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ot - yi's missing in milwaukee
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djsunyc
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7/6/2007  11:01 AM
AUTOADVERT
djsunyc
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7/6/2007  11:31 AM
Standing their ground

Posted: Thursday July 5, 2007 3:29PM; Updated: Thursday July 5, 2007 4:05PM

Two years ago Bucks general manager Larry Harris got lucky in the NBA Draft when he landed the No. 1 pick despite having just a 6.3 percent chance after finishing with only the sixth-worst record.

This year he's getting his karmic payback.

Harris thought he was doing a great thing for his team last week when he selected Chinese prospect Yi Jianlian with the No. 6 pick in the draft.

Yi is a considered a potential NBA star. The 6-foot-11 forward can score, rebound, pass and play facing the basket. Some have compared him to Dirk Nowitzki.

Unfortunately for Harris, what should have been a happy occasion in Milwaukee has turned into a nightmare.

Yi apparently doesn't want to play in Brew Town. Or at least his handlers --including notoriously tough agent Dan Fegan - don't want him there. They want Yi in a big market, one with a large Asian population.

"[We] won't sit here and do nothing just because he was picked by Milwaukee," Zhao Gang, one of Yi's representatives, told the official China Daily newspaper Tuesday. "We are considering Yi's future at the Bucks and are looking at trade possibilities."

Harris has no plans to comply.

"We're not trading him," Harris told SI.com. "We like him and we think this is a great opportunity for him. He'll get a chance to play a lot of minutes right away for a good team. What more could [he] want?"

Harris hoped to make that case in person Thursday afternoon when he was to meet with Yi at the Las Vegas Summer League. Yi is scheduled to play with his Chinese national team, while the Bucks are also fielding a team there.

So far the Bucks haven't heard from Yi at all. They have tried to reach out to him, but his handlers have declined the invitation. Not even a personal letter from Bucks owner Herb Kohl -- who happens to be a U.S. senator -- has been enough to persuade Yi.

Attempts to reach Fegan have not been successful, but it's safe to say he isn't budging.

It has been widely reported that Golden State was at the top of Yi's list of potential trade partners. The Bay Area boasts a large Asian population, and the Warriors were said to have serious interest in the skilled big man. Golden State also has an attractive trade piece of its own in No. 8 pick Brandan Wright, a North Carolina freshman forward whom Milwaukee was said to be high on in the days leading up to the draft.

But Golden State has yet to call Milwaukee, according to a source, and it is unclear now whether the Warriors' interest in Yi was real or overhyped.

One telling indicator in the coming days will be if Golden State signs Wright to a contract. Once a player signs, he can't be traded for 60 days. That would seem to eliminate them from any deal.
franco12
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7/6/2007  1:21 PM
how come folks were blasting Joakim Noah for being a 'rich spoiled boy' when he let on that there were certain cities he didn't want to play for, and no one is on this guy for basically doing the same thing.

Stern doesn't have the balls to do this, but he should call the China reps and tell them that if Yi doesn't report, then there will be no more chinese players to play in the NBA.

Perfect example of leverage. I believe the NBA has more to offer China, than they do to the NBA.
TMS
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7/6/2007  1:23 PM
like i told someone on another thread, it's all about the dollars... Yi represents a big money maker for the NBA in terms of international marketing appeal, so it's a different scenario than if a guy like Joakim Noah were trying to dictate where he wanted to go... it may not sound fair, but things rarely are when dollars & cents enters into the equation.
After 7 years & 40K+ posts, banned by martin for calling Nalod a 'moron'. Awesome.
Pharzeone
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7/6/2007  1:29 PM
Posted by franco12:



Perfect example of leverage. I believe the NBA has more to offer China, than they do to the NBA.

Many economist around this country just fainted at that statement. I am pretty sure the boys at the NBA headquarters in NY had a good laugh.
I don't like to play bad rookies , I like to play good rookies - Mike D'Antoni
BasketballJones
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7/6/2007  1:31 PM
Didn't Steve Francis refuse to play for the Vancouver Grizzlies too?
https:// It's not so hard.
Ira
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7/6/2007  2:00 PM
China's being very pushy about this and the right thing for Stern to do is to back Milwaukee. That having been said, maybe we can make them an offer. NY certainly has a large Chinese population and we do have some tradeable assets.
TMS
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7/6/2007  2:07 PM
again, are you willing to give up what it will take to get him? you have to think MIL isn't even going to consider any offer that doesn't include D Lee & Balkman to begin with, & likely will be asking for more.
After 7 years & 40K+ posts, banned by martin for calling Nalod a 'moron'. Awesome.
franco12
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7/6/2007  2:42 PM
Posted by Pharzeone:
Posted by franco12:



Perfect example of leverage. I believe the NBA has more to offer China, than they do to the NBA.

Many economist around this country just fainted at that statement. I am pretty sure the boys at the NBA headquarters in NY had a good laugh.

Are you going to pay to watch Chinese basketball?

The NBA represents the best basketball has to offer.

Yes, there are 1Billion Chinese- and they do have a small amount of coin. National pride aside, do you think they'd rather watch chinese basketball, or the NBA?

This is the problem- we kow tow to the 'Chinese Market'- well, excuse me for not wanting poison in my toothpaste and rip off DVDs- sorry- the NBA is a quality product. They can pay, like everyone else, and their players can play by the rules, or go home.
arkrud
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7/6/2007  2:49 PM
Posted by franco12:
Posted by Pharzeone:
Posted by franco12:



Perfect example of leverage. I believe the NBA has more to offer China, than they do to the NBA.

Many economist around this country just fainted at that statement. I am pretty sure the boys at the NBA headquarters in NY had a good laugh.

Are you going to pay to watch Chinese basketball?

The NBA represents the best basketball has to offer.

Yes, there are 1Billion Chinese- and they do have a small amount of coin. National pride aside, do you think they'd rather watch chinese basketball, or the NBA?

This is the problem- we kow tow to the 'Chinese Market'- well, excuse me for not wanting poison in my toothpaste and rip off DVDs- sorry- the NBA is a quality product. They can pay, like everyone else, and their players can play by the rules, or go home.

300 mil people playing organized basketball in China...
It's more that US population.
US bbal market is dead and is pushing back by Soccker, and Hockey which are expanding. Baseball and football will never give up the ground. So how to get more money from bbal?


"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Hamlet
TMS
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7/6/2007  3:02 PM
Posted by franco12:
This is the problem- we kow tow to the 'Chinese Market'- well, excuse me for not wanting poison in my toothpaste and rip off DVDs- sorry- the NBA is a quality product.

wow, that's a pretty ignorant comment right there.
After 7 years & 40K+ posts, banned by martin for calling Nalod a 'moron'. Awesome.
Pharzeone
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7/6/2007  3:04 PM
Posted by franco12:
Posted by Pharzeone:
Posted by franco12:



Perfect example of leverage. I believe the NBA has more to offer China, than they do to the NBA.

Many economist around this country just fainted at that statement. I am pretty sure the boys at the NBA headquarters in NY had a good laugh.

Are you going to pay to watch Chinese basketball?

The NBA represents the best basketball has to offer.

Yes, there are 1Billion Chinese- and they do have a small amount of coin. National pride aside, do you think they'd rather watch chinese basketball, or the NBA?

This is the problem- we kow tow to the 'Chinese Market'- well, excuse me for not wanting poison in my toothpaste and rip off DVDs- sorry- the NBA is a quality product. They can pay, like everyone else, and their players can play by the rules, or go home.

Your personal feelings is one thing. To make a comment that the world's fastest growing market needs the NBA more than the NBA needs to expand in China is just flat out unwise or not well informed.
I don't like to play bad rookies , I like to play good rookies - Mike D'Antoni
Pharzeone
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7/6/2007  3:04 PM
Posted by TMS:
Posted by franco12:
This is the problem- we kow tow to the 'Chinese Market'- well, excuse me for not wanting poison in my toothpaste and rip off DVDs- sorry- the NBA is a quality product.

wow, that's a pretty ignorant comment right there.

I didn't address that comment because it had some overtone which I was trying to avoid.
I don't like to play bad rookies , I like to play good rookies - Mike D'Antoni
s3231
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7/6/2007  3:58 PM
First the Chinese ruin 24, now this?

Seriously though, as Pharzeone pointed out, it would be very unwise to ignore the world's fast growing economy in China.

Obviously, we don't want to set a precedent where countries can choose where their players will go. However, we do need China and we can't just threaten to close the NBA to them.

[Edited by - s3231 on 07-06-2007 3:59 PM]
"This is a very cautious situation that we're in. You have to be conservative in terms of using your assets and using them wisely. We're building for the future." - Zeke (I guess not protecting a first round pick is being conservative)
TMS
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7/6/2007  4:16 PM
baseball is starting to follow suit as well... the Yankees have established talent development in China, both in order to tap into their talent pool, but mainly to gain a foothold & marketshare over there once the sport catches on in popularity... this is all about marketing & tapping into a HUGE international market, which equates to boatloads of cash money... how does anyone actually think that China stands to benefit more than the NBA in all this? we're talking about a nation with over a billion in population, many of whom have never even heard of Michael Jordan or Larry Bird... you guys think if the NBA just broadcast its games over there without any Chinese stars playing in the league, that people would just watch & be captivated by the sport? sorry, it doesn't work that way... you need to feature the best players that come out of that country if you want the sport to gain in popularity in that market... that's for the benefit of the NBA, not the other way around.

btw, there are tons of quality products that come out of China other than bootleg DVD's & toothpaste (LOL, that's such a ridiculous statement it's actually funny).

[Edited by - TMS on 07-06-2007 4:16 PM]
After 7 years & 40K+ posts, banned by martin for calling Nalod a 'moron'. Awesome.
franco12
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7/6/2007  6:19 PM
Posted by Pharzeone:
Posted by franco12:
Posted by Pharzeone:
Posted by franco12:



Perfect example of leverage. I believe the NBA has more to offer China, than they do to the NBA.

Many economist around this country just fainted at that statement. I am pretty sure the boys at the NBA headquarters in NY had a good laugh.

Are you going to pay to watch Chinese basketball?

The NBA represents the best basketball has to offer.

Yes, there are 1Billion Chinese- and they do have a small amount of coin. National pride aside, do you think they'd rather watch chinese basketball, or the NBA?

This is the problem- we kow tow to the 'Chinese Market'- well, excuse me for not wanting poison in my toothpaste and rip off DVDs- sorry- the NBA is a quality product. They can pay, like everyone else, and their players can play by the rules, or go home.

Your personal feelings is one thing. To make a comment that the world's fastest growing market needs the NBA more than the NBA needs to expand in China is just flat out unwise or not well informed.

My point is that our dealings with China aren't on an even footing.

We allow their cheap goods in- some of which turns out to be a cheap chemical substitute in toothpaste that killed possibly three hundred people in panama

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-fg-poison20jun20,1,2137683.story?coll=la-health-medicine

We allow them to rip off our intellectual property rights and mass produce knock off dvds- and somehow we're afraid to offend them.

Meanwhile, the chinese are making friends with dictators in Africa to secure raw materials.

This is not personal- its a matter of principal.

As the NBA is concerned- why should this guy get preferential treatment?

Great- lets go ahead and allow him to pick where he plays- and while we're at it, lets go back to having a regional draft- the one they had back in the fifties and sixties- I could be wrong- and do correct me- but teams had a first dibs as it were on players in their immediate geography- maybe that will help ratings.

Yi- or the Chinese Govt.- stand to make a lot of money from the NBA. Either they play by the rules, or they don't.
s3231
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7/6/2007  6:41 PM
We are not afraid to offend them at all. If anything, Chinese officials think we've been making too big of a deal with these isolated cases. The FDA is blocking many types of Chinese Seafood for example.

Our country has been putting pressure on China to increase the quality of their prodcuts and China has a very strong incentive to comply. Their economy depends on exports and around 20% of their total exports go to the U.S.

They need us, but at the same time, we don't want to make them go to an island mentality cause we need them too.

Here is a good article to read if you have access to the journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118316517029653742-search.html?KEYWORDS=China+addresses+concerns&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
"This is a very cautious situation that we're in. You have to be conservative in terms of using your assets and using them wisely. We're building for the future." - Zeke (I guess not protecting a first round pick is being conservative)
izybx
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7/7/2007  3:29 AM
Thread hijack.

Sucks for milwaukeetho.
Beat the Evil Empire. BEAT MIAMI
franco12
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7/7/2007  9:18 AM
Posted by izybx:

Thread hijack.

Sucks for milwaukeetho.

it does if they can't trade him.

If I recall correctly, Charlotte drafted Kobe- and had to trade him to LA because that is where he wanted to go.

If we weren't stacked up front with the players we have- and I thought this guy was good- I'd be hoping Isiah could make a trade for him
Pharzeone
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7/7/2007  10:31 AM
Posted by izybx:

Thread hijack.

Sucks for milwaukeetho.

The Bucks were warned by Yi, his reps and the NBA officials in NY not to select him because of this outcome. If you put your hand in the Lion's mouth and he bites ....
I don't like to play bad rookies , I like to play good rookies - Mike D'Antoni
ot - yi's missing in milwaukee

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