NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.
Let's go all Einstein in this mother and do us some wild thought experiments. Imagine it's January 18th, 2008 and your home team is hosting the Milwaukee Bucks. The following will be a word to word transcript of what your local game announcers will "chit-chat" about when Yi Jianlian checks in:
Play-by-Play Announcer: So this Yi guy, what have you heard about him, [insert Color Commentator name]?
Color Commentator: Boy [insert PbP guy name], let me tells ya, I've been in the NBA for 34 years and this guy just puzzles me!
PbP: Ha ha ha, oh [CC name], do go on.
CC: Well, first during draft night Yi and his pals look like someone kicked their puppy because they didn't want the Bucks. Then there was the whole mess over the summer where they wanted to stay overseas and sit out. To get them to come over, "apparently" minutes were promised. But on top of that, we're not even sure if he's 19 or 26!
PbP: Ha ha ha, yup, sure is puzzling.
CC: It's crazy how we're still bringing this up and not talking about the collective Bucks squad huh?
PbP: Ha ha ha, crazy!
CC: Hey, I want to talk to you about that laughing thing ... not everything I say is intended to be funny you know ...
PbP: Ha-- uh ... um ...
CC: ...
PbP: ...So, what's up with Britney Spears?
Aaand scene.
Here's the thing, if Yi turns out bad this year, that's more reason for game talking heads to keep bringing this stuff up. If he turns out solid, they'll still bring it up, but to a lesser degree. In any case, if the Bucks aren't winning in any capacity, Eazy's brief, but storied transactions with the NBA will be shorthand whenever there's a lull.
Oh, and there will be a lull.
View all of our "Most Likely" previews.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Agreed. The Bucks are used to being ignored by the media, so having Yi is kind of strange since so much of the attention on the Bucks now (locally as well) is due to the curiosity factor with Yi. More casual fans will probably be a little disappointed if he's not an impact rookie, but I think even with his exceptional talents he will have plenty of rough patches. Turnovers, rebounding and foul trouble will probably be major issues this year.
I'm sure people will want to proclaim him a bust or a superstar-in-waiting based on what he does day-to-day, but the truth is we won't know for a couple years how good he can be.