Why does Milwakee start Yi over Villanueva who is clearly better and more experienced? The kid is not ready for the NBA. They are actually hurting his growth by starting him and throwing him into the wolves.
I just watched him playing against Bulls. He seems to have good understanding of basketball / positioning / shootings etc. But no way he was playing like PF. He looked like a tall SF.
I watched the Rockets game while my cousin watched the Milwaukee game at the same time. I think he agrees with you. He said Yi has outplayed Tyrus Thomas badly tonight.
Yeah Yi has a lot of upside but he still has a lot to learn. I want to see him drive and attack the rim more but they weren't really guarding him outside.
i watched it too. i would agree for most part. yi still needs to work on D a bit more. and get some muscle. he is using your length to recover on D a lot times. the key though, the kid is got a real good jumper. when you make pretty shots, that's all people gon remember
he tried twice tonight. driving and dunking. but got fouled once (not called) and got blocked the other time. he just need some upper body muscle so he can finish those dunks.
When he made a dunk the camera was on another screen ~_~. The bucks look like a team that lives and dies by their outside shots. They really have no inside presence.
lol, ya. i'm really pissed they missed that lol. no replay either. well, bogut got in early foul trouble. hopefully, he'll turn into the inside presence that the bucks need.
Was the Bucks playing zone defense? I think at the end nocioni was kind of getting past yi a bit too often at the end.
ya, they were. they were running around for most part. was pretty funny actually. they got lucky sometimes, bulls just didn't make shot. other times, they recovered pretty well. overall, solid defense. nocioni was playing pretty well near the end. but was too late.
He needs more freedom on the offensive end I for one hope the team as a whole is giving him all the encouragement they can give, because if he becomes the best or 2nd best player on that crappy Bucks team this year, they might actually make the playoffs
He had a nice game. Still a long way for him to go. He cant just shoot 18 footers. If he wants to be good in this league, he has to post, drive, and shoot, the whole nine yards. Defensively, he has a lot of learning curve, cutting down fouls is one. But overall I think he will be a SOLID player in this league.
seems to me the whole bucks team are in love with mid-range jumpers, maybe that's what their coach want them to do
Yi did post several times down the strech, but his teamates didnt throw the rock to him. Yi has a post game, still needs polish though. I think Bucks are going nowhere this season though.
Villanueva didn't look very impressive, last night. Yi seems to be doing well, when you compare him to other lottery draft picks this year.
Yi is going to be good. His outstanding physical attributes, 7 feet, good foot speed and athleticism will take him a long way. Right now he is more comfortable playing outside but when he gets stronger and gets more comfortable playing inside, he'll be a force.
Charley Rosen had a very detailed analysis on Yi Jianlian after the last night's game: http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7407128 Yi needs to get stronger, but has promise Greg Oden and Kevin Durant were the most heralded selections in last June's NBA draft, but the most controversial development was Milwaukee selection of Yi Jialian with the sixth pick. In so doing, the Bucks defied insistent threats by the Chinese Basketball Association that Yi would boycott Milwaukee and resume his career in his homeland. Fortunately for the Bucks, their gamble was successful. Let's take a look at Yi's game in Milwaukee's home-opening 78-72 win over Chicago, and try to determine if he was worth all the trouble. Yi Jianlian FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A REBS A ST TO BS PTS 6-15 0-1 4-4 8 1 2 3 2 16 Excellent Yi was 6-for-9 on mid- to long-range jumpers. Seven of these were totally uncontested, while only two (1-for-2) were taken under severe defensive pressure. His form is virtually flawless and his release is certainly quick enough. Even his misses were good-looking spin-outs. This guy has a chance to become an outstanding shooter. His performance at the free-throw line was likewise smooth and well-balanced. On the run, Yi has a long-legged, easy stride that makes him one of the fastest big men in the league. Early in the third quarter, he ran himself into an interception with his hustling defense during a Chicago fast-break. Yi's long arms and sheer athleticism compensate to a large degree for his inexperience at both ends of the court. Good He sets admirable blind-side screens, taking a wide stance and quickly moving to an open space after the ball-handler has made his move. On many offensive sequences, Yi assumed a straight-away position above the key and served as the ball-reverser. He was unselfish in this capacity and always looked to make the correct pass. His instincts were infallible, and his one pass that went amiss was caused by a miscommunication. Yi was active and very comfortable, playing a baseline wing in the Bucks' 2-3 zone defense. In defending Tyrus Thomas in the low post, Yi fought his way into a three-quarter position — and was able to challenge the incoming pass. One of his steals resulted from this maneuver. Yi didn't always know what to do or where to go, but he never stopped hustling. Fair He only attacked the basket once with a right-handed dribble, and the quickness with which he made this move was merely average. Yi made several OK shows on the far side of high screens, where he succeeded in stringing out the ball carrier. At other times he was hesitant. On one first-quarter defensive stand, Yi's indecision caused him to get in Mo Williams' way and allowed Kirk Hinrich to drive for an unimpeded layup. In the third quarter, Yi was again unsteady when confronted with a high screen and permitted Thabo Sefolosha to turn the corner. When setting screens within the screenee's field of vision, Yi tended to stand sideways and take up as small a space as was possible. That's why so many of these screen attempts were futile. He was mostly passive at the edge of rebounding scrums. Credit his long arms for half of his rebounds. He was completely unopposed in nabbing the other four. Poor Yi showed good form in boxing out his man, but lacked the strength to hold his position. Three times he had his man temporarily sealed but failed to prevent him from capturing the offensive rebound. Time and again, Yi overreacted to an opponent's jab-step fake. He was frequently confused in help situations on defense, and wound up in no-man's land — neither helping nor attending to his own man. His defensive close-outs on perimeter shooters were unsatisfactory. Instead of coming to a jump-stop, full-frontal contain position, he often left his feet or took a sideways approach to the shooter. He tried posting up twice. Once he turned to face Thomas and missed a fadeaway jumper. The second time he ventured into the pivot, Andres Nocioni had no trouble pushing Yi out to the wing. Most often, Yi was stationed up high on offense and waited for a kickout pass. Once, when he wandered into the paint, he was horrified to discover that he had inadvertently jammed up Williams' driving lane. Williams was forced to pull-up and take an off-balance 15-footer, which he missed. Thomas never really tried to attack Yi's defense, but Nocioni did. Any kind of hard spin left Yi in the dust, but the Bucks' astute baseline help showed up in the nick of time to stuff Nocioni's layups. A number of potential rebounds bounced off Yi's hands and were lost out of bounds. Horrible Yi's lack of strength was costly. The slightest bumps caused him to miss three otherwise easy layups. And his inability to go up strong led to three blocks on interior shots. He showed absolutely no explosiveness and very little control when he tried advancing the ball with a left-handed dribble. One such attempt was easily swiped away by a quick-handed wingman. Outlook So there's a lot to be done if Yi is to fulfill the Bucks' considerable expectations. His handle needs major improvement. He has to develop a pull-up game. Most of all, he needs to spend many hours of labor-intensive work in the weight room. Everything else — the defensive and offensive recognition — will be refined as he gains experience. As it is, Yi is far behind the average American-born rookie, so it will take 2-3 years before he'll be able to catch up. How good could he eventually be? With his size, length, speed, and especially his golden jumper, Yi can be as good as he wants. And what about the Bucks? Their post-up game is inadequate, mostly because Andrew Bogut is ordinary and Michael Redd is their most effective scorer in the paint. Their defensive rotations were surprisingly effective, and Charlie Bell, Royal Ivey and Michael Ruffin are big-time defenders. Charlie Villaneuva is only interested in firing up as many shots as possible. Bobby Simmons has lost his confidence. Desmond Mason and Mo Williams had off-nights, which is understandable considering the Bulls' team defense. The Bucks' second unit — Villanueva, Royal Ivey, Dan Gadzuric, Simmons and Bell — nearly lost the game with a long dry spell late in the second quarter. At first glance, their bench is unreliable. Even though Redd routinely ignores wide-open teammates and forces numerous shots, the Bucks will struggle whenever either he or Williams can't find the basket. Fortunately, Redd is a resourceful scorer whose point-making is mostly fueled by his uncanny jumper. If Bogut had only half of Yi's potential, the Bucks could easily be playing in May.
