Chinese to Milwaukee: Buck off!

Probably no more or no less than most. As impressive as he looked against 5-7 trainers in workouts, he certainly didn't appear to be superior to many players in the summer league. I understand it doesn't really mean anything, but you'd think that being the best player on his team you'd at least be able to tell which one he was, which wasn't the case a few of the times I saw him. At the least I don't think he's achieved enough to warrant this attitude he's pulling. You got drafted by Milwaukee... go play there. If you're really great, they have these things called tv's and people will get to watch you play.

Do you think he's going to be a star?

 

lake. big lake.

 

Boobie, HE'S not really the one pulling the attitude. Technically its his Chinese club, in actuality its the Chinese government. Yi is basically pawn who doesn't have a lot of choice in the matter.

Which is even more reason why the Bucks and NBA need to take a piss-off stance on this. It'll set a nasty little precedent if we start letting China dictate which teams its athletes will and will not play for here.

 

I don't think he'd have to sit for three seasons. Here's a blog entry by Don Walker, who is the sports business writer at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

If Yi does not sign a contract with another pro team in the next year, the Bucks will lose their rights. Yi then would be eligible for the 2008 draft and presumably would be looking to sign with a team to his liking. In other words, Yi could play with his national team for a year and then re-enter the draft.

The catch here is whether Yi has a contract with the Guangdong Tigers, the team he played for in the Chinese Basketball Association. A Bucks' team official said Monday that he couldn't say for sure Yi has a signed contract with the Tigers, but had reason to believe that Yi does. Other sources have told the Journal Sentinel that Yi indeed has a contract with the Tigers.

 

If that were to happen, shouldn't the NBA award Milwaukee a compensatory first round pick? After all, the NBA allowed Yi to enter their draft under false pretenses.

 

It sure seems like false pretenses, but I would agree with Mmac ... the Bucks and David Stern need to maintain a hard line on Yi and his people dicking around.

Yi was that naive to think that only one of the teams that worked him out would pick him? That's his handlers' fault for leading him to believe that. What idiots.

 

True, and I won't pretend to understand how things work in China with the national teams, government and top athletes, but he's still a man (be it 19 or 23 or whatever) and I'd like to think at some point he'd decide to look out for his own best interests, and sitting out of the NBA for a year would not be doing so, IMO.

 

Dear China,
You can't pick and choose your teams. That's why we have a draft. You spins the wheel, you take your chances.
If you can't accept it, we wont draft your players to give them international exposure.
Love,
David Stern

 

I would hope so, it would be the least they could do. And then Yi would be happy to see the Bucks draft him again.

 

Dear Mr Stern:

1,321,851,888 (July 2007 est.)

Love,
China

 

What's with the focus on the Olympics? I realize they're in Beijing, but the Chinese national team struggled against summer league comp., do they honestly expect that they'll do any damage against other national teams?