will @ Wednesday, October 10, 2007
4 Comments:
Feel free to overreact after the first preseason game. I'm not saying you're wrong, maybe you're one of the first to see how bad his year'll be.
they are not obligated to lay him 20 minutes
Man chill out with the Yi bashing. He will be fine. He has a lot of work to do but he will be fine. He has a willingness to learn and from everything I have read, his teamates are backing him up and helping with the transition. He is an athletic kid with tons of potential. He will put on wieght and be fine. Yao struggled horribly when he first got into the league and then about half way through the season he showed signs of improvment. Anyone remember Charles Barkley kissing the donkkey's rear on TNT? It takes a while for these forign players to adjust.
I hope Bull fans truly are not basing there view of Noah on this game. If I used that logic, I would say, based on last nights game, the Bucks have a better squad then Chicago. Everyone knows that is not true. I definetly do not believe that Noah is the real deal. Lets see...he is a under wieght power forward, who brings tons of energy and hustle to the floor, can't shoot but is really scrappy and a team chemestry guy. We have this player on the Bucks and his name is Dan Gadzuric. If noah becomes marginally better than Gadzuric I would be surprised. They are the same player. Danny G has his nights where he is productive but he can not bring it consistantly. If Bulls fans expect anything more than this from Noah, we will be reading posts about how much he sucks in a few months. BTW - Bucks have a good squad this year and will make the playoffs, possibly past the first round
I have a different read here.
I think Yi just tried to act properly--in a Chinese way, that means to be humble and polite. So blame himself actually means he still have his confidence, the hidde message is "After I fix all these, you guys watch out".
On the other hand, if he really loses his confidence and really think he's a bust, he'll blame somthing else: teammates, coach, food, weather, whatever. In that situation, blame himself will seriously "lose his face", whether his or Chinese Basketball's (I know, I know ,it's ridiculous). So need to blame something else that he has no control of, to show that it's not his fault.
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