Don't say 'eek' over Yi's debut
Yi started among the Bucks' first five, which was rumored to have been promised way back in August, when Milwaukee officials visited China in a recruitment effort to bring their prized draft pick in. The Bucks took him fifth this past summer, ahead of American standouts Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer of national champion Florida, despite the buzz being that Yi's representation wanted no part of a market with such a small Chinese population. Ultimately, Milwaukee's persistence paid off and it secured the services of the player it felt had the most upside of anyone remaining on its draft board.
There's no doubt he has the athleticism to be a significant contributor. He moves superbly for his size, though he's undoubtedly going to have to pack on weight to bang around inside. Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis were both successful in pushing him around and neither of those guys is a conventional NBA power forward. On the bright side, Yi isn't adverse to contact, and although he only had three rebounds in his debut, it wasn't because he was passive.
"It's uncharted territory for him. Far be it from me to think I can understand it very well. There's an awful lot of pressure from China, from home, for him, so I'd be trying to fool him if I had all kinds of advice. We're taking baby steps together through this process," Krystkowiak said. "He's a little bit of a microcosm of what our whole team is trying to do, just keep that climb going and find some consistency, avoid highs and lows. He's the perfect poster child for what our whole team is trying to do."
Ups and downs were visible everywhere in his first game. He shot the ball extremely well, finishing 4-for-5. He bit on nearly every pump fake, picking up his fourth foul early in the third quarter and fouling out with 2:54 remaining in the contest. When his sixth foul was whistled and he had to head to the bench, he seemed confused.
"It is a different game. He will be fine," said Bucks captain Michael Redd. "All we have to do is keep encouraging him and let him know that there are 81 more games to go."
Among those 81 games, there figure to be contests that go much worse than his opening effort, as well as games that would make anybody wanting to take the Barkley approach look foolish.
Undoubtedly, the two biggest contests for the Bucks rookie is the one that will captivate his entire country, when he squares off against Yao for the first time on Nov. 9 in Houston, as well as the Feb. 2 home date with the Rockets which pits two of China's favorite sons against each other on Chinese New Year.
"It's absolutely buzzing with respect to another well-known player who is from Guangdong province (Yi) rather than Shanghai (Yao). Competition is keen amongst different cities, Guangzhou versus Shanghai," said NBA Commissioner David Stern in his annual preseason teleconference. "From the NBA's perspective, having another bona fide Chinese superstar in waiting, he's coming here with less exposure and less experience than Yao, but there are very high hopes for him in his homeland.
"In Milwaukee, aside from the fact that he's seen as a great player, I think that Milwaukee is going to be on the map as far as Chinese awareness, Chinese businesses. Sort of interesting things have a way of happening because of the connectivity between a country as large as China and a city like Milwaukee."
Pressure is going to become Yi's unwelcome guest over the next few months as he tries to acclimate to a new country, lifestyle and league. The fact that Yao was able to come through it so cleanly, learning the language so well and adapting like he did, is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because Yao's success can inspire Yi, and a curse because now he's going to be expected to. Already, in watching him enveloped by his country's media, you can tell the demands are going to be great.
"I think it's real important for him to be able to say no. We're going to get into different cities, and there's going to be media requests and parties that people want to host and I know for a fact that there's enough on his plate already without a lot of that external stuff. If he wants to try to accommodate everybody, I think that's maybe going to be a little bit of a challenge for him," Krystkowiak said. "I would just suggest that if he can't say no that we'll be able to say no for him."
Even with his native press, he's thoughtful and soft-spoken, soaking in these new experiences while trying not to let anyone get too far ahead of themselves. Orlando players reported seeing billboards of him everywhere in China, where they visited alongside Cleveland on a preseason tour just two weeks ago. Undoubtedly, the expectations are astronomical.
"Nervous?" I asked, looking towards the reporter who had nicely stepped in as impromptu interpreter.
That question, Yi clearly understood. He grinned and fielded it himself.
"I'm OK."
Yeah, he will be.
