How good will Yi become?

[smauss]

Funny, nobody has mentioned the possibility of Yi's improvement or lack thereof may just depend on how long he stays in Milwaukee?

[buckybadgerfan]

I'd say Yi is atleast as good as CV even though Yi's a rook.
Forget the fact he's Chinese.
Forget the age controversy.
These are all red herrings.

What you all forget is that he's not putting up numbers because of the bad CV/Yi rotation....which although provides similar minutes for both players doesnt seem to allow either to get into a GROOVE.
The game plan in Milwaukee doesn't center around Yi's strengths the way they did in the CBA.

For those who think Yi won't get any better you'll likely be surprised to see a real measure of his abilities in the 2008 Olympics.
Everyone assumes that team China is Yao's team--->Honestly Yi has more fire, leadership and his play rivals the intensity of KG in these PRIDE games.

[RealHusky]

I think Yi is still adjusting to the NBA. The kid did not even have a break yet. You gonna see huge improvements from this year to the next.

Remember:

1. He needs time to get stronger. You don't get stronger just because you want to get stronger. It takes time to work out and build up.

2. He is also adjusting to NBA's physical play. This will take a little more time. Old habits might have to change a little to adjust.

He already has all the tools and athletic ability. His post play will improve a lot next year. I can't believe people are already down on him after a few games. I like to see some USA players playing in a foreign system for years go straight to the NBA.

As for YAO, is there any doubt he is a monster now? The guy is a double/double machine. Yao has improved on all aspects of his game and he is still improving. Didn't he just had 30 points, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks last night?

Yao and Yi are completely different players. Comparing both to each other is not the way to go just because both are Chinese. This is like comparing Shaq to Chris Bosh because both are black.

[buckybadgerfan]

I'm a longtime badgerfan and occasional bucks fan who lives in Minnesota.

I had high expectations of Brewer when the TWolves picked him but sadly he hasn't shown he's anywhere close to the game changer he could be.

If only the Bucks picked Brewer so I could see Yi on the Wolves team next to Al J.

It'd be nice to see Yi playing alongside guys like Al J or the Rhino.

[stellation]

I think the biggest issue for him now is just strength, hopefully he can bulk up a bit but if he doesn't I can't see him getting much past 14/7 with 1.5 blocks.

[NeedsMoreCheese]

He'll be the best Chinese player ever.
















To play for the bucks.

[superemxguy]

You will know the true YI, when he plays the 2008 Olympic game.

All the questions would be answer at that time.

[JK80]

The Bucks need to decide whether they want to win now or rebuild. They are in between now where they think that they may have enough talents to win in the eastern conference but their bad record is saying otherwise and forcing them to think about rebuilding.

Yi is a vicitim of this scenario here. Yi is starting because the Bucks management believes that he is going to be a big part of the team's future and they want him to develop, and yet he's not getting many touches because his coach/teammates want to compete/win now and believe that there are better options out there on the court. As a result, Yi is thrown out against the starting PF's of the league whom he has trouble guarding and scoring against due to his lack of strength/experience, but at the same he is not given enough opportunities to do what he's good at now (making open shots) or develop what he needs to develop (post game/finishing around the basket).

I believe that as the Bucks continue to lose there will be a clear answer to the "win-now-or-rebuild" question and that is when Yi will start to get more touches. If he scores some points, his game in other areas will pick up as well.

Yi is obviously not ready to be an NBA starter. He would not start on almost any other team in the league. By starting him you bascially have to expect the bad with the good.

[Sid the Squid]

Is everybody here on the bucks board still insisiting Yi wasnt promised the starting PF position?

[paulpressey25]

Is everybody here on the bucks board still insisiting Yi wasnt promised the starting PF position?

Charlie V. would have the starting spot right now....except that his defense is awful. Just awful. At the start of the year Yi far outplayed CV....but Yi's now hit the rookie wall. Big-time.

Yi wasn't promised the starting position. He wasn't promised minutes. He was promised that if he didn't average 20mpg this season he would have the right to ask the Buck's owner for a trade and the Buck's owner agreed he would accomodate that. That was the promise, but it gets misconstrued by the media courtesy of Rick Bucher.

[LUKE23]

Is everybody here on the bucks board still insisiting Yi wasnt promised the starting PF position?

He's a better overall player than any other PF we have. GS fans are just not informed or intelligent.

[DH34Phan]

CV should be getting Yi's 28 mpg.

Give Yi 15-20 minutes off the bench, at least until he is out of this funk.

[blkout]

I think he'll be a good player, I'm not keen on comparing stats from other rookies from previous years because the situations can differ so much. If the age thing turns out to be true I'd worry, but ignoring that I can see him as a 16/7 guy... I wouldn't go as far as 20/10, but he'll be a decent player to have around.

[howe070523]

-= original quote snipped =-

I agree. Given the lack of certainty regarding Yi's age, his progress during his second and third seasons are going to be particularly important in trying to get a feel for Yi's ceiling. We'll have a much better idea where he stands in a year or two. Offensively, I'll be waiting to see if he can start creating his own shot.

How do you do that when you dont have the green light to create your own shot?
I remember the GS game(or Utah, cant remember) in 4th qtr there were like 2,3 consecutive possesions he beat his man off dribble then drilled those pulled up jumpers, yea those are garbage time buckets but it also makes me wonder why didnt he do this more often? Cuz he doesnt have the green light from the coach to shoot other than open jumpers. Yea sure there are better scoring options but those options arent getting Bucks any where. Why cant the Bucks start rebuilding RIGHT NOW around their 1st and 6th picks?

[Sigra]

-= original quote snipped =-



He's a better overall player than any other PF we have.

That is not true. Both you and PP are homers here. CV is better PF right now. Yi play this much because he did get promise for that. I have no problem to admit that. The Bucks are terrible franchise who do that kind of things. They did promise minutes for Yi and all of you who still fight against that are just homers who don't see the truth. Yi play better defense than CV but overall he is nowhere near the player that CV is. One of the main reasons why we have this much of bad season is that we start and give that much minutes to rookie who is still not ready for that role.

[howe070523]

-= original quote snipped =-
Yi play better defense than CV but overall he is nowhere near the player that CV is. One of the main reasons why we have this much of bad season is that we start and give that much minutes to rookie who is still not ready for that role.

Oh really?

35 Charlie Villanueva, MIL 39 19.9 .431 .746 .505 6.2 11.2 22.0 8.7 19.5 14.0 13.45
36 Yi Jianlian, MIL 41 27.9 .442 .812 .501 7.3 12.2 17.6 8.0 17.8 12.8 13.39

There you have it.

[blkout]

Yi: 14.7pp40
CV: 18.7pp40

Yi: 12.8 REB-r
CV: 13.9 REB-r

Yi: 7.3 AST-r
CV: 11.2 AST-r

Yi: 12.2 TO-r
CV: 11.2 TO-r

Yi: 50.1 TS%
CV: 50.5 TS%

[paul]

-= original quote snipped =-



That is not true. Both you and PP are homers here. CV is better PF right now. Yi play this much because he did get promise for that. I have no problem to admit that. The Bucks are terrible franchise who do that kind of things. They did promise minutes for Yi and all of you who still fight against that are just homers who don't see the truth. Yi play better defense than CV but overall he is nowhere near the player that CV is. One of the main reasons why we have this much of bad season is that we start and give that much minutes to rookie who is still not ready for that role.

Agreed. Anyone who thinks Yi is a better player at this point in his career than CV is blinded by Yi's potential imo. Whilst his defense is better than CV's (let's not kid ourselves that Yi's defense is anything above average at this point) he is nowhere near the offensive threat that CV is, not even close. If his sweet looking jumpshot isn't falling he's not scoring, or threatening to. I love Yi's potential, but CV has to start.

[Sigra]

-= original quote snipped =-



Oh really?

35 Charlie Villanueva, MIL 39 19.9 .431 .746 .505 6.2 11.2 22.0 8.7 19.5 14.0 13.45
36 Yi Jianlian, MIL 41 27.9 .442 .812 .501 7.3 12.2 17.6 8.0 17.8 12.8 13.39

There you have it.

There I have what?

[Sigra]

Yi has advantage over CV only at defense. But our defense is terrible anyway mostly because we can't defend pick game. All of our oponents have strategy to score against us with pick game and atacking our guards. Our oponents couldn't care less who is our PF. They will atack us with pick game anyway. Therefore for our defense it is not important who is our PF because our defense will suck with any of them. Hovever, for our offense it is important to start CV over Yi and to give much more minutes to CV.

Yi start and get more minutes than CV = we can't stop our oponent and Yi is problem for our offense

CV start and get more minutes than Yi = We can't stop our oponent but we have good offansive player at PF who can finish inside paint.

Epi told us many times that coaches are not idiots. Krystkowiak is not idiot I am sure. He knows all of this. He is just forced to use Yi more than CV. It was promised to Yi. That is only explanation.