Yi Jianlian: The saga continues

December 26th, 2007 | Posted by PostmanR

Again, I will not understate this: Yi Jianlian RAWKS HARDCORE. I have been rather dubious about his game thus far, because he seems too fragile, too thin to execute well in the NBA. But over the blogging break he put up a performance worthy of a considerable amount of praise. Some are even saying he might push Kevin Durant in the ROY race.

… it was that near-perfect performance that helped Yi pass Kevin Durant atop this week’s rankings.

Playing against a road-weary Bobcats team (it took them 11 hours to get from Charlotte to Milwaukee), Yi hit his first 12 shots and finished with a career-high 29 points in a 103-99 win on Saturday. Oh, and he pulled down 10 rebounds and had three steals on defense.

“He’s getting a feel of the game, getting more aggressive, dunking the basketball,” said teammate Michael Redd after the game. “He’s versatile. He’s like a fourth guard out there sometimes, the way he can shoot.”

So can Yi make up ground on Durant in the Rookie of the Year race? Maybe, maybe not.

Feb. 2 is the Yi vs. Yao rematch. This time it’s in Milwaukee. It appears Yi is thrusting the city of Milwaukee into the international spotlight. This man knows no bounds. Somewhere, Kevin Hunt is smiling.