Yi Jianlian has been able to communicate with his teammates and coaches, despite the language barrier. (Getty)

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November 15, 2007

MILWAUKEE -- During the telecast of the Milwaukee Bucks' Nov. 9 game against the Houston Rockets, commentators Jim Paschke and Jon McGlocklin made the observation that the teams could have conceivably put players from six of the world's seven continents on the basketball court at the same time.

Maybe the National Basketball Association's next venture will be to discover a prospect from Antarctica.

Communication will always be an essential part of coaching at any level, and the NBA's globalization has forced the league's coaches to discover new avenues to connect with the growing number of foreign-born players on their rosters.

Some have taken it upon themselves to travel abroad and study foreign languages, but most do not have that luxury because their job has become almost a year-round venture that demands their presence right here in the United States.

So how do they get their point across to someone who knows little, if any English?

China native Yi Jianlian, the Bucks' 2007 first-round draft choice, is accompanied by an interpreter during many of his dealings with the media, but does not have one at his side during games and practices. Jarinn Akana, one of the Bucks' assistant coaches for player development, knows some phrases in Chinese, but does not profess to know the language.

The Bucks coaches and players were both relieved and encouraged to discover early in camp that communicating with Yi on the court would not be an insurmountable hurdle. In fact, most were impressed with how quickly he was able to go with the flow and absorb and follow most of the coaching staff's instructions.

Still, working with individuals who've spent most of their lives in faraway lands and speaking different languages poses challenges for coaches. Finding ways to tackle those challenges becomes a vital part of their job.

Though Jarinn Akana is the youngest member of Bucks Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak's staff of assistants, he brings a vast resume to the table and has trained under some of the game's foremost teachers.

Akana also possesses the valuable experience of having spent time in China in 2001 as a guest coach for the Chinese National Team. One of the players under his tutelage was Yi, so Akana's presence in Milwaukee gives Yi a comfort zone he is very fortunate to have.

"I don't really speak Chinese," Akana said. "I do know how to say things like 'offense,' ' defense,' 'screen and roll to the basket,' 'I need a backdoor on the left wing,' and other things like that in Chinese. Getting through an NBA practice is not easy if you don't understand, but Yi picks up a lot of things very quickly.

"He was out on the basketball court for his first day of practice with no translator. He sees things one or two times and knows, 'OK, that's what I've got to do.' He picks up the terminology, and once he sees something over and over, he'll know what it is."

Akana realized that, despite the bond he formed with Yi during his time in China, coaching the 2007 NBA Lottery pick would be a group effort.

"Whatever I can do to help, I'll help, but that goes for everybody on the staff," Akana said. "This is not a one-man show. It's everybody in the organization. That's how it's got to be.

"When you take on a project like this, that's how it has to be done, because it's too hard to do by yourself."

That project requires the players' participation as well as the coaches'.

Bucks guard Mo Williams noticed Yi's rapid comprehension during that first practice and came away impressed.

"Yi speaks some English," Williams said. "You might think that if we call a play, he won't know what's going on. But he picks it up. He has a really good feel for the game. I think that, without even calling a play, he'll see movement from another guy, and his IQ tells him where to go or what to do, whether to take the shot or make a pass.

"He doesn't look like he's lost on the floor. For his first practice, he didn't miss a beat. He picks things up real well. If you have a high basketball IQ like he does, you can read your opponent, read your defender. All he needs to know, for me, is how to set a screen and roll. And I'll get it to him."

Bucks assistant Jim Todd has 11 years of NBA coaching experience, but his coaching career extends beyond that 20 years at the high school and college levels. His most extensive coaching stint with a foreign audience actually came in Yi's homeland, as a clinician.

"I've been over to China," Todd said. "I did a week-long, one-man clinic over there for about 200 people. There were both junior varsity and varsity boys and girls teams. Nobody spoke English, so I had an interpreter.

"But it was fun. What gets lost are all the little jokes and sayings you're trying to get across as you're speaking. They get lost in the translation. You wait for them to laugh, and nobody's laughing, so you're wondering if you're getting through!"

Todd apparently got his messages across over the past three seasons while serving as an assistant to Sam Mitchell on the Toronto staff. He helped steer the Raptors to a regular-season record of 47-35 and the Atlantic Division champinship, one of the franchise's best years ever.

"We had seven or eight Europeans when I was coaching in Toronto last year, and some of them spoke hardly any English," Todd said. "You're able to get through to them and they understand pretty much what has to be done.

"Sometimes you have to show them on film or on the court. We seemed to be able to relate."

Akana, Todd and their colleagues on the Bucks staff have accumulated a wide range of experiences coaching foreign-born players. Visit bucks.com again soon for Part II of "Basketball: A Universal Language".

And if you have any basketball scouting experience and happen to speak Antarctican fluently, drop Bucks General Manager Larry Harris a line soon and let him know!