Allen planted with a sore foot
MILWAUKEE - Celtics guard Ray Allen was on the bench in a gray suit for last night's Celtics' victory, a 99-77 thrashing of the Bucks. Allen is expected to be back in uniform soon.
Allen suffered what he described as a left talus bone injury in the first quarter of Boston's 110-92 loss to Utah Friday. The talus is a small bone between the heel bone and the two bones of the lower leg (tibia and fibula). Celtics coach Doc Rivers said Allen could return tomorrow at San Antonio. He has missed five games this season and both games against one of his former teams, the Bucks.
"I'm very disappointed," said Allen, who played in Milwaukee from 1996-2003. "I was looking forward to it.
"Unfortunately, in playing in [Friday's] game, it seemed like . . . I was going to shake it off. It just got sore. I tried to get back into the game at halftime and it didn't cooperate. It just didn't make sense for me to get back [in]."
Allen was injured in the first quarter driving to the basket. He slipped to the floor after planting awkwardly. He thought he was fine, but when he went to the free throw line, he sensed something was wrong.
Allen went to the locker room after the quarter to get examined by trainer Ed Lacerte. Allen was walking fine yesterday and was "feeling a lot better."
"I've never done that before," Allen said. "I didn't roll it. Where I came down, my [left] foot didn't hit the ground [smoothly]. It kind of stayed at an angle. As I went down, it just looked like I jammed [it]. That's what I told [the trainers]. I said, 'I jammed my ankle' and when it hit the floor, it caused it to be irritated."
"He'll be fine," said Rivers. "I think he can play as early as Monday, maybe a little after that. I'm not sure yet. It's nothing serious. It's just a bruise in his heel and we want it to go away. The best way is rest."
Bucks' Yi adapting
After talking to the American media through an interpreter, Bucks rookie forward Yi Jianlian had a half-dozen Chinese media members waiting to ask more questions after a Dec. 14 game against the host Celtics. The Chinese journalists following the Bucks write only about their popular countryman.
It's tough enough just being a rookie in the NBA. But at 20 years old, the 7-foot, 238-pound Yi is dealing with a language barrier and a new country, and adapting to having a spotlight on him - one that previously had shined on Rockets star Yao Ming.
"It's stressful," said Yi in a recent interview, through an interpreter. "There are a lot of Chinese fans paying attention to Yao Ming and me. That's a phenomenon that we have because there have been a lot of people paying attention to us."
Although Yi and Yao are from China, their games are different.
Yao is a true center at 7-5 and arguably the best at his position in the NBA, dominating the post offensively and hitting occasional midrange jumpers. The versatile Yi runs the floor like a deer, has 3-point range, can score many ways in the post, and is very athletic.
The son of former athletes, a 6-5 father and 5-8 mother, Yi went from being discovered in 1999 on a playground in Shenzhen to being one of the top prospects in last year's draft.
The Celtics reportedly would have drafted Yi had they kept their fifth overall pick instead of dealing it to Seattle in the Allen trade. Celtics general manager Danny Ainge declined comment on that, but said of Yi, "You've got a lot of potential. I like his energy, size, and athleticism."
The Sonics ended up with Georgetown guard Jeff Green with the fifth selection and Yi went sixth to Milwaukee. Yi's handlers initially were disappointed by him going to a small market with a tiny Chinese population, but he played for the Bucks' summer league team and signed Aug. 29.
Before making his NBA debut, Yi was given words of wisdom from Yao. "He's told me to be really careful about not being injured," Yi said. "Everything he's told me is useful and I'm experiencing it myself. And I have to go through it myself to realize my way to progress."
Yi, who missed last night's game with a sprained right wrist, is averaging 8.9 points on 43.3 percent shooting and 5.3 rebounds in 25.4 minutes per game. He scored a career-high 29 points against Charlotte Dec. 22 and played for the Rookie Team during All-Star weekend.
Yi has been on the inactive list for five straight games and has missed eight total since January because of wrist, shoulder, and ankle injuries. One NBA scout said Yi looked tired when he recently watched him play.
"You're playing four or five teams in a week," Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "A lot of different opponents, a lot of different hotel rooms, different things. It's a little different for him as well as all the things he has going on off the floor. He probably has more going on than anyone else on our team.
"He leads our team in workouts off the floor. We tried to taper things off a little bit. It's going to take its toll on him."
One thing Yi and Krystkowiak haven't had a problem with is the language barrier.
"I'm very straightforward with what I want to talk about," Krystkowiak said. "I try to keep it as simple as possible. He's really solid when it comes to basketball language. It's not one of those deals where you tell him something and then 10 minutes later you say, 'Oh, he didn't understand what I was saying.' He does it and he doesn't make the same mistake twice."
Yi won't get much rest once the season is over, as he will play for China in the Beijing Olympics. But with lots of basketball still left to play with the Bucks this season, he's hoping to finish his long rookie season strong.
Although it's stressful, he is enjoying his first-year experience, and described living in Milwaukee as "cool."
