China NT vs. Melbourne Tiger video highlights

http://www.56.com/u32/v_MTgwOTgzNjU.html

Game Highlights

Chinese get Easy Win Over the Melborne Tigers

CNT wins 69-56. The young group of players really struggle to hold onto a 23 point lead.

Yao finished with 12 or 14 points. He look much sharper and quicker out there, so hopefully his injury problems are behind him. He didn't really use the moves Hakeem taught him as I thought he would in a game like this. However the star was Yi who had 22 points I think. He really came into own in the 2nd half after defering to Yao in the first. I thought he gave an outstanding display of low post play. This is a sign of a player who is maturing and beginning to believe in himself.

The downside of the game was the perimeter players once again struggled. They still jack up too many ill advised shots despite having Yao an Yi on the team. Surely Mo Ke shouldn't be on the team any longer. Ding who had a few good games during the Stankovic cup continue to struggle. He is young and will learn from the experience but right now he looks terrible.

CNT will continue to struggle even with Yao unless the perimeter players improve.

More News Coverage on Yi's Arrival to the NBA

BREAKING NEWS!!!!! Bucks Sign Yi Jianlian To Multi-Year Contract

August 29, 2007 - The Milwaukee Bucks announced today that 2007 first round draft pick Yi Jianlian (EE jee-AHN-lee-AHN) has signed a multi-year contract. The Bucks 6th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, Yi Jianlian signed his contract in Hong Kong following a negotiating session with Mr. Chen Haitao, owner of the Guangdong Tigers. Bucks owner and team president Senator Herb Kohl, General Manager Larry Harris and Bucks Vice President Ron Walter were able to meet with Mr. Chen, as well as Yi and his family, as part of the process.


Yi Jianlian is expected to join the team for training camp that begins on Monday, October 1 at the Bucks Training Center in St. Francis, WI.

“There has been a genuine excitement throughout our city and state, as well as internationally, following our selection of Yi in the NBA Draft,” said Senator Herb Kohl. “We all anticipate Yi’s arrival and welcome him and his family to Milwaukee. We look forward to a successful relationship for many years to come.”

“We would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge and thank Mr. Chen for his assistance and support in the negotiating process,” Kohl added.

“We were thrilled to be able to draft Yi Jianlian in June and are equally excited to sign him to a NBA contract as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks,” said Harris. “We drafted Yi with the expectation that he would be a part of our franchise for a very long time and this is the first step in that process. Yi is a skilled and versatile young man who we have seen play numerous times over the last few years including this summer in the NBA Summer League. Our players and coaches look forward to working with Yi and I know our fans will enjoy watching him compete with the many talented, young players on our roster.”

NBA Commissioner David J. Stern commented, “We are happy that Yi will be playing with the Bucks to further develop his skill and his contribution to both the Chinese National Team and the NBA. This is another great example of cooperation between the CBA and the NBA and I want to congratulate the CBA, Mr. Chen, the Guangdong Tigers and the Milwaukee Bucks.”

A 6-11, 238-lbs. forward, Yi Jianlian has played professionally for the Guangdong Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) since 2002-03, when he was awarded Rookie of the Year honors. He has competed in the last five CBA Finals and won titles in 2004, 2005 and 2006, earning the Finals Most Valuable Player honors in 2006. In 2003-04, he averaged 9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds in 28 games, including his first CBA title. The following season in 53 contests, Yi improved his numbers to 16.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots on his way to a second consecutive CBA title. Yi led Guangdong to a third straight CBA title in 2005-06, averaging 20.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 52 games. Last season, Yi posted career-high averages with 24.9 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 30.7 minutes. He led Guangdong to a fifth straight appearance in the CBA Finals, but bowed to Bayi in five games (4-1).

This summer, Yi Jianlian and Team China Basketball played five games in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Yi averaged 12.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots in 28.0 minutes per game. He tallied a team-high 23 points vs. Memphis, and 20 points, including the game-winner, in Team China Basketball’s win over Cleveland.

Most recently in the Efes Pilsen World Cup in Izmir, Turkey, Yi averaged 23 points and 8 rebounds over three games against Poland (28 points, 10 rebounds), Serbia (17 points, 9 rebounds) and Latvia (24 points, 5 rebounds).

Yi competed for the Chinese National Team at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan.

China NT European Tour

August 22nd: China lost to Poland 83-66 at the Efes Pilsen World Cup in Izmir, Turkey. Yi Jianlian was China's only truly effective player with 28 points on 11 of 19 shooting, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Liu Xiaoyu played 15 minutes at point guard, scoring 2 points, dishing out 2 assists and committing 2 turnovers.

August 24th: China lost to Serbia today 96-76 in the Efes Pilsen World Cup in Izmir, Turkey. Sun Yue (206-G-85), seeing action at shooting guard, had his first good game of the China's European tour with 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting in 21 minutes. He had 2 assists, 2 steals and no turnovers. This begs the question of a possible Chen Jianghua/Sun Yue combination at SG/PG in the near future.

August 25th: China lost to Latvia 100-78 in the Efes Pilsen World Cup in Izmir, Turkey. Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue played well and Wang Zhizhi (214-C-79) had a good game offensively but once again China got almost nothing from its perimeter scorers, Wang Shipeng, Zhu Fangyu and Li Nan. Yi Jianlian showed some nice flashes against NBA center Andris Biedrin and held his own with 24pts/5rebs. He stats are quite skewed since he only played 26mins and had a minor knee injury.

Three Chinese Players headed for the NCAA

Three big men from China are expected to be playing for NCAA Division I teams next season -- Zhang Zhaoxu, formerly of Shandong, Ji Xiang. formerly of Shanghai, and Shang Ping, formerly of Beijing Aoshen. Zhang, who is going under the name Max Zhang, will be playing for the University of California at Berkeley in the Pac-10.