yi has been hitting the steroids over the summer why doesnt he look like that now?

The only reason I want to see Yi here for the opener, is to see him go up against Anderson, who may start with Lewis out. Otherwise I would gladly tell China not only could he play in the Chinca games, but they could keep him too.

Yi is not an aggressive player. He waits for others to get him his shots. I can’t see him scoring much with Harris, Lopez, Lee, CDR and Hayes playing along side of him. Yi would probably be better suited coming off the bench with the second unit. He wouldn’t face 1st stringers and he could be more of a scoring option. Who do we start at PF? I honestly dunno. Unless Yi can be more assertive, I can’t see his future role on this team. For the record I have always been high on Yi, but the way this team is built he does not seem to be a good fit. Hope I’m wrong.

Yea.. Yi looks jacked in that pic. He looked like the same old Yi the other night.

I would have loved to come into this season with a tough, athletic, attack the basket and rebound type forward.

Hakim Warrick, Chuck Hayes, Jason Maxiell, Tyrus Thomas, Amir Johnson, even Tyler Hansbrough or James Johnson on this roster would do the team justice.

A little Serge Ibaka or Deandre Jordan action would be a dream come true.

Alas, we have Yi. I’ll do my best to stay behind him for as long as possible. I hope he has a good season. …or get’s traded or loses his starting spot to one of those other guys via a different trade.

the reason the Nets don’t have an alternative starting PF is BECAUSE team mgmt has NOT considered anyone other than Yi. they got rid of the promising Anderson (who’s doing well at Orlando) and refused to draft a PF (Dejuan Blair or Tyler Hansbrough) this past summer. Everyone but Yormark knows the team is tying to fit the square Yi into a round hole. Maybe Yormark knows Yi can’t play, but he values China marketing more than a balanced winning basketball team…

He is the squarest peg in the league. Seriously, Get a headband, use some hair product, get a scowl, do SOMETHING cool!

I mean, Chinese tattoos may be sorta lame, but not if you’re CHINESE! He needs a huge sleeve going down his arm with all sorts of Chinese symbols and a dragon and stuff! Milk it, Yi! Milk it!
…ok i’m done.

Yi did make a few facial grimaces at the refs the other night.
He plays like a robot and the NBA style of play is free form. I can’t blame him personally, but he “just don’t fit and I believe it’s time to quit”. (B. Dylan)

Dirt: that would be awesome!

Personally I think I saw a little more aggressiveness from Yi so far in the preseason. Not a ton, but at least he wasn’t invisible on the court. He was actually occupying space under the basket and fighting for the ball. i think he’s made progress.

He did score 20, get 8 boards and 2 steals in first boston preseason game. He had a stinker in he second but was injured. I don’t think he is going set the league a light but i think he has come n since last year. If he puts in more games like the first Boston game i can’t see there being too many complaints. He has had 4 preseason games one (the last one when he picked up an injoury) was poor, one was excellent. Two were so so. Its not the end of the world yet.

Lighting plays a big role in how muscle looks

Besides, his arms did look thicker in that game.

He’s definitely made some progress. I won’t ignore that fact. He seems to have it in his head that he needs to attack the basket and fight for rebounds.

Mike Fratello made an interesting point during the YES broadcast. Ian asked him if he noticed any improvement in his muscle development. Fratello noted that while Yi may not have put on 15 pounds, as claimed, he did notice that his LEGS looked more developed.

People here didnt see the first Boston game. I assume that if the television coverage was reversed—that the first game was televised in NY/NJ and the second was blacked out—people might have a very different impression.

well keep in mind Yi is very tall and adding 15 pounds of muscle for him may not be as impressive as it is for a shorter person like you or me.

If they really want Yi to play in the China Games, they should have moved the playing dates earlier. I’m sure all teams but one are happy that Yi is not playing.

Nets will have to be firm, as they didn’t allow Najera to play either. Rules are rules.

If the Chinese people will insist, they should expect teams will have second thoughts on drafting their guys in the future.

Its a mistake drafting overseas players. They have heart to play for their countrys. When they come hear to the NBA. They just loose the heart. Look at Rubio, he is already doing commercials in the US and he never played a game in the NBA. Most of them are babys and it shows. Stay with USA players your doing the fans and injustice. My apologies to the few foreign players that do come hear and excel to our game. They are few. Rubio has talent and passion. But when NBA gets to rough for him, can he show heart? Passion and heart are two diferent things. Yi is a joke. He has talent but no heart.

@ Net Income…

Muscle Devil attacks under a veil of mystery. I like that about him.

I wish we could have seen him drop 20 points. We need it.

@Dziedzic

It just shows the greatness of Petrovic and Nowitzki. Those guys had a totally different mentality.

@ Dziedzic;
    There are alot of American players that fit your description of Yi. Different culture, different playing style.

If the Nets want Yi to excel they will have to get him the ball and force him to shoot. On his own Yi looks lost on offense. I can’t see Harris, Lopez and Lee looking out for Yi.
Not their style.

Yi had 3 fouls and KG had at least 8, maybe 10 points in the first quarter in the first Boston game. He sucks at PF and it’s not going to change. The plan is Yi plays, we lose and get a high draft pick. Like Thorn says “it’s better to be terrible than to be mediocre”. Get used to it. Here’s another possibility. Daniel Goldstein might send this team to Seattle. But the likelihood of the future is we move to Brooklyn in 2012 and put a contender on the court by next year.

@ Mr. Big;
 So Yi is our secret weapon this season. That Thorn is one crafty son of a gun…

@ Mike

The secret to 25 wins. You got it! I wonder if Proky has seen Yi yet. Yi and weapon that an oxymoron.

@ Mr. Big;
Not so loud… If Proky sees Yi he might back out of the deal
faster then a speeding Russian nucleur warhead.

I just hope Yi’s evil twin Yee comes back soon. Tuesday night we had his alter ego Wee playing.

@Mr. Big
Link to proof KG had eight or ten points in the first quarter?

He had 8, and Yi was on the floor for all of them: play-by-play.

The highlights show two of the buckets.

Ooooooooh, Net Income – NetsDaily smackdown!

If you compare Yi’s passiveness with the rest of our young aspiring alpha dogs…I don’t believe he commands the respect of his teammates- not with his play nor attitude. Is it a cultural thing? Like somewhere, lost in translation, is the will to dominate? I’d like to think that any man could overcome passiveness. Oh well. Maybe the Nets can have him hypnotized.

“He had 8, and Yi was on the floor for all of them.”

still, from the highlights I watched, Yi was all over KG, getting into him pretty good. KG just made good difficult shots with Yi in his face.

nah i don’t think its a cultural thing. yao has that will to dominate. yi is just a dud.

NetsDaily posts softly but wields a mighty mouse…

Yi plays team basketball while the American game is based more on individual effort. That is why he is always looking around all the time instead or reacting.

I understand that China is now asking Obama to help them: they are willing to release prisoners and even import more American goods if the NBA lets Yi play. Obama is considering it as part of his Nobel image….

Funny how Yi looks the same after all this talk about bulking up. Fratello also said, if he is missing his shot what else does he give you? Fratello never even mentioned him in his scorers for the Nets. Devin, Brook, CDR, Lee but not Yi. Yi looks lost out there and overmatched. We are in trouble at the 4.

@ JT

That’s the difference between contesting shots and influencing shots. Good D is influencing shots. Anybody could contest them. Somebody once said d is positioning but it’s not. You could be in front of your man and put your hand up but it might not make a difference. One of the best defensive plays I ever saw was K-Mart against I think Indiana comes from the other side of the court and forces a miss while he was completely out of position.

if someone misses while his defender is completely out of position then it’s on the offensive guy not because of the defense…

Holy mary!!! those muscles aint of yi, i bet someone used fotoshop to edit that tank-like upper body.

still, even if he is not avaiable to play against minesota, his 8 ppg and 3 rpg wont be missed much

@Mr. Big

You must be a player, or even a scorer. If a defender cannot force a scorer to respect him, his being close to the scorer merely makes him a good witness to a public humiliation.

Yi did GREAT in the first Boston game.

@mr. OmG

Holy mary!!! those muscles aint of yi, i bet someone used fotoshop to edit that tank-like upper body.

Inside scoop - It was the same guy that did Sarah Palin’s legs in those internet pictures.

@ robby

What is your point? A scorer could shoot 3 for 20 and still not “respect” the defender. It’s the results that count.

My point was being “all over” a scorer only matters if you are also a good enough defender to affect the scorer’s mind and ability to create space at the last moment to get his shot off.

If a good scorer goes 3 for 20, it’s pretty hard to argue that the defender didn’t affect his shooting.

At all levels, you see weak defenders try hard, stay close, keep their hands up, but not get good defensive results because the scorer knows he can get space to get up a good shot even though tightly covered by an inferior athlete.

The result: you see Yi tightly guarding KG, but KG still scoring as though lightly guarded. Kobe does this all of the time with his defenders. So does Rashard Lewis. You see defenders all over him while he drains jump shots.

@ robbie

I agree. Thats why a shot blocker is usually a good defender cuz they usually have the ability to take away the space and the intimidation aspect creeps into the shooter’s mind.

@ Mr. Big

If only I were a foot taller, 30 years younger, and a lot stronger and more durable, I would show them (if my wife would let me play)