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Name:  Yi Jianlian 
Born:  October 27, 1987 in Heshan, Guangdong province.

Beijing entry:  Men's basketball 

Career high:  Finished eighth  at the Athens Games

Main rivals:  USA, Argentina, Spain. 

With the experience and extra muscle gained in his NBA rookie season, China's top hoops prospect Yi Jianlian will look to brush aside his Athens  nightmare in Beijing.

The lanky power forward was just 17 when he made his Olympic debut - and his stats showed his inexperience. He averaged a miserable 2.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in four games as the team finished eighth. It equalled China's best Olympic result, but team leader Yao Ming, who expected bigger things, was furious - slamming his team  for their 'lack of motivation and desire to win'.

 'It wasn't a pleasant memory for me,' Yi told the Basketball Pioneer newspaper. 'I was too young to handle things on and off the court. I tried my best, but all that happened was I was pushed away by the European big men and could hardly score a point. I was very disappointed.

 'I take the experience as a motivation.  After spending a whole season in the NBA, I am a lot stronger and have a better understanding of the game. I'm so happy to have a second chance to play in the Olympics. I think that right now I'm just preparing my heart for it. I'm working and struggling in practise to get my skills up to scratch. It's definitely helping that I'm having this NBA experience.'

The 21-year-old from Heshan, Guangdong province, was chosen sixth  in the 2007 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, and is expected to line up alongside Yao for China.
 
His career across the Pacific has been a roller coaster ride. In the first 48 games he ranked second among rookies behind Seattle's Kevin Durant with 8.7 points and 6.1 rebounds, but then hit the 'rookie wall' hard and  averaged less than four points in the remaining games. 

Basketball is China's most popular sport - thanks in part to having a bona fide star in Yao - but on the international stage results have been poor.

After Yao and Yi there is a steep drop-off in talent, and the state-controlled Chinese Basketball Association (CBA)  has been criticised for low quality and poor management. The only other Chinese players to reach the NBA have been Wang Zhizhi and  Mengke Bateer, neither of whom made an impact, and CBA stars and international regulars such as  Zhu Fangyu have been ineffective against top-class opposition.

Still, Yi believes China shouldn't be ruled out of medal contention. 

 'We don't have as many NBA players as Spain or Argentina, but the improvement we've made over the past four years gives us confidence that we'll be able to play well,' he told Sohu.com. 'The team have played more international games than before [Athens] and all the players have gained experience and  knowledge about their overseas rivals. So I think we can be a force.'




No 49: Yi Jianlian