Friday, July 13, 2007 | 7:24 a.m.
Louis Amundson, the former UNLV center, hobbles by with tape around his left ankle.
When he twisted the ankle, the coach of a pro team in Spain closed his notebook with a sigh; he had been scouting Amundson 's stint with the Philadelphia team in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
He played one NBA game for Utah and 10 with the Sixers last season, reportedly earning about $100,000.
"It's the best league in the world, so I expected it to be tough," Amundson says. "But I feel like I belong and that I can play with these guys, so I have to find the right fit."
In his first game, Amundson displays a refined free-throw shooting motion. He's poised as he lifts the ball behind his right ear and displays a feathery follow-through.
He sinks 8 of his 10 attempts in the victory against the Spurs. Free throws did not come easily for him as a Rebel.
"I've just been working on it, and it feels like my shot has gotten a lot better," Amundson says. "I'm just working on getting comfortable up there."
Ready, aim
Bishop Gorman graduate C.J. Watson is glad he isn't the target of flying objects.
Since he left the University of Tennessee a year ago, Watson has played seven months in Italy and two in Greece.
In Europe, players are in the cross hairs of fans who pelt them with coins and flares, even spit.
"Anything they get their hands on," he says. "You have to go out there and play. You must be aware of your safety, but it's hard."
Watson played for San Antonio last summer, but he didn't stick.
"I'm a lot better than I was a year ago," he says. "I'm trying to run the offense at the point, and trying to score through the offense. If it doesn't work out with the Spurs, hopefully another team likes you and wants to bring you in."
He has 13 points, four steals, three turnovers and an assist in his first summer game.
"It's tough not being close to family and friends," Watson says. "I'm trying to cope with it. I'm not trying to go back overseas. If I do, I will keep getting better."
Fly on the wall
Open a door at the bottom of a long staircase in the back of Cox Pavilion, where you probably shouldn't be, and you land in the middle of a conversation between Philadelphia coach Maurice Cheeks and Jason Smith.
The Colorado State center was selected by Miami with the 20th overall pick in last month's draft, then Philly traded for him.
In his summer debut, he missed all six of his shots. In his next game, he had 7 points, on 3-of-6 shooting, with 8 boards.
"Yeah! That's the way to play!" Cheeks tells Smith. "You did good!"
"Thank you, sir," says Smith.
The most compelling team in the NBA Summer League at UNLV wears red, its assistants wear blue jeans on the bench and its players can't understand their coach.
Jonas Kazlauskas, the 52-year-old Lithuanian legend who has coached Team China since 2004, doesn't pause when asked about his communication challenge.
"A challenge?" he says with a hard Eastern European edge. "No. It's impossible!"
International intrigue surrounds Yi Jianlian, a 6-foot-11 forward who played in Las Vegas despite not having signed a contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, who picked him sixth in the recent draft.
Greg Oden, Portland's top pick, and Kevin Durant, who went second to Seattle, never would have come to Las Vegas without the insurance of guaranteed salaries.
Interpreter Cheng Zheng always is a step away from Kazlauskas. Often, no translation is required to understand Kazlauskas.
When Yi is stripped of the ball, Kazlauskas benches him and barks a few choice words at him. The moment Kazlauskas turns away, Yi rolls his eyes.
A guard gets called for yet another turnover, and Kazlauskas hangs his head. Wang Zhizhi can't hang onto an interior pass, and Kazlauskas shakes his head as he glares at the scorer's table.
Yi misses a shot, and Kazlauskas drops his head in his hands.
Without center Yao Ming and international rules, such as the trapezoid lane, the Chinese lack rhythm and frustration comes easily.
Then again, this is the bottom of the NBA food chain and Kazlauskas is trying to polish his team for next year's Beijing Olympics against players who are jousting for an 11th or 12th spot on a roster.
Yi Jianlian (pronounced E JEE-ahn LEE-ahn), who figures prominently in the Bucks' plans, hails from Shenzhen, a region known for its diminutive people.
His 6-foot-5 father and 5-8 mother were both forcibly recruited by the state to play team handball in the Soviet-style sports school. Both now work as postal clerks, and they didn't want their son to meet a similar fate.
Yi, however, grew to 6-5 when he was barely out of grade school, and a veteran coach convinced his parents that Yi would become a star.
He was featured in Time magazine four years ago, when Nike inked him to a lucrative multi year deal. That's when he first visited Las Vegas, to participate in a camp.
Yi rode the Stratosphere roller coaster and gaped at the Strip's many brightly illuminated attractions.
"Las Vegas is the most beautiful city in the world," he told Time, "especially at night."
The questions start with his age. He's either 19, as his passport purports, or 22 or 23, according to many scouts.
He is either a versatile force, with an explosive jump and deft touch from outside, or a project with inconsistent hands and questionable aim.
He starts the summer league with a strong game at Cox Pavilion, misses his first nine shots in a flop of a second outing and then hits a last-second turnaround banker to beat Cleveland.
In one game, his fling of a hook from the right baseline hits the side of the backboard. He seem s to turn it over every time he put s the ball on the floor.
"He can play in the NBA," Kazlauskas insists . " This is no question."
Milwaukee picked him even though Yi was not allowed to work out for the team.
His handlers want Yi to play in a city with a larger Asian-American community, but the Bucks say they won't trade him. Those handlers also say he won't return to the Chinese Basketball Association, where he played for Guangdong.
Talks among Milwaukee General Manager Larry Harris and coach Larry Krystkowiak, and Yi, with an interpreter on each side, started late last week in Team China's hotel in Las Vegas.
Yi read a letter from Bucks owner and Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl, who invited him to visit Milwaukee.
Those talks might continue in China, where museum tours and other cultural events will be scheduled to teach the Bucks' brass about the country.
"Yi might feel a bit lonely in this situation," Yao Ming told the Shanghai Daily. "I felt the same when I first landed in Houston. Yi's business relationship with his agency might be more complicated than we expected.
"But I'm not in a position to give any advice about dealing with the agency."
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