Friday Bucks Notes

Yi showed off his touch in Utah

• Larry Krystkowiak sounds very pleased with Yi Jianlian's progress. You wouldn't blame Krystkowiak for getting kind of sick of all the Yi talk--keep in mind the Chinese media presence is still following the Bucks around and going to practice every day--but it sounds like he's legitimately pleased.

  "I love what he's doing," Krystkowiak said after practice Thursday at the Cousins Center. "I'm really encouraged for what the future holds for him. It's been remarkable how fast he's picked some things up, even today.
  
  "Offense, some of the things we're doing, I never would have guessed it. Most rookies, regardless if you're from Australia, China, Poland, aren't quite as quick to pick things up as he's been. Once his mind gets free, and he's more and more comfortable, I think he's really going to blossom."

• Tom Enlund writes Larry Krystkowiak really isn't joking about all the energy talk. He's talked about wanting energy from the starting unit, and now he's looking for it from the bench too. Damn Larry, quit being so demanding.

  "To me, starting is way overrated," Krystkowiak said. "You have to have a (second) group of guys that you stay engaged with all year long that bring something to the table. I'd almost like to refer to that group as our Bomb Squad. I had a group in the CBA that was that way. You didn't really run many plays for them but they brought all the energy on the defensive end.
  
  "They wrote it on their sneakers and made up wristbands. They didn't care if they started or not. They oftentimes finished games. That was the way to keep them going the whole year. They just soaked it all up. Nobody cared on that team who started but they just come in and run and jump and trap and pick people up. It was great. It was disruptive."

• Charlie Bell has some ideas about free agency. Prepare to be shocked:
  

  "I feel like it should just be open for everybody," Bell said of the NBA's free agent system. "No restricted (free agency). Let guys go out there and get what they can, and not be held back in any type of way."

• Alex at Boeder Bucks takes on the challenge of getting Kobe Bryant to Milwaukee. Hey, if Kobe doesn't want to come to Milwaukee that's fine--we'll make him want to come to Milwaukee. Just ask Charlie Bell or Yi--that's how Larry Harris rolls. Now, about that no trade clause...