- Above is another really well done version of the "Where Amazing Happens" commercials, courtesy of KleineCo.
- Check out NBA.com's highlights of the Bobs/Bucks game. And NBATV has a video feature on Yi's debut.
- BasketballValue.com is keeping track of +/- adjusted for pace. As you can imagine, the Bucks' numbers don't look so good right now after two games (via Blog-A-Bull).
- The cool kids at We Rite Goode are hosting NBA previews this week, featuring bloggers including yours truly. They're posting both "wishful thinking" and "getting real" previews, and you can check out my Bucks' wishful thinking here. I admit that right now it looks more like "psychotically delusional" thinking, but cut me some slack, I wrote it two weeks ago. The "getting real" post should be up on Monday.
What they need to do to make me happy: The maturing triumvirate of Mo Williams, Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut leads the Bucks to 45 wins and the second round, shocking all the experts who do their best to ignore the Bucks' existence. Larry Krystkowiak brainwashes the Bucks into playing defense, rebounding from time to time and getting their bigs more involved offensively. Yi Jianlian shows flashes of greatness while managing to hold his own on both ends.
Reasoning: Getting Redd, Mo, Bogut, Bobby Simmons, and Charlie Villanueva healthy along with the additions of Desmond Mason and Yi means the Bucks can actually field a team this year. The other Coach K looks like he could be a less ornery, slightly less bald Scott Skiles, which is exactly what a team as defensively atrocious as the Bucks needs. Andrew Bogut looks ready to break into 15/10, marginal all-star territory.
- Paschketball had some details of the Orlando pregame activities.
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Marc Stein has some encouraging words about Yi's progress.
Unwise as it is to read too much into one game -- especially the first game for someone facing as much worldwide scrutiny as Yi -- you already can see the big Year 1 trouble spots he is facing in his transition to the NBA. He has a small forward's game at this stage but will have trouble keeping up with the small forwards on this continent. So he has to play power forward, too, which isn't any more appetizing at the moment because this league -- as Dwight Howard quickly illustrated -- is so much more physical.
However ...
The Bucks privately are thrilled with Yi's progress to date, believing that his length and athleticism can offset some of the inevitable defensive deficiencies of a rookie. "Smooth" and even "fearless" were a couple of the words tossed around during training camp.