Yi struggles against Team USA defense
By Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com

Yi came up small on the big stage against Team USA.
BEIJING -- No matter how uptight or nervous folks back in America must have felt when this thing was staying too close for too long, there's a decent chance that 999,999,999 people around the world weren't feeling quite the emotions that had to be gripping Rod Thorn.

The longtime USA Basketball executive whose tenure with the national program dates back to the Dream Team days, Thorn probably couldn't believe his eyes midway through the second quarter when the Americans were 1-for-12 from 3-point range -- compared to China's 7-for-11 -- and were ahead just three points, 35-32.

But what had to make Thorn choke on his Cheerios even more Sunday morning back in the States was the sight of his newest prize acquisition, Yi Jianlian, looking even worse than those smog-filled panoramas you keep seeing on the broadcasts out of Beijing.

Six times Yi put the ball in the air, and six times he missed. Take away that 0-for-6 first half, and the Chinese were just one made bucket away from shooting 50 percent from the field.

And somewhere, former U.S. Olympian Richard Jefferson had to shake his head wondering how in the wide, weird world he was traded for someone who looked so lost on such a massive stage.

Yi, to put it politely, looked horrible before salvaging a little respect with a late offensive flurry in the fourth quarter after the Americans' 101-70 victory had long been decided.


"Maybe our biggest mistake was thinking this would continue, because we got nervous, we made mistakes," China coach Jonas Kazlauskas said. "Some players hesitated too much, and we lost control."

That they did, and the Americans' relentless pressure finally cracked the Chinese midway through that second quarter after they had stunned the crowd and a worldwide audience estimated at 1 billion -- the largest ever to watch a basketball game -- by staying even with Team USA for the first 15 minutes of play.

And the first to crack was Yi, who lost the ball on a trap that led to a dunk by Kobe Bryant to make it 35-29 before Li Nan hit a 3 to get China within three points for the final time.

Over the course of the next minute and a half, Yi had an unsportsmanlike foul and a missed 3 before Kazlauskas yanked him.

The deficit was 14 by the time Yi slammed in a miss early in the third quarter for his first bucket, but that came one play after Dwight Howard easily bodied Yi out of the way to make room for Bryant to throw down one of Team USA's many, many dunks.

Yao Ming was visibly upset at Yi after he broke off a set play and tried to force-feed Yao in the low post, the ball sailing straight out of bounds. Yao gestured at Yi that he should have thrown the ball to an open teammate at the 3-point line.

Yi exited with China down 53-39, replacing Yao later in the third quarter with the deficit at 19 after Yao appeared to aggravate his foot injury and was slumped over cringing in pain. My notebook for the rest of the quarter reads like this:
Yi misses 3. Yi misses 2-on-2 fast break, Yi fouls Chris Bosh with a hard slap that could be heard in the upper deck, Yi stands stationary as sloppy pass leads to Kobe fast-break dunk. 71-48.

Yi's final line read 4-for-13 for nine points with three rebounds, three fouls and two turnovers, with two missed free throws and four misses in four attempts from 3-point range.

Remember that rookie wall he hit back in February? Back before the Milwaukee Bucks got rid of him?

He's still hitting it.

"You know, what I did see from him in the fourth quarter was resilience. He struggled, but he was still being aggressive. And as a young player you like to see that out of him. He has a lot of growing to do, but he's going to be terrific," Michael Redd said afterward of his former Bucks teammate, who he described as a nice, Americanized kid already well-versed in U.S. street lingo.

To which I responded, "Well, you guys got the better of that trade."

To which Redd quickly responded: "We did, oh we did, we did, we did, we did. We're happy, no question." (I played the tape back five times to make sure I had an accurate count of "we dids.")

And somewhere back in the States, we're guessing a certain president of a certain team whose relocation date to Brooklyn grows ever more uncertain … well, we're fairly certain he turned off his TV Sunday morning having a hard time feeling good about what he watched from Beijing -- no matter how happy he was for his old friends on the staff of USA Basketball.

Chris Sheridan is an ESPN.com Insider. He has covered the U.S. senior national team since the 1996 Olympics. To e-mail Chris, click here.

Typical ignorant post. The nets are not a championship team without Jefferson, therefor they are not one with him. He turned Jason Kidd into a bright young two way point guard when his value was average at best in the trading market.

Would you rather be the bucks keep signing talent that is not going to deliver like williams, redd, jefferson to long term deals, overpaying bogut.

Yi happens to be very raw and a big project and he is also 20 years old, Thorn got the team to 2 nba finals in the last decade Lakers, Spurs, Pistons are the only other teams to make the trip. Not to mention if Kidd and Martin aren't hurt Detriot never wins the championship under brown. And Yi happens to be 2 years younger than Yao was when he entered the leauge.

Yi, Harris, Lopez I would rather have that nucleus than most teams in the east especially when you building a contender to make a run at top flight talent clearing out cap room.

The guy turns 21 in October (Assuming that they Chinese are not playing with the ages of their guys- some of their younger players look like they could be in their mid 20s) for goodness sake. Give him a break. Yesterday's game might also have been one of those "deer in the headlights" things for him- the Chinese players must have been under a lot of pressure.

I would give him a few years to develop. To be good, players have to get into a comfort zone, where they always know their place on a team and what they are supposed to be doing on that team. All-star teams don't always bring out the best in players because these are guys used to playing big minutes as the big men on their respective teams. Now they are all roll players.

You can look at a lot of the NBA players yesterday and wonder what is so special about them. If Kobe was not a proven talent, what would you have said about him after yesterday? And was Carmello Anthony better than Yi? And Howard- except for some dunks, did he look particularly dominating?

I'm a Knicks fan first, but I was watching BB when the ABA started, and lived on the Island when the Nets were playing (Got to see the Barry's team almost win and Dr. J's championships), and I have always rooted for them after the Knicks. I like Jefferson (It was great watching a guy who was known more for his D, come to be a well rounded player), and actually wish the Nets could have gotten more for him, but trading him away is part of a rebuilding plan which seems to be predicated on some big changes for the Nets in 2010. I don't know if Yi is going to be a stud, a solid starter, a rotation player, or a stiff, but you have to give him time.

Somewhat foolish ESPN article, IMHO. Guess Sheridan had to find some story to write about. Seems like he was out to do a hatchett job on Yi. Even after Redd said some nice things about Yi, Sheridan had to push things. (Did he really think that Redd would say that the Bucks got the worst of the trade- he has to play with Jefferson next year!) The Bucks got the best player in the trade, but who knows how things will be 3 yrs. from now. Jefferson has been somewhat injury prone- who knows what will happen down the line.

Posted by djsunyc:

thorn decided to blow up the team midway through the 07/08 season. rebuilds take some time so let's see where the nets will be in 3 years.

From the looks of things, they certainly won't be in Brooklyn in 3 years.

Yi was spooked. Then again Yao didn't have a particularly good game either. Only 2 people that weren't completely spooked was #4(the young back-up point guard) and the guy that was nailing 3pters in the first half.......sorry I don't have the names in front of me.

Btw, #4 even though he was green, and probably a little too flashy. He showed some serious heart out there. He's supposed to be 19 or 20 I believe. If he can continue to learn the game and gain experience he is gonna be a problem.

I don't think Yi's a scrub but I'm gonna start calling him "Mr. Soft-Yi" until he proves otherwise.

Posted by EnySpree:

Its a culture thing as well. I don't think Yi has that nasty in him. He's a skilled player but if he had the swagger of an american he'd be a terror.

Again judging by the play of the back up point guard #4, I think by the time the next olympics rolls around China will be ultra compeditive......with a swagger to boot.

the kid's got swagger, he's just a skinny fuk... & doesn't wanna get his ass kicked by a 7'5" monster.

Posted by BasketballJones:

What's worse? Being a "Larry Lover" or a "Rod Thorn Lover"?

Being a "Bip Lover"

Once again we give another teams prospect love but when it comes to our own ( Gallo ), he sucks. lol. So who would u rather have, Rooster or Yi ??