Yi ready to make up for lost time

WASHINGTON: Yi Jianlian hopes to make a new start in the National Basketball Association with the rebuilding New Jersey Nets in the season that opens this week.

The 7-foot Chinese power forward was a sensation in his homeland, joining Houston center Yao Ming in the NBA and on a Chinese Olympic team that reached the quarterfinals and displayed the greatest skills of any Chinese hoops team.

The challenge now for Yi, who was traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Nets in the off-season along with forward Bobby Simmons, is to help the Nets, powered by playmaker Vince Carter, form foundations for future success.