When the New York Knicks signed 7″1′ Russian center Tomofey Mozgov to a 3-year, $9.7 million contract in early July, I, like many of you, gave a big ‘Huh?’ Part of that is the result of people, myself included, not being as aware of international prospects. The other part was that Donnie Walsh and the Knicks seemingly did it under the cover of darkness.

As was pointed out at The Painted Area, if other teams suspected Mozgov’s interest in playing in the NBA this season, as opposed to staying with his Russian club, BC Khimky Moscow, and getting more seasoning, there would have been more competition for his services. And especially curious when you consider that the Knicks signed Mozgov while the New Jersey Nets and their new Russian owner were licking their wounds from losing LeBron.

The Painted Area also called Mozgov the best free-agent candidate, factoring his youth of 24 years, behind Brendan Haywood and Darko Milicic, and described him as a “powerful finisher.” Well, not so much against Yi Jianlian (according to the visual eye, not necessarily a FIBA referee). For an explanation, let’s go to the GIF machine …

After a drive by Russian guard Dmitry Khvostov, on which Yi helps off of Mozogv, the ball is dished to TimoFey who has the baseline and an open path to the basket. But hold those Russian horses, the athletic Yi whips around and ain’t scared to meet young Timmy at the rim.

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[Linas Kleiza hops past Yi Jianlian on his way to a game-high 30 points. Photo/FIBA]

On Tuesday, in their FIBA 2010 knock-out stage opener, Yi Jianlian and China took on Linas Kleiza and a strong, undefeated Lithuania team. In many ways, this contest followed the same script seen in the China-Puerto Rico game. China jumped out to a quick 16-5 lead with contributions from Wang ZhiZhi, Sun Yue, Liu Wei, Wang Shipeng, and Yi. China held a 22-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. That lead wouldn’t last much longer, however. With 4:52 left in the second quarter, Robertas “The Shark” Javtokas gave the Lithuanians a one-point advantage — one they wouldn’t surrender. China’s 11-3 run in the 4th quarter pulled them within five, but it was too little, too late. Final score: 78-67 Lithuania, who advanced to the FIBA quarterfinals to face Argentina, who edged Brazil 93-89 in Tuesday’s nightcap.

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[Yi Jianlian makes a nasty/tough game face during a game against the Ivory Coast.]

According to sources, the MRI results on the injured Achilles heel of Yi Jianlian have come back negative and he should be ready to play in China’s opening knock-out round game against Lithuania on Tuesday.

Yi aggravated his inflamed Achilles against Russia last Wednesday and was held out from China’s Group C finale against Turkey on Thursday. Wang ZhiZhi and Lui Wei were also held out of Thursday’s game by China’s American coach, Bob Donewald. Before the game, because of Puerto Rico’s loss to the Ivory Coast, China knew they would advance to the next stage regardless of the outcome against the Turks.

If you watched China in previous international competitions in comparison to this year’s FIBA Worlds, or if you’ve simply listened to the television commentators for this year’s games, it’s easy to conclude that this Chinese team has played with more energy and more overt emotion than ever in the past. Much of that can be attributed to the style of Donewald, from coaching flair to simply practicing his Chinese players less.

One could also likely gather Yi’s preference of Donewald over China’s previous international coach, Jonas Kazlauskas, who was an assistant to Del Harris on the Chinese national team in 2004 and head coach from 2005-2008. During China’s FIBA tournament opening loss against Greece on August 28, Yi made a point to glare in the direction of Kazlauskas after several made baskets. On one occasion, the coach waived Yi’s looks off with a gesture of his hand.

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The most consistent post move Yi Jianlian displayed during his first two FIBA tournament games against Greece and the Ivory Coast is the drop-step/spin (I’ve yet to watch China’s third game against Puerto Rico). He’s very fluid and adept at using both hands against this international competition. Let’s take a look at some examples of his work in looping GIF form (apologies to those with slow computers/connections).

Here’s a left-handed drop-step hook Yi hit in the first quarter against Greece. He powers by 7-footer Ian Vouyoukas with the set up power dribble and then puts the maneuver in motion. Vouyoukas never really had a chance against Yi’s speed.

Here’s the angle from above, look how much ground Yi covers.

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After Yi Jianlian’s dreadful performance in Madison Square Garden two weeks ago, there were legitimate reasons to be concerned about his ability to lead Team China.  He missed open shots, he was unable to get comfortable in the post, and his lack of aggressiveness on both ends of the floor seemed to affect the way his teammates played.  Luckily for Yi and China, the games were only exhibitions or “international friendlies”.

Saturday morning was China’s opening game in the FIBA tournament against Greece,  and Yi demonstrated that he possessed a higher level of play for the games that counted.  His first step was explosive and confident, he seemingly grabbed every rebound there was to be had (14 total, 10 defensive), and he played with an attitude that had been missing in his previous performances.  In fact, after more than a few baskets, he defiantly glared at Greece’s coach (and former China coach) Jonas Kazlauskas.

Unfortunately, Yi’s 26 points and 14 rebounds were not enough to overcome China’s sloth-footed zone defense, and his team fell to a more experienced Greece, 89-81.

Sunday, Yi and his Chinese teammates took on a feisty Ivory Coast team in the second round, and while he didn’t look as aggressive and explosive as he had the day before, he still put up effective numbers (26 points, nine rebounds, two steals and one block).  That performance was enough to lead China to an 83-73 victory, and it also gave me the opportunity to delve a bit deeper into this new version of Yi’s game.

Offense

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China vs. Puerto Rico highlights – August 15, 2010

I woke up Sunday morning thinking I was going to see two Washington Wizards play in the Madison Square Garden World Basketball Festival exhibitions leading up to the FIBA tournament.  Center JaVale McGee was going to go against France (after not playing in Saturday’s scrimmage against China), and Yi Jianlian was going to lead the Yao Ming-less Chinese team against Puerto Rico.

I may as well have went 0 for 2.

First,  McGee announced via twitter that he had been cut from Team USA (for the second time) along with Oklahoma City Thunder forward, and former Georgetown Hoya, Jeff Green.  Then, Yi channeled his inner John Starks, an shot 3-for-15 from the floor, en route to an 11 point, six rebound performance.

Since McGee’s last performance as a member of Team USA was broken down already by Kyle Weidie, we’ll focus on Yi.

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The Washington Post’s Michael Lee called JaVale McGee’s limited time in the Team USA intra-squad scrimmage on Thursday night an “uneven” performance. You could say that — he had two points (1-2 FGs), two turnovers, a foul and a single defensive rebound in 9:40 of court action. You could also say that the defense McGee played on the final play, a sudden death game-winning lob dunk by McGee’s opposition, Tyson Chandler, was ‘so’ JaVale … as in typical. Let’s take a peek …

The Sudden Death Play

It’s a loose ball on the perimeter after a long missed shot by the blue team and McGee, in white in the middle of the lane, looks to have good intentions in going for it (even though he’s no where near being the closest person to the ball).

Ok … here, the loose ball is clearly about to bounce to No. 7, Rajon Rondo … time for JaVale to get back into guard/protect the basket mode, right?

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Paula and Pamela McGee, aunt and mother of JaVale McGee
[photo via mlive.com]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I was going to throw this in a link post (ShareBullets), but it seems worthy on its own. ESPN’s Chris Sheridan has posted a full update from Team USA training camp day two on TrueHoop, but I’ll quote one particular aspect that’s certainly of interest to Wizards fans. Sheridan writes:

After practice, I spent some time chatting with JaVale McGee, who was cut from the team after mini-camp in Las Vegas but then was invited back when Brook Lopez withdrew. McGee had an interesting story to tell about rifling through the dresser drawers at his grandmother’s house when he was a young boy and coming upon the Olympic gold medal was won by his mother, Pam McGee, for the 1984 U.S. Olympic women’s team. McGee’s aunt, Paula — the twin sister of Pam — was cut from the ’84 team, and McGee’s younger sister, Imani Stafford, 16, won a gold medal earlier this summer for the United States at the under-17 girls World Championship in France.“He’s trying to do what he can do,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “and if we don’t make the final roster decision here, which I don’t think we will, I hope he continues on with us because he’ll keep getting better. At that spot, Tyson (Chandler) is really playing well, and you know what Lamar (Odom) will do when he gets into game shape. But if something goes wacky, to have another big guy is not a bad thing. That’s where he fits in. He’s in the discussion. And when we started camp in Vegas he wasn’t even invited. So he’s made that much of an impression.

Whether JaVale will actually get a shot at his family’s third gold medal in international play remains to be seen … pretty cool to be in contention nonetheless. And if McGee doesn’t make it this year, he’s putting in a lot of work for the future. It looks like he should at least pack his bags and prepare to play in Team USA’s three exhibition games in Europe before the FIBA Worlds in Turkey — versus Lithuania on August 21st and Spain on the 22nd, both in Madrid, and versus Greece in Athens on the 25th.

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{flickr/miss604}

Yi Jianlian and Team China didn’t fare too well last night … they got routed 86-62 by Andy Rautins and Team Canada in an exhibition match held in Vancouver. (Worth typing again) … China got routed 86-62 by Canada and ANDY RAUTINS! (who led his team with 19 points). The Canadians were up 41-16 at halftime by the way, so China actually won the second half 46-45.

“It’s like we fell asleep in the first half,” Yi Jianlian told the press … not exactly what you want to hear from your number one player. You can read more about the game here, here and here, but basically Canada dominated most aspects of the game — they out-rebounded China 44-25, out-shot them 56.4% to 29.1%, and out-scored the Chinese in the paint 42-10. Wow… miss Yao Ming much?

Yi scored 15 points and only grabbed five rebounds in 28 minutes to go along with two assists, one turnover, one block and two steals. Even worse, he shot 3-12 from the field (1-3 from three, 8-12 from the free-throw line). Reports say Yi was doubled … a lot. And I imagine he will see most international defenses focus on him since he’s China’s best player. In such a scenario, it’d probably help if Yi found his teammates more (or, perhaps, played inside more). Again, Yi only had two assists, and has never been known as the best passer anyway — his NBA career 1.2 assists per 36 minutes is worse than Nick Young’s career rate of 1.7/36 … that speaks volumes. Worth noting that China only had nine total assists as a team.

It will be interesting how Yi eventually transitions from his role as the main guy for his country this summer to someone who must play off others and concentrate on doing the little things for the Wizards.

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[Team USA Men's Basketball played an intra-squad scrimmage on Saturday night. Below is a recap/assessment of the instances where JaVale McGee had an impact on the game.]

JaVale McGee’s presence at USA Basketball camp hasn’t come without skeptics, mainly Rob Mahoney of ProBasketballTalk and the ESPN TrueHoop Network Dallas Mavericks blog, The Two Man Game.

Mahoney also contributes to Hardwood Paroxysm, a general NBA blog on the TrueHoop Network. On Friday, Mahoney wrote on HP:

Honestly, I’m not sure what JaVale McGee would bring to the World Championships. McGee, impressive Summer League dunker though he may be, isn’t a very good rebounder, defender, or even a consistent offensive threat. He can’t create his own shot, and aside from picking up blocks, really isn’t to the point where he can contribute defensively against top-flight competition. McGee may be a center, but it’s not like he’s going to be some great interior defender. He’s still a bit too lean and too jumpy for that.

Worth noting that Mahoney doesn’t endorse Tyson Chandler either, instead advocating for Brook Lopez as ‘the’ center on Team USA and smaller support (Kevin Love, Lamar Odom, and even Gerald Wallace) — the path of the unconventional in trying to orchestrate the composition of a jigsaw puzzle to display a unique, winning work of art without all the pieces.

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Breaking your hand is not very conducive to blogging, hence, some project(s) I’ve been working on have come to a crawl. They’ll get done eventually, but until then, here’s some good readin’ for ya.

First Links: Washington Wizards material

Same ol’ Wizards…just bringing players back, not making a drastic, knee-jerk moves…..status quo, right? That’s a fallacy says the Pradamaster of Bullets Forever.

What? Dan Steinberg caught a glimpse of DeShawn Stevenson’s new tattoo of a bridge across his stomach and failed to capture it on camera for the DC Sports Bog?

[UPDATE: Steinberg has a whole blog entry on DeShawn - but still no pics - most off-the-wall quote: "Myself. I'm the new Dennis Rodman. Without getting in trouble." -DeShawn Stevenson.]

Good ol’ Pete Treperinas of the Bleacher Report (fyi – I have no idea who Petey T. is) has picked the Wizards as one of five NBA teams that will disappoint in 2008-2009. Grouped with the Nuggets, Hawks, Clippers, and Knicks? Yuck.

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flickr/kk+

Now that the greatest Olympics of my lifetime (of 28 years) has concluded, it’s time for me to wonder, why do team sports get slighted in terms of medal events?

The dedication it takes for one to succeed at an individual event is truly amazing. All of the worldwide buzz and attention shed upon Michael Phelps and his accomplishment of eight gold medals is more than justified. At no point have I felt over-saturated with the media coverage surrounding Phelps.

However, something must be said about the unity and cohesion it takes to succeed as a team. It’s a display of the true human spirit of being able to work together to accomplish one goal. In my opinion, this is more difficult to achieve than striving for Olympic success alone….if only slightly, because my intent is not to subtract from individual competition.

Focusing on swimming, there are 14 individual medal events and three “team” relay events for both men and women. In comparison, basketball and other team sports have only one shot, each for men and women, in a tournament style medal chase. I’m concentrating on basketball because it is my favorite sport (and this is a Washington Wizards based blog), but basketball is also unique compared to other team sports in that you can practice many skills of the game by yourself. Granted, 12 total gold medals are doled out to each individual member of the winning basketball team.

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