Bucks rookie finally has his dominant performance

Yi Jianlian finally had the breakout game everyone from Beijing to Shanghai has been expecting.

And it was that near-perfect performance that helped Yi pass Kevin Durant atop this week's rankings.

Playing against a road-weary Bobcats team (it took them 11 hours to get from Charlotte to Milwaukee), Yi hit his first 12 shots and finished with a career-high 29 points in a 103-99 win on Saturday. Oh, and he pulled down 10 rebounds and had three steals on defense.

"He's getting a feel of the game, getting more aggressive, dunking the basketball," said teammate Michael Redd after the game. "He's versatile. He's like a fourth guard out there sometimes, the way he can shoot."

So can Yi make up ground on Durant in the Rookie of the Year race? Maybe, maybe not.

Judging from the e-mails I receive, Durant is either "overrated," "awful," or good only because he "gets up a lot of shots, no mean feat." Granted, Durant has struggled at times as one of the Sonics' primary offensive threats, but he's also looked brilliant when his shot is falling. Yi, on the other hand, has been steady and efficient as a role player adjusting to the NBA game.

At this point, it appears Durant would need a major collapse to lose the ROY, but at the least, Yi has established himself as a serious threat if he can continue to play like he did in his breakout game. And for one week, at least, he's atop these rankings.

(Send comments, complaints or hype for your favorite rookie to Drew Packham at drew.packham@turner.com.)

NBA Rookie Rankings Rank LW Player 1 2 Yi Jianlian, Milwaukee Bucks He might be a rock star in China, but on the Bucks, he's just another rookie. A very good rookie, though, and one who could surpass Yao Ming as China's biggest star. "I can feel the expectation from Yi is very high," said Xue Zhen, assistant editor of Titan Sports, a Chinese newspaper. "Yi is more talented and definitely has a brighter future ahead of him than Yao." Not a bad future for a guy currently carrying his teammates' bags. 2 1 Kevin Durant, Seattle SuperSonics Durant's drop from the top spot is less a reflection on his play this week as it is a chance to reward Yi for his big week. Durant actually had one of his better weeks from the field, averaging 22.5 points in his two games. The University of Texas product is definitely improving from the field (going 18-for-33), which has been the biggest knock on Durant so far. 3 3 Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks I opened up the recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution to find the big headline "Immovable," which is fitting for the guy sticking at the No. 3 position. In the article, Horford was praised by teammates for his seamless transition to the League. "He's a grown man. A grown man," said Josh Smith. Said Josh Childress: "It's like he got dropped in here and the machine just got stronger. There was no waiting period for him to get used to everybody or anything. As soon as he got on the floor with us, it was positives all the way around." 4 4 Jamario Moon, Toronto Raptors Moon might be coming down to earth. After grabbing everyone's attention with his early play, his playing time has dropped considerably. After averaging 29.7 minutes in the month of November, Moon has only played more than 28 minutes in a game once since Dec. 7. I'm not one to overvalue minutes played, but if this trend continues, he could find himself slipping in the rankings. For now, his defense is still his saving grace. 5 8 Sean Williams, New Jersey Nets Williams had possibly the best defensive performance of the season, and not just among rookies. With the Nets struggling, coach Lawrence Frank rewarded Williams with a start (along with sophomore Josh Boone) against the Kings. Williams responded with an eight-block night, which tied the Nets rookie record set in 1981 by Mike Gminski. 6 5 Juan Carlos Navarro, Memphis Grizzlies Navarro is quietly having a great rookie season. Not only is he third in scoring among rookies (10.7 ppg), he's also in the top five in field goal percentage (.390, 1st), three-pointers made (53, 1st), three-point field goal percentage (.392, 2nd), assists (2.1, 3nd), steals (0.74, 5th) and free-throw percentage (.889, 3rd). 7 6 Jeff Green, Seattle SuperSonics It's early still, but at least one Seattle columnist is giving Green a passing grade. So far, I'm more than willing to give him high marks as well. In 22.8 minutes per game, Green's chipping in 8.7 points, 5.4 boards and doing the little things for the Sonics. 8 -- Corey Brewer, Minnesota Timberwolves Like many rookies (see Moon, above), Brewer has found the way to stay on the floor: play lock-down defense. "I think he's taken pride in [defense]," coach Randy Wittman told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "Early on, as any rookie does, I think he got surprised by how guys can score in this league. ... He knows he has to be on his game every night, no matter who he's playing." He also averaged 10.0 points and 5.6 rebounds this week, so that can't hurt. 9 10 Luis Scola, Houston Rockets Scola finished off his week in style. Against the Bulls on Saturday, the Argentinian had 14 points and 11 rebounds, then had an 18-point, nine-rebound game against the Pistons on Sunday. If Tracy McGrady is out for an extended period after aggravating his knee injury, it could mean more scoring opportunities for Scola. 10 -- Aaron Gray, Chicago Bulls This 10th spot seems to be reserved for the one-week wonders. This week it's the Bulls' big man out of Pitt. Given three straight games of at least 20 minutes, Gray responded by averaging 10.6 points and 7.3 rebounds. Of course, he came back to earth on Saturday (and Big Ben returned to the lineup), so if the pattern holds up, Gray's stay in the rankings might be short-lived. Honorable mention: Daequan Cook, Heat (capped off week with 15 points in win over Jazz); Nick Young, Wizards (14 points in 21 minutes vs. Hawks); Al Thornton, Clippers (career-high 25 points in second career start); Arron Afflalo, Pistons (two double-digit scoring games in last three)