Saturday Bucks Notes

Yi Jianlian helped China squeak by Venezuela 64-62 in their opening game of the Stankovic Cup. Yi had 18 points on 4-9 from the field and 10-12 from the line along with 9 rebounds, a block, a steal and four TOs. I saw the last three quarters and it was a similar story to the Vegas Summer League, with Yi and Wang Zhizhi clearly China's two best players yet unable to get involved as much as they should have.

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Priority Sports: By now they must be big Bucks fans

With only Charlie Bell left to re-sign, it's been pretty quiet on the Bucks' front. The consensus seems to be that the Bucks gave Bell an offer a while ago and let him know that they would match any other team's offer sheet. Which then put Bell's agent Mark Bartelstein in the position of having to drum up interest from other teams who probably know the Bucks will likely match any offer sheet they provide.

Don't feel bad for Bartelstein and his crew at Chicago-based Priority Sports though. He's already coaxed the Bucks into giving two of his other clients--Mo Williams and Jake Voskuhl--pretty nice deals. And Bobby Simmons' $47 million contract from a few years ago? Also Bartelstein's work. I think he owes Herb Kohl a beer. Though in fairness it seems like the majority of overpaid role players count Bartelstein as their agent. I'm thinking of you, Antoine Walker, Brian Cardinal, Mark Blount, and Mikki Moore.