Yi Jianlian's turnaround jump shot from the right corner with 0.4
seconds left gave Team China an 85-84 win over the Cleveland
Cavaliers on Sunday.
With Team China down one, it set a pick and roll with Yi to
create a mismatch. When the mismatch happened, they fed Yi on the
low post and he put home the game-winner.
Cavs' Matt Walsh nailed a 3-pointer with 18.3 seconds left to
give Cleveland an 84-83 lead before Yi's heroics.
Yi struggled in the first three quarters, missing all six of his
shots. His first field goal did not come until the 9:45 mark of the
fourth quarter. However, Yi had a monster fourth quarter, scoring
17 of his team-high 20 points (3-11 FG, 14-17 FT) in the quarter.
Yi also grabbed four rebounds and collected eight fouls in the
win.
Wang ZhiZhi accounted for 18 points (5-9 FG, 5-6 FT) and seven
rebounds for Team China.
2006 first round pick Shannon Brown had a game-high 26 points
(11-16 FG) in 32 minutes of action for the Cavs, while Daniel
Gibson produced 14 points (2-4 FG, 10-11 FT) in just 17 minutes of
play. Gibson suffered a left ankle sprain in the second quarter and
did not return.
"We didn't execute down the stretch," Gibson said of the Cavs
play. "We gave them a lot of easy baskets. We had a lot of fouls
which gave them a lot of easy points."
Fans want Yi to sign with Bucks
They might not have known Milwaukee from Malawi two weeks ago,
but Chinese hoops fans and media say it's time for Yi to swallow
his disappointment and sign a rookie contract with the Bucks.
"Yi, stand up and speak for yourself," said the Beijing Evening
Post. "Don't hesitate any more and don't let anybody control your
life."
Yi was taken by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 6th pick of last
Friday's NBA draft, despite his representatives warning that he had
no desire to play there.
"Yi should decide his future by himself and sign with the
Bucks," the Nanjing Morning Post said. "It is totally wrong to seek
a trade after the draft. Yi will be under great pressure if he
continues to be 'picky' like this."
"No matter if the team is strong or not, what is more important
is that Yi gets lots of time on court. If the Bucks can give Yi
more time than other teams, I suggest he stays with them," said fan
Du Feilei from Zhejiang University. "A year of truly competitive
experiences in the NBA will definitely lift Yi to another level and
help Team China a lot if they want to win a medal (at the 2008
Beijing Games)."
An online poll by Sina.com found that 68 percent of more than
9,000 respondents want Yi to remain a Buck. Added to this, 46
percent think the Bucks is a suitable team for Yi to begin his NBA
career with.
The forward finally met with Bucks general manager Larry Harris
and coach Larry Krystkowiak on Thursday in Las Vegas, where he is
competing in the NBA Summer League with Team China.
Increasingly, Chinese media and fans believe Yi's agent Dan
Fegan is the main barrier preventing the player committing to the
Bucks.
"Fegan will hamper Yi's future," former national team coach Qian
Chenghai told Sina.com. "I don't think Yi refused to join the
Bucks, it is Fegan who doesn't want him to join.
"We don't want to see Yi destroy his reputation in the NBA and
return to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), that's
horrible."
It is thought Yi wants to be in a major market with a large
Chinese population - in many ways the opposite of Milwaukee. The
city, in the northern state of Wisconsin, has a population of just
550,000 - only 1.7% of whom are of Chinese origin.
The Bucks had been excluded from seeing Yi work out before the
draft as part of a strategy designed by Fegan to land him in one of
a handful of desired cities.
This strategy did not work, and in the days after the draft Yi's
Chinese agent confirmed that they were looking at trade
possibilities.
But some believe Yi should prove himself on court before he
tests his value on the market.
"The Bucks have promised to give Yi plenty of time, that's very
important for him and also the best thing a rookie can ask for,"
reported Sina.com.
The Bucks have repeatedly reiterated their intention to retain
Yi, and after some impressive moments in Las Vegas that desire is
stronger than ever.
"It was a chance for our coaches to see him play in an NBA
environment, with NBA rules, against NBA players," Harris told
Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel newspaper. "It's been a win-win on a
lot of different fronts."
Yi had 23 points and showed the aggression that many thought he
lacked in China's game with Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, but then
he struggled to just nine points on 2-17 shooting as China was
routed by Sacramento Kings on Saturday.
After a slow start against Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday - he
had just three points in the first three quarters - Yi caught fire
in the fourth adding 17. This included a turnaround jumper at the
buzzer to give China an 85-84 win.
"There was a lot of contact, and he was able to finish it off
and win the game for them. I'm proud of the young man and really
happy to see China get a win in the summer league," Harris told the
Journal Sentinel.
"I don't answer speculation, but from a Bucks standpoint we're
doing everything we can to move the process along and have Yi as a
Milwaukee Buck next season," he added.
(China Daily, NBA.com July 10, 2007)
