"I'm not going to throw the towel in," he said. "I told the team that the final score is disappointing but if you go back to the old CBA days, we won (one) quarter and tied (one). But we had one where we it looked like we were playing soccer or a different sport out there.

"With Sessions, it was a situation where he's a guy down the road in the future," said general manager Larry Harris. "All of us agreed that we would keep him and possibly send him to the D-League here shortly to get some time down there and get a chance to see him play in an NBA setting and do more evaluating that way."

Everything seemed to go right for us. We hit over 50% of our threes and over 70% of our free throws. We forced 14 Milwaukee turnovers and blocked 10 of their shots, with Dwight Howard matching his career-high with 7. Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu combined for 50 points on 17-of-28 shooting.

Pressure is going to become Yi's unwelcome guest over the next few months as he tries to acclimate to a new country, lifestyle and league. The fact that Yao was able to come through it so cleanly, learning the language so well and adapting like he did, is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because Yao's success can inspire Yi, and a curse because now he's going to be expected to. Already, in watching him enveloped by his country's media, you can tell the demands are going to be great.

"I think it's real important for him to be able to say no. We're going to get into different cities, and there's going to be media requests and parties that people want to host and I know for a fact that there's enough on his plate already without a lot of that external stuff. If he wants to try to accommodate everybody, I think that's maybe going to be a little bit of a challenge for him," Krystkowiak said. "I would just suggest that if he can't say no that we'll be able to say no for him."

When fully healthy, the Bucks depth rivals any team in the Eastern Conference. As talented players see their minutes going to others, they should remember their time will come to contribute to the cause. Milwaukee has a team full of good character players, who should have no problem embracing the team concept.

"We have a deep roster, we can all contribute night in and night out to get us wins and that's what it's all about," said Simmons.

Which team will be most improved in 2007-08?

1. Boston Celtics 77.8%

2. Memphis Grizzlies 11.1%

3. Orlando Magic 7.4%

4. Milwaukee Bucks 3.7%

Last year's pick: Houston

Which international rookie is most ready to contribute this season?

1. Marco Belinelli, Golden State 61.1%

2. Luis Scola, Houston 18.5%

3. Yi Jianlian, Milwaukee 14.8%

4. Juan Carlos Navarro, Memphis 5.6%

Last year's pick: Andrea Bargnani, Jorge Garbajosa

Which player is the best pure shooter?

1. Ray Allen, Boston 59.6%

2. Michael Redd, Milwaukee 11.5%

3. Jason Kapono, Toronto 7.7%

4. Kyle Korver, Philadelphia 5.8%

Others receiving votes: Richard Hamilton, Detroit; Steve Nash, Phoenix; Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas; Peja Stojakovic, New Orleans
Last year's pick: Ray Allen