Interviews with Yi and Sun after Win over Cavaliers

Q & A: Team China’s Yi and Sun
By Mo Wang
Posted Jul 10 2007 3:39PM


Garrett Ellwood/NBAE/Getty
Yi and Sun helped Team China to an impressive victory Sunday.
LAS VEGAS, July 9, 2007 -- Yi Jianlian's turnaround jumper from the left corner with 0.4 seconds remaining lifted Team China Basketball to a thrilling 85-84 victory against the Cavaliers on Sunday at the NBA Summer League presented by adidas. NBA.com's Mo Wang caught up with the hero and his teammate Sun Yue, who was picked 40th at the 2007 Draft by the Lakers.

Wang: Talk about that winning jump shot.

Yi: It's about 18 seconds left, Coach Jonas (Kazlauskas) wants us to play a top pick and roll, and then cut into the paint to see if we can find a good chance. I say we did a very good job on both planning and execution. That last pass I got from my teammate (Zhu Fangyu) was great.

Wang: How exciting was yesterday's win over the Cavaliers?

Sun: It means a lot to us. Since we never beat any NBA teams before, it's like making history for Chinese basketball. This win is very good for improving our confidence, we will be more confident when we play our next game.

Wang: After playing three NBA Summer League games, which aspects do you think that Team China did well in and which aspects do you guys still need to work on?

Yi: Use (the game against the Cavs) for an example. I think we played very hard and we made great efforts - that's why we won the game. However, for the first two games, we didn't play very well. Sometimes we did OK and sometimes we played just not our best basketball. Plus, we had too many turnovers. If we can cut that down, I think we can play much better, just like last night.

Wang: Sun Yue, how do you think you played so far? If 100 is the full mark, how would you rate yourself?

Sun: Well, I just met with the national team again recently. Since I didn't play any games for a while, I didn't control the rhythm during the game very well. And I think it doesn't make a lot of sense to rate myself right now because this is not my best basketball. Our goal here is to try and get as much experience as we can and to learn from the NBA teams. To us, to participate in the NBA Summer League is a great help for preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Wang: There is a lot of physical contact in the summer league, did you have any idea about this before you came here?

Yi: We played a lot of International games before so we know what American players' style is. American players are very strong and athletic. When you lose your position on the court, you will be very passive. So when we play against them, it's all about active. I think we will be fine if we use our bodies in the right way even though the American players are more physical than us.

Wang: Any return from your three-month physical training?

Yi: Three months is not a very long time, but I did gain some weight from the training. It has turned out well during the games. However, it's still not enough for me. I need to work more on my physical.

Wang: Any thoughts about playing against American players?

Sun: American players are very strong and athletic, so it's never easy to play against them. But since I played in the US for two years already, I am adapted to it. Moreover, just like what Yi said, you have to be more active and tougher on the court. American players are very active on offensive rebounds. That's something we need to improve on. Only if you have the desire, you can really achieve it.

Wang: What is your main goal for the rest of the summer league?

Yi: I need to work harder. You can't be satisfied by only one game. You have to try your best to get the second win and the third ... Through our effective training and hard work, I think we really improved recently. As long as we play our best basketball, we have a chance to win another game.

Wang: What is your main goal for the rest of the summer league?

Sun: Our goal is to try and win another game. After we won the game last night, we saw a big improvement from the team. Before, we didn't think we had a chance to win at all, so the goal was just getting more experience. But now it is different. We will try our best to win another game.

Wang: Which player(s) has left the biggest impression in the summer league?

Yi: Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson from the Cleveland Cavaliers. They played very well.

Sun: Daniel Gibson. He played very good in the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs and showed everybody his value. Daniel is a good model to me and I watch his moves very closely. I want to be a good player like him.

Wang: Team China did much better on 3-point shots yesterday than the first two games, why?

Sun: I think we cooperated very well last night. When our big guys are being doubled, they passed the ball to an open teammate very quickly and that gave our shooters a better chance to shoot the 3-pointer. We know our big guys will do their best to grab the offensive rebounds and that makes our shooters more confident to shoot from outside. When you give confidence to each other, you have the best cooperation out there.