As China entered the 2010 FIBA World Championships there were many who questioned if Yi Jianlian could step up in the absence of Yao Ming and lead the team. So far the answer is a resounding yes.
Through two games Yi has averaged 26 points and 11.5 rebounds. While his performance has been a delight to millions of Chinese basketball fans, Flip Saunders and the Washington Wizards have to be enjoying it even more.
The Wizards traded guard Quinton Ross to the New Jersey Nets for the rights to Yi in June. The Nets were trying to clear cap space to make a run at signing LeBron James.
In his three previous seasons, the 7'0" forward averaged 9.6 points and 5.8 assists. These are pretty underwhelming numbers for the sixth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. Especially when you factor in that Yi is a career 40 percent shooter.
Milwaukee and New Jersey
Jianlian is not solely responsible for his career performance, as he has only been on teams that were experiencing some level of turmoil. The Milwaukee Bucks won just 26 games his first season and head coach Larry Krystkowiak was on the hot seat the en ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Pete Pazulli
Is Yi Jianlian Turning the Corner at the FIBA World Championships?
August 29th, 2010 by Pete Pazulli Leave a reply »
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