Yi!

Father Scott

Alright that sucked. The Celts got beat by a weak team led by a pretend superstar. At least that team is about to get King James’ balls coronated in its collective face.

But worry not Celts fans. Because look at this tasty nugget from the New York Daily News (via ESPN):

Coming off a season when he was demoted from the Nets’ starting lineup to the bench because of his lack of production, Yi Jianlian might have played his final game in New Jersey.

Team sources say the Nets are interested in trying to deal the 7-foot small forward they acquired from Milwaukee last summer for Richard Jefferson. “They’re talking about moving him,” said a source.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy. Danny call up NJ and get this large Asian man to Boston. KG will bark at him 18 hours a day until he learns to play with an ounce of passion.

Remember, this almost happened. It was widely reported that had we not landed Ray Allen, our rebuilding efforts would have centered around Yi, who we would have taken with that no. 5 pick (thank God we didn’t do that, though).

But it’s not too late. Tons of potential. Tons of skills. No D, but there’s plenty of time. We’ve seen how young guys can flourish with the Big Three — look at the improvement of Rondo, Perk, Powe, and BBD. Yi can do the same.

MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

Yi needs to adjust himself

Father Scott

If you’re anything like me (and I know you’re trying really hard to be), you dream of starting an NBA expansion team and building it around two players: Rajon Rondo and Yi Jianlian. Both are freakish figures, wildly entertaining, unique, and now have one other thing in common: both are bloggers.

Rondo’s Yardbarker has been around for a while, but this NetsDaily translation (ht: TrueHoop) is the first I’ve seen of Yi’s blog. And man oh man is it lovely. Amongst Yi’s general athlete musings comes the following gem:

After this, we need to go against Cavaliers… I have to adjust myself. Today I missed some opportunities. The balls were supposed to go through but fell out…(sigh)

Balls falling out? I’d say an adjustment is in order, indeed, Yi.

The Dragonslayerzzz, King James, and Mo Ager

Father Scott

The NBA season kicks off tonight, and I’m pumped. Not just because of the debut of the Dragonslayerzzz (though it helps).

I’m a weird NBA fan — while with baseball I’m a Red Sox fan and not much else, with the NBA I like tons of different players and teams. I’m a Celts fan, but I’m not rabid about it. I’m probably more excited about the Nets this year — dumping all their bad contracts save Vinsanity, adding Mo Ager, Yi Jianlian, and Keyon Dooling, it really seems like I’m running the team — than anything. I love Dirk Nowitzki. I love the Mavs alternate green unis. I love the idea of Phoenix staying relevant after ditching the fast-paced offense that everyone unreasonably loves. I love that Golden State will fall on its face. I love that I’m going to see Greg Oden do something I’ve never seen tonight, and many more times over every time I watch the Blazers.

I also love John Tesh.

Things I hate: the Wizards (especially when they rip a team that summarily owns them every year), the overconfidence in Philly (48.5 win over/under? Really?), the fact that I can’t enjoy “boring” good teams like Detroit and San Antonio even though they play the way the game is supposed to be played, and that Jason Kidd singlehandedly made my favorite Western conference team no fun to cheer for.

A few predictions for the year: A major breakout for Nets PG Devin Harris, the Nuggets end up trading Melo during the next offseason, the Mavs will outperform expectations, the Sixers and Hornets come back to Earth a bit, the Suns win at least one playoff series, and the Lakers will have significant problems working together.

And we will finally coronate the King: LeBron and the Cavs over the Spurs in the Finals.

Anyway, while you’re enjoying the season, be sure to check in on Hardwood Paroxysm (I swear I had been planning on posting that Tesh clip before I saw it there, but HT anyway), FreeDarko, the awesome Basketball Jones podcast, my various fantasy links, and of course, Perkisabeast.

Enjoy the season and especially this guy:

More fun with dumb headlines

Father Scott

ESPN has a story up about the New Jersey Nets adding Yi Jianlian when their trade with the Milwaukee Bucks was finalized. Here is the headline:

Nets hope addition of Yi, better team play will draw Chinese fans

If you’re like me, you read that and think, hey that’s reasonable. Yi is Chinese. China has like a billion people. The Greater New York area has a ton of Chinese people. Sensible. This was a business decision (along with dumping Richard Jefferson’s salary to clear room for the 2010 free agent class).

Then you read the opening sentence.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New Jersey Nets‘ acquisition of Yi Jianlian was strictly a basketball decision, not a marketing one aimed at drawing more Chinese fans, Nets owner Bruce Ratner said Wednesday.

Ugh.