The 2008-2009 NBA season is just about halfway through – teams and players alike have seen their share of ups and downs; some players have stepped up to the challenge and others have disappeared into the bench. Still, others have been ravaged by injuries, and others have benefited from the extra available playing time. Joe Alexander, who I covered in the previous edition of NBAsian, is in the running for the dunk contest, but since he’s not actually Asian, that’s all I’m gonna say about him. At any rate, we continue our coverage of the three Chinese players in the National Basketball Association – Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, and Sun Yue:

Yao Ming

So, what else is new – the Houston Rockets have been decimated by injuries this season – but surprisingly, Yao isn’t one of them. Tracy McGrady and new acquisition Ron Artest have been fading in and out of injury all season, but Yao has continued to remain injury-free (he’s only missed one game) and has carried his team to a very respectable 24-16 record (tied for 6th in the West), all the while playing only 33 minutes a game, his lowest in four seasons.

Biting Questions:

Will the Rockets be able to have their entire lineup healthy and ready for the playoffs?
• Highly unlikely. Not just T-Mac and Artest, but support players like Shane Battier and Rafer Alston have also been plagued by injuries. The only reason the Rockets have been able to stay afloat is their depth – relative unknowns like Von Wafer and Aaron Brooks have been stepping up bigtime.

Will Yao be able to remain injury-free for the remainder of the season?
• Next to impossible. It’s a miracle he’s been able to go this long – after an off-season cut short by his responsibilities to the Chinese National Team and the Olympics, Yao started the season nowhere near 100% – even now, it’s unlikely that he’s playing at full capacity, and judging from past history, it’s only a matter of time before the Rockets get into deep trouble.

Season Highlights:
• Oct 30 at Dallas: 30 pts, 13 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 11/15 FG, 8/8 FT (Rockets win)
• Nov 12 at Phoenix: 17 pts, 15 reb, 2 blk, 7/14 FG (Take a seat Shaq…Rockets win)
• Dec 5 vs Golden State: 33 pts, 14 reb, 5 ast, 8/12 FG, 17/19 FT (Season high…Rockets win)
• Jan 7 at Boston: 26 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 10/13 FG (Rockets win against defending NBA champs)

Yi Jianlian

As expected, Yi became the starting power forward of the New Jersey Nets, but only averages about 26 minutes a game, with bench stud Jarvis Hayes backing him up. Yi’s been highly inconsistent throughout the season – one night netting over 20 points, the next night throwing up clunkers all night - and his problem is that he’s throwing up more clunkers than good games, resulting in an anemic 40% FG average. Oh well, it took Yao a good 4 or 5 years before he started living up to his name, and I expect Yi to take the same amount of time. He actually put together his best string of games of the season two weeks ago, only to get his right pinky broken (3-4 week recovery).

Scouting Prospectus:

What does Yi need to do to get better?
• Quite simply, man up. Yao took a few years to develop the strength and confidence to bump bodies down low with the likes of Shaq, and it will take Yi a few years before he’s comfortable playing the physical NBA game. He gained a lot of confidence and got real aggressive the few games before he got injured. Hopefully, he’ll pick up where he left off.

Why is his shooting percentage so low?
• There’s a big difference between an in-practice shooter and an in-game shooter. In the NBA, there are defensive players almost always in your face, and players have to learn how to shoot under constant defensive pressure. Yi’s not the fastest guy or the highest jumping guy out there – he’ll have to learn little tricks to get himself open looks. If he’s not doing it already, he better start watching tapes of Dirk Nowitzki!

Season Highlights:
• Nov 10 at Miami: 24 pts, 10 reb, 4 ast, 7/11 FG, 5/6 3PT (Nets lose)
• Nov 22 vs LA Clippers: 27 pts, 6 reb, 2 blk (Nets win)
• Jan 5 vs Sacramento: 22 pts, 13 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk (Nets win)

Special Note: I should point out that Yi is eligible to be an all-star in this year’s NBA All Star Game, where fans vote for the starters. Considering Yao is and has always been among the top in votes received, it’s no surprise that Yi is among the leaders this year as well. (Un)luckily, he got injured and his injury will carry past the All-Star Weekend, so we won’t have to worry about it this year… but next year…

Sun Yue

Surprisingly, the Lakers didn’t send Sun down to the NBDL (development league), opting to keep him on their bench. The result: out of the Lakers’ 39 games, Sun has played in six, averaging 3 minutes per game. Hehe. His debut came during a blowout home game vs. Milwaukee, where he notched 4 fouls in 5 minutes of game time – welcome to the NBA, Sun.

Looking to the Future:

Is Sun ever going to become a contributing NBA player?
• No. The only reason he’s called the “Magic Johnson of China” is because he’s tall and plays point guard for the national team. Compare his passing and ball handling ability to any 6′7″ guy in the NBA, and he’s actually quite terrible.

List of other terrible 6′7″ players who can pass and dribble better than Sun:
• Sasha Vujacic
• Thabo Sefolosha
• Sasha Pavlovic
• Antoine Wright
• Marco Jaric
• Yakhouba Diawara
• Joey Graham
• Jerry Chen (coincidentally, Jerry is only 6′0″)

Season Highlights:
• Nov 20 at Phoenix: 0 pts, 0 reb, 0 asts, 0 minutes (Lakers win)
• Dec 2 at Indiana: 0 pts, 0 reb, 0 asts, 0 minutes (Lakers lose)
• Dec 7 vs Milwaukee: 4 pts, 2 TO, 4 fouls, 5 minutes (CAREER HIGH - points)
• Jan 14 at San Antonio: 0 pts, 0 reb, 1 stl, 1 minute (CAREER HIGH - steals)

Keep workin’ hard, Sun – we’ll be cheering for ya.