I hope China does what’s best for Yi, not what’s best for Team China. Yi needs a long, deserved rest. Yi has tried his best to improve his body and game. What else can Net fans ask for. Many players in his position would just take the money and coast. Lets wish him the best for this up coming season. It’s only fair and right…

Welcome back, Muscle Devil.

ever heard of the saying “quit while your ahead”?
seems to b that yi is following that quote. he should keep playing to see how he competes versus those better teams. he played bums b4 any nba scrub can compete there.

@tu vieja
It’s “Quit while you’re ahead”. So you think playing under a Chinese coach in a bad gym against Angola is a better idea than training with your teammates? Bet you’re alone in that thinking.

maybe he just wants to take advantage of the cash for clunkers

Muscle Devil need to be back with the Nets asap. He’s not the friendliest guy, he’s going to need extra time to get used to the new people.

I like reading those articles that gets translated – I am still wondering why Arab-Israeli alliance is always in the Yi articles :

Nets: young players the team will be the future of the Arab-Israeli ruling class together to conquer the Nets fans

:)

@Trenton
Clunkers is what he was throwing up at the rim last season lol. I hope he keeps up the effort from the FIBA games though.

Muscle Devil makes friend through intimidation and fear. Congeniality is as eternally meaningless as the concept of time to him and all that his immortal existence is.

I love how all muscle devil comments are written in broken english. haha

Crap! Mine is supposed to be more like ancient folklore than broken English. I just forgot the s on friends. …Ok, I suppose I like to add a poorly translated touch to it.

Nets or consider to “keep a snake man,” Moore Jersey Nets do not fear of Indian state of economic sanctions

Muscle Devil heading back to NJ one game too late.

Come back E! and bring those muskles!

Please take your time Yi! As a matter of fact no need to bother coming back at all – we can win 20 games this season with or without you.

stay home Yi
Battie will start
he’s on his last year and im sure tony would score 10 and grab 8, proven jump shot, and rebounds!

@paulo
where did you see that Arab-Israeli ? I didn’t see it

I have NEVER understood the negativity by some posters. It’s a basketball team, an escape…not the Arab Israeli conflict, the health care debate or Al Qaeda.

Net Income

Rooting for your favorite team is like being in love. You overlook all the warts and bad times for a while. But, when you conclude that you are being taken for a chump, you get very negative.

With the whole Yi issue, we Nets fans overlooked so much, such as the fact that he was gifted a starting position but had to be benched when the game was on the line. But, when we fans are left with watching an unproven (to be generous) player start at PF, and then become convinced that he will start at PF whether he earns it or not, whether he hurts the teams chances or not, all because he might bring in some extra cash from fans who just want to see him play, we feel like chumps.

Wouldn’t it be best to trade the guy now and leave the PF position to the player who earns it? That would end much of the negativity on the Yi issue.

@ robby,

what kind of an argument is that?
who do you think will start for the nets at PF who’ll be that much more worthy?
and of course the negativity on the yi issue will be at end if he was traded, why would we talk about yi if he isn’t on the team?

If there is a player who is clearly better then yi on this team then what you just said would make total sense.

but right now, what the heck are you talking about?

Tick Tock Tick Tock…..Can’t wait for the NBA games to begin. Got to see what Yi is capable of. He will get a big time chance. Hopefully managaement is watchng and caring about on the court results more than off the court $$$ (shoud be 1 in the same to me), but with the Nets right now, that’s a tough subject.

Maybe improvement from Harris, Lopez, Lee, and CDR, throw in all unselfish good around play from TWill, will help Yi play well in a team concept. He just has to chip in and play tough. He’s gonna get the chance so you have to hope that the positive attributes to his game really shine through and that his teammates help cover soem of the weaknesses. I just hope that if he can’t do it that they look to get someone else for 2010, even if Yi’s option is picked up.

Come home and hit the gym! 3 guys who should spend the next month living in the gym: YI with a decent big man coach, and TWILL and CDR shooting jump shots, hundreds and hundreds of jump shots, every single day. SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT It is the only way TWILL and CDR are going to improve enough to get real minutes this year, no matter how much we like the other parts of their games. If they can’t hit open shots, they will sit on the bench. We can’t play 3 or 4 on five. Hayes and Simmons and Dooling and Lee are all ahead of TWILL and CDR because they can hit open shots.

@Paul

Not sure that is the case this year. With Devin and Vince sure, but with just devin and maybe brook at big time scoring threats there will not be a lot of open spot up shots. Were going to need more guys who can create shots as opposed to guys to knock down shots.

@ netsball

Just look at the 4th Quarters last year, when there was competition for PF. When the game was on the line, Opie went with his best lineup. Was Yi in the game? No. It was Bobby Simmons or Ryan Anderson. Is Bobby Simmons (undersized as he is) a better PF than Yi? Yes. Is Battie? Of course. In the off-season, the Nets treated Yi as though he were Nowinski, getting rid of Anderson so there would be no competition and refusing to acquire any PF with any experience.

Nothing would be more pleasing than to have Yi develop into a star. But, he has not shown that he is likely to do so and does not deserve big minutes.

@ netsball
The negativity is not really about Yi; it’s about having Yi rammed down our throats.

Yes, by all means, let’s give Yi’s minutes to a journeyman with an expiring contract. Dopey.

@ Robby
You know what? I think I like you…because you remind me of college…in the biology labs…your comments are like broken down, already consumed amino acids mixed magically with putrisine.

i think netincome was my teacher in high school. “Quiet down everybody! I dont want to hear any negativity!” I went to Cranford High School.*
*we were the state hoops champs, small school to be playing in group 4. The coach was Hubie Brown. Hubie was sort of like netincome. That’s not a dis.

Wouldn’t you just love being trapped in a foxhole with some of these so called Net fans. I would shoot myself right after shooting them! What a bunch of negative cry babies.

@ robby

“Rooting for your favorite team is like being in love. You overlook all the warts and bad times for a while. But, when you conclude that you are being taken for a chump, you get very negative.”

…and next thing you know you get a restraining order slapped on you! Can’t live with ‘em, can’t kill ’em!

@ Robby

The best starting forward the Nets could play is SEAN WILLIAMS. It was last year too but when Swat saw the writing on the wall he acted out and now he has other problems. Even Boone would be a better PF then Yi. Imo the posters who don’t agree aren’t as important as the coach who can’t recognize a player who can play defense and doesn’t believe it should be the priority at that position. Opie is still looking for a shooters while trying to teach them how to play D.

How bad is a team with Yi starting at 4? I would rather see Jason Collins! Okay, maybe not. Armond Gilliam! Battie is better, but he will not get the chance b/c Thorn has to see if Yi is anything but a bust. They have paved the way for Yi, which most Nets fans (and rightly so) do not like. He should earn it.

What is it with all these Yi haters? After reading all these anti Yi posts, you would think Yi is the only young NBA player not to become a star in his first 2 years in the league. Sure, Sean Williams and Josh Boone are so much better. What a joke…

@libigman

I like the thought on Swat. It would actually be fun to watch Swat dive into Yi’s unearned slot. And, it would help keep Lopez out of foul trouble. Harris gambles (too much?) on defense, and is going to get blown by on drives. Lopez needs a strong defensive force to help him there, as he is not yet smooth enough to stop quick guards underneath (remember Rondo? Lopez will learn, maybe this year). Also, Lopez could box out knowing that Swat will be going for the bound aggressively. He can’t do that with Yi. Lopez and Harris are the future, not Yi, and Swat’s defense can help both a great deal.

Sure, Swat is a knucklehead. But, so was (is?) Rasheed Wallace and he still managed to suppress it enough to be very effective. Just make sure you fine Swat if he takes a jump shot (ugly looking thing, isn’t it?)

Who earned Y’s “unearned slot” anyway? Williams? Narjera? Boone? Anderson? None of these players have the talent or potential that Yi has. Yi also out works all of them off the court as well. Boone regressed, no hustle and bad attitude; Anderson might become a nice role player one day if his work ethic improves (he looks way out of shape for such a young player); and that “Knuclehead” S. Williams, he will be out of the league or in jail in a couple of years.
As for Narjera, who cares!

@Net Income -

I am not being negative – that is what my google translator says when I click your links on articles on Yi – somehow when google translates the Chinese character YI is UAR – I do read Arab-Israeli alliance all over the place on the articles – am I the only one reading this?

@ Mike

A very interesting post – and one that is consistent with a good percentage of the posters. Good Nets fans trash Swat. Good Nets fans question whether Najera has what it takes to contribute. Good Nets fans question Boone’s abilities and attitudes. Good Nets fans contend that Anderson was at best a journeyman with no significant upside. That is not “negativity”, just good basketball analysis.

Bad Nets fans express doubts about Yi’s “potential”. That’s “negativity.”

Good Nets fans also never mention Bobby Simmons, Jarvis Hayes or Dooling, in any serious game situation plans for this year, because they do not fit in with the Harris/Yi/Lee/Lopez (and CDR?)master scheme.

I just wish that these “good Nets fans” would occasionally mention what a great job Hayes, Dooling, and, at times, Simmons (ok, we can forget to mention VC now) did last year to keep the Nets in games against good competition. Doesn’t anyone look forward to more of the same from these highly competitive, talented guys this year?

“Net Income Says:

I have NEVER understood the negativity by some posters. It’s a basketball team, an escape…not the Arab Israeli conflict, the health care debate or Al Qaeda."

Yeah, I agree. With the passion being shown here, you’d think that these guys were shareholders of Forest City Enterprises or something

@ Mike

Assuming you agree with the philosophy that defense wins, who do you think is the more talented player on D at the PF, Swat or Yi? If you think its Yi please tell me what part of Yi’s game makes him the better defender. Remember he played with a good center and a top backcourt last year, he couldn’t shoot the ball and we won 34 games.

@Mike

Sean and Boone are not starting. Sean is not getting 30+ minutes. Boone is not being compared to Dirk. We know what they are. Funny, we know what Yi is, too, but the King’s new clothes (aka potential) is keeping him starting. No one hates him, we just hate that such an unaccomplished, overmatched, underacheiving player is starting! It says to us that they do not want to win. I only wish that Thorn showed this much patience for players like Stephen Jackson or Diop – Hey, Yinka Dare had potential! Maybe they could have handed him the starting job.

@John at the Jersey Shore

John:

hahahahahahaha. I never heard of a restraining order that mentioned murder. You must have had quite a relationship.

Battie and Yi have different style of game. If Battie played in FIBA I bet you he would not keep up with the pace of the game. Right now Yi is the only player NETS can rely on to play as a PF. He is not really suited for this position but that’s the reality right now. Boone and Sean looks NBA ready as PF but one has a limited skill specially FTs while the other one plays the game like as if there are no referees to call fouls. Both can’t shoot, and we are lucky we have Battie with us if LF uses him. YI can shoot but lacks confidence yet. I believe last year he did finish a couple game with 15 to 20 pts just shooting from outside. I believe , if confidence builds up again and no more injury he would repeat the same feat for at least 10 games or more. I just hope so it translate to most of them as a winner.
   Right now a lot of teams are either looking for Wade or Lebron or even old guys like KG or Duncan so they would have a chance for a championship. Some of themalready have a good established team. So pursuing any other player right now does not lead to anything really good.
    PF had been an issue since Martin left. Even Kenyon was limited . His tenacity is just so great on his early years but his knee injuries took it’s toll, that’s why Blair did not make a good impression for the NETS this draft.
    It’s time to see somebody young and new to excel. CDR is capable but his body is not NBA ready. Boone needs to make FTS , that’;s all he needs. T. Will should just show up with his hustle like Keeyon. Of course Lee, sounds like an asian name to me also, just need to shoot and team up with Yi. If our first five produce 60 points a game we will compete.

Yi this, Yi that… Ryan Anderson will be a better player than Yi and have a better, longer career in the NBA. Yi is here so Yormark can see Net’s stuff in China. Pitifull. Starting to hate reading this stuff…

By the end of the season, our first four could be putting up 60 pts. I think Harris-21, Lopez-16, Lee-12, Yi-11 is possible.

I honestly think Lee could score more than that in due time, as long as he stays focused on the Nets and not on the trade thats done and over with. Lee has what he needs to be an effective scorer, especially his 3 point shot. If he continues to work hard and improve his game, I wont have any problems believing that he can be an offense threat like Harris, and possibly even better.

Lee averaged 8 points in 25 minutes last year. How do you figure he can be an all-star? You can hope, but he’s done absolutely nothing to merit that. Lee doesn’t have what he needs to be an effective scorer yet. He doesn’t drive to the basket, he simply spotted up because his teammates in Orlando were able to create for him. The Nets don’t have those playmakers. We’ll see what happens.

Just a question, Almost everyone see Yi has potential, but that’s potential on the offensive end. Couldnt it be argued that Sean Williams has just as much potential but his is on the defensive end? Personally I think defensive players are much harder to come by than offensive players, so wouldnt it have been in the Nets best interest to try and groom Swat? Instead Frank glued Sean to the bench and management gave Yi a starting job.

sure, but Swat is a nut case! You don’t invest millions in someone who is self destructive and immature. He also does not have much bball experience – a project with issues.

@Chris Paul
Yeah, but it’s not like he got drunk and ran someone over and killed them, he threw a computer. A lot of his acting out before that was the stuff in NBDL and things like that, but thats probably because he did the math and saw they were handing Yi the keys when he didnt earn them either. As far as investing millions, they already had because he was a first round pick and his money was guaranteed. So regardless they are paying him millions, why not make the most of it?

@ TheMann

Did you see swat play last year?

I hope Sean gets his act right. He could help us a lot on the defensive end. He can be an exciting player, he actually was doing well before the cell phone store incident.

Oh man, don’t get me started. I would love to see a starting lineup of:

Harris
Lee
T-WIll
SWAT
Lopez

Though Yi does have a basketball body that doesn’t come around too often. I’m not too against him getting his chance.

Lopez has to average 18ppg+ a night for these dreams of 60pts from the first unit to come true

Sean Will should certainly be getting a chunk of Yi’s minutes. This kid still has a lot of upside – a real NBA coach would be teaching Sean Will what he needs to do to stay in this league and be a defensive force – unfortunately we have a complete stooge with a joke assistant staff making it that much harder for Sean to have a chance to succeed.

The Mann

I love Swat, but he is not a starter either. He is lost defensively and cannot figure out the pick and roll. He misses alot of defensive rotations. BBIQ is not good. He is a good energy guy off the bench. He can change a game in short spurts but I would not count on him for more than 10 minutes. Face it: the Nets have a gaping hole at the 4 position. Battie, Simmons, and Najera will get minutes there especially in crunch time.

^^“Face it: the Nets have a gaping hole at the 4 position. Battie, Simmons, and Najera will get minutes there especially in crunch time.”^^^^^

Yippee!!! Now if that doesn’t get you excited!….

Chris Paul I agree with your thought on Swat. Ths is why I choose to be (I wasn’t for a long time) optimistic that Yi WILL be the guy, who forces Frank not to play Battie, Simmons, and Najera in crunch time. I have bo choice teh Nets ar3e committed toi him ($$$$$).

I have a soft spot for Najera because he plays with guts and will run through a wall for a loose ball, but like Rod said – Yi’s gotta be the guy. Thius is his big chance..Tick Tock Tick Tock

Oh just a few things after scanning this thread…

Rooting for a team is not like being in love. It is not close and if you think it is, reinvent your love life.

Sean Williams as a starter? Is this some sort of a joke? There is no guarantee Sean Williams will even be a Net this season. He didn’t want to be a Net this season…or have people forgetten that he asked that the team not pick up his option last October…too much young competition upfront.

His season was highlighted by two arrests, multiple outbursts at the D-League’s All-Star Weekend, his D-League team deciding to send him back to the Nets because he was disruptive and a distraction and a two-game team suspension. NO ONE wants him on their team. The Nets have been trying to get rid of him for a year. He has an upside only because he has been so bad. That was a wasted pick and the Nets KNOW it and regret it.

Moreover, he is still facing felony charges in Colorado. That case has not been resolved. He will either plead guilty to a lesser offense or go on trial, where he will probably be found guilty. (Anyone ever been in a cell phone store that didn’t have multiple security cameras?) Since he already has a criminal record (marijuana possession), the judge is unlikely to be lenient.

Enough.

Come on, NetIncome, give us our fantasy. We are Nets fans: We believe that Swat will be great, Yi will be even greater and that CDR will be the greatest! We even believe we will make the playoffs. We are delusional, especially about Yi and Swat. Why let facts and reality get in the way?

I think both Sean and Yi will do well. Yi has the talent and I think this is a great oportunity for him. Sean can be a defensive force, not a starter, but an energizer coming off the bench, providing defense and protecting the rim at a high level the way he was doing before the cell phone store incident, after Frank re-inserted him in the rotation. Check ND’s archive, everybody praised Sean because he was helping us a lot, but then he was arrested in Colorado. I’m more optimistic after I read what Kiki said about him when he participated in Grgurich’s Camp in Vegas.

@ Net Income

The joke is the guy currently stating at PF. Swat didn’t want to be a Net cuz the joke took his spot with half his ability. Then he decided to treat the team as a joke.
When you say "He has an upside only because he has been so bad" you’re talking about the starting joke, right? As far as what goes on off the court it doesn’t affect Swats b-ball ability. What’s the joke’s excuse, last year he was tired. This year maybe it will be he can’t see cuz some bully kicked sand in his face at the beach.

@ Net Income

I admit my love life needs “reinvention”. Actually, it needs rebirth or a mercy killing. You win that one. But, your defense of Yi is so much like a lover’s overlooking of all of the flaws because he does not want to see them.

Yi suffers from multiple flaws on offense or defense. He gets no respect from the opposition. They go right at him when he plays “defense” and when he gets the ball anywhere within 2 point land, they go for the strip.

He cannot execute a simple pick and roll, because he does not understand the timing of the play. He routinely breaks off the pick too soon. When he does get the ball on the roll, he is a weak finisher. How can you watch games and not see this? Must be love.

And say, why are you so “negative” on SWAT? I thought it was un-fanlike to be negative about one of the Net players. Or, does that rule only apply to one particular player?

@robby
 
Net Income is also consistently negative about CDR…from day one.

Hope Sean Williams gets the chance to play. Read he’s been working tough during the summer to improve his game too and that Kiki liked what he saw.

I hope Sean uses the frustration from his PRIVATE LIFE to add to his intensity on the court (where he distinguishes himself from some others for playing with INTENSITY). The Nets need Sean’s intimidation. Brook needs his help. Go Sean. Go Nets!

Hoping he will be good this upcoming season… prob the future garnett