After the Olympics, Yi Arrives

East Rutherford, NJ — Yi Jianlian hasn’t gotten much rest these past 12 months.

After the Milwaukee Bucks drafted Yi with the sixth pick in 2007, the 20-year-old forward arrived just in time for training camp, battled through a rookie season that started strong before it ended early with an knee injury, was traded to the New Jersey Nets on Draft day 2008 and competed for the Chinese National Team at the Olympics in Beijing.

Yi has had 10 days off, but after a 13-hour flight to the United States, a sleepless night and his first practice, he’s a little tired.

“I feel I’m able to take a breath now,” Yi said. “I was preparing for the Olympics for a long time. (I’ve) had enough time to recover and get back to 100 percent.”

The Nets are banking on a healthy Yi, who’s likely to start the season at power forward after coming over with Bobby Simmons in the deal that shipped away Richard Jefferson.

Last season, Yi averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds in 25 minutes per game for Milwaukee, though the quality of his play arced like a bell curve. He started solidly (9.7 PPG and 5.8 RPG in Nov.) and improved in December (12.1 PPG; 6.6 RPG; .503 field-goal shooting) before fatigue set in. Yi’s scoring declined each month thereafter, a period during which he shot no better than .426. By February, Charlie Villanueva had replaced Yi in the starting lineup.

“I think it’s important to go through these experiences to improve as a player,” said Yi, through a translator (whom he needs occasionally). “That’s part of the whole learning experience.”

Coach Lawrence Frank is looking forward to working with Yi, who he watched during the Olympics. Yi struggled at times – particularly against Team USA – but hit a game-sealing jumper against Germany to push China into the medal round, where they finished eighth. Frank would like Yi to display initiative and assertiveness on the court, and will discuss goals for the sophomore’s season after spending some time with him.

“We’re going to define what we want from him (soon),” Frank said. “We haven’t defined it yet because it’s the first day we’ve been with him. But in due time, we’ll make it very clear what we expected and what we need.”

Yi said he aims to improve his overall play, and feels confident that the early jump on training camp will ready him. Having Simmons around will help ease the transition to New Jersey; the two players became friendly after living in the same area of Milwaukee.

Yi’s not worried about developing on-court camaraderie with his new teammates, pointing out they’re all professionals and there’s plenty of time left before the Oct. 29 opener in Washington.

“I came earlier this year to practice with the team and had time to meet my teammates,” Yi said. “I have more time to settle in and have a better transition than last year. I think the situation this year is much, much better.”