The shooting was so bad last night that I felt like Sam Cassell was back with the team. I remember one night on the news when I was a young kid journeyman center Joe Klein was complaining about how busy he was under the boards due to Cassell’s “chucking.”

Scary kind of flashback to say the very least, but that’s the kind of feeling I had.

However, this time around, it was everyone shooting blanks.

Seriously, when guys like Devin Harris and Vince Carter are that bad, you know you’re in trouble. On top of that, Yi Jianlian was flat out horrible. I’m not just talking about his offense either. The guy’s defense is horrible and every game he gets exploited.

For the Chinese media to even think that he and Yao Ming are in the same category is a bit absurd if you ask me. Here we have a player in Yao that is polish personified. He knows what he’s capable of doing and does everything from rebound and hit 17 footers with confidence. Yi, on the other hand, looks like the big goofy kid in junior high school that’s still growing into his body [If all the accounts are true, he may still be in JHS, who knows how old he is at this point.] You know, the guy I’m talking about. The one with all the natural talent in the world, but no polish and no smarts. Sometimes, when he has the ball and has no one around him, I think he’s just going to sit and cry in the middle of the court. He looks that confused.

About a decade ago, former New York Islanders coach Mike Milbury told one of his prized prospects, Eric Brewer that he looked so bad on the ice that he felt like he was sniffing glue out there. That’s where it’s gotten with me and Yi. You watch the guys form when he takes jumpers and it’s a thing of beauty and when he hustles, he can be a presence in the post. Most of the time though, this guy is a pillar of inconsistency. Something needs to change with this guy soon. Otherwise, Laurence Frank is going to have to get under his nose and see if there is any Elmer’s under there.

On another note, can Mike Fratello and Marv Albert please get along on the air? It feels like these two guys hate each other or they have some sick big brother relationship of some sort. The constant bickering makes them really annoying to listen to and makes me want to put the television on mute. Give me Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel any day. As a matter of fact, just give me Michelle Beadle; she flat out rocks.