Friday marks the day when Rockets' all-star center Yao Ming will be on the court against the Bucks and 7-foot rookie power forward Yi Jianlian, in a game that will receive intense media coverage in China.

"This one is a little more built up," said Jarinn Akana with a grin, who is working with the Bucks as an assistant, "Yao has established himself, and Yi being a top pick (sixth overall) in the draft. For me, I'm happy for China, to tell you the truth."

"Six years ago, people saw Dodger (Wang Zhi-Zhi) and (Mengke) Bateer, and now to see these next two guys, who knows what is going to happen in the future?"

Yi's NBA career is all of four games old, but already he has impressed his teammates, coaches and opposing teams. Yi ranks as the team's fourth-leading scorer at 9.8 points per game, and he is averaging 26 minutes in his starting role.

"Sometimes you look at him, and you don't know he's that young," Bucks' guard Charlie Bell said of Yi. "Just the way he plays out there on the court. He looks unshaken by everything."