See this article from ESPN (watch the video too).
This is a perfect example of poor full of shit "shock jock" type sports journalists who aren't funny or entertaining... but they think they are. So news breaks that China is a definite no on whether Yi can play for the Milwaukee Bucks. So these stooges decide to downplay Yi's skill, make fun of his workout videos, and compare him to Darko.
My question for them is, if he's so bad, why was he picked 6th overall (and projected at 5th if not for the Boston trade)? If it was a big Bucks mistake like the Darko pick, then shouldn't they be grilling the Bucks for making a lousy pick? Just because Yi isn't allowed to play in the US, they turn on him and downplay his value as a player.
They also make fun of China and their "reasoning" for not allowing Yi to play for the Bucks. Is this even news? China already said they want Yi playing for a big city team from the beginning. For some reason, the Bucks continued to choose Yi, and now they have this mess on their hands. Why are these dumb sports jockeys even remotely surprised? I suspect that they just have nothing better to say.
Okay. The last couple paragraphs were more rant than reason. On to the more important part of this entry: who's the loser?
BUCKS: they took a big gamble in taking Yi at sixth overall, but it wasn't that big of a gamble in my opinion. I could totally see Yi playing for the Bucks. They have a great young team that is in contention for the playoffs. I thought the Bucks had a good chance of convincing Chinese officials of letting Yi play in Milwaukee. Even now, the Bucks didn't really lose that much. Yi's potential is unknown, and they still have a decent team. Not the loser.
CHINA: they already have Yao as their global icon (despite him being a disappointment NBA wise). Yi would probably take attention away from Yao Ming, and if Yi turned out to be a disappointment, China would see that as a negative. In their eyes, it may be a good thing that Yi's not going to the NBA. Not the loser (this time).
YI: poor guy never had a say in this decision. I'm sure he would have loved to play for the Bucks and make his millions, even if it was just for a couple years. Who knows, he might have busted out and actually become a decent NBA player. For now, we just don't know. Yi has lost his NBA opportunity and its not his fault. Unfortunately, Yi is the big loser.
At least Yi is a player on the Chinese national team. He'll get treated well whether he joins the NBA or not I guess.
4 comments:
DId you see the recent Yi statments saying it was his decision all along?
Hard to swallow that one...
He would have worked out in Milwaukee (if his potential was that good) but eh, at least they have someone they can trade.
This scene got ugly real quick but i think the bucks should have tried to trade the pick and gotten something for it as soon as they saw boston trade out. Teams prepare tentative trades if certain scenarios play out and this should have been taken into account. they knew all along this was going to be a problem....
Lucky for Yi and china basketball the nba is dealing with a bigger scandal (see: Tim Tim Donaghy) and we might just have to wait for another time to see Yi play in the NBA.
Btw i saw him play against Boston in summer league with team china and he wasn't that great :-o
P.S: Why did u wipe out of facebook?
Re: john
I didn't see the statements. But I'm suspiscious that the statements weren't actually his. You've been here long enough to know what China's like ;)
Re: nat
Agreed. The Bucks should have tried to trade him as soon as they felt the deal turning sour (well, it was sour to begin with). I give them credit for trying to convince Yi though.
What do you mean wipe out of facebook? I'm still there :)
Holy Batman, you're on facebook?!
Your presence has sealed the deal for me to sign up!
The Bucks should trade Yi to the Suns for any of the bench, like their bigs that can't defend a tissue...Hey, we've had a crap post/pre-season, I can only dream, right?
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