- Now that the assistant coaching staff is set, Scott Skiles chimes in with your obligatory quotes about Jim Boylan, Lionel Hollins, Kelvin Sampson and Joe Wolf (via the JS).
"Lionel and Jim have worked together (in Vancouver). Lionel also has been a head coach and he’s got a lot of experience also on the NBA bench. He’s just known for being a very, very good coach.
Check out all the resumes here
"Kelvin has been a head college coach and he’s also got international experience which means he knows a lot of the NBA players through that. And he’s got the experience of two months in San Antonio. He knows a lot about the game and he’s a heck of a coach.
"Joe’s expertise has been in the NBDL and he’s done a great job down there. It was only a matter of time before he got an opportunity (in the NBA) and I’m glad he’s on my staff." - The Bob Boozer Jinx takes a look at the ups and downs of Yi Jianlian's not-all-that-surprising rookie year.
Watching a 6'11" guy run the floor better than Tracy McGrady and shoot jumpers with Ray-Allen-perfect-form wasn't half bad either. Watching Yi get pushed around as he tried to box defenders out was not so good. Even worse was Yi flashing to open spots and being routinely ignored by Michael Redd and Mo Williams. There was a mean chill on this Bucks team; you had to be at the games to see it.
I was impressed with Yi -- and I admit, I was hoping to be impressed. He wanted to run the floor. Yet no one on the Bucks was ready to run except Mo Williams. (Dez Mason was out the first few games I attended; Yi was out the last couple). On offense, the ball didn't move -- Redd held it, waited, palmed it, waited for everyone to stop, then drove into traffic. As a team, they couldn't get uncontested shots. Mo could, easily enough, but only for himself. In a game against New Jersey, at halftime Yi and Bogut had six points combined. - Yi is among the Chinese athletes who have donated money to the earthquake-hit regions of China. Check out Yi's recent CNN interview about the Olympics and his first NBA season here.
- Yesterday I complained that Jeff Green and Al Thornton shouldn't have been on the all-rookie first team, and today Dave Berri at The Wages of Wins blog has the numbers to prove it. Interestingly, Berri's "wins produced" metric calculates Ramon Sessions with producing 2.2 wins last year, good for the seventh best total among all rookies. In contrast, Yi accounted for negative 1.9 wins--bad, but only half as bad as Thornton and Green.
- If you follow the Bucks then you're probably well aware of the terrific work Charlie Villanueva does helping kids with alopecia, and now CV is helping raise awareness about World Malaria Day.
- RealGM's pre-lottery mock draft projects the Bucks to take LSU forward Anthony Randolph, though that's simply a "big board" pick and not based on the Bucks' needs.
- Head over to Bucks.com and register for a chance to win a lunch with John Hammond. And if you win, I demand you take notes and send them Brew Hoop's way.
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