East Rutherford, N.J.—The breakout had begun.

In the middle of January, Nets forward Yi Jianlian shot his way into a hot streak, launching 38 shots in three games despite connecting on only 13 of them, finally breaking through on January 5 with and 8-of-14 shooting performance, part of a 22-point, 13-rebound, three-assist, two-block final line against the Sacramento Kings.

And he followed it up two days later, dropping 20 points (7-13 FGs), six boards, three assists, two steals and a block on the Memphis Grizzlies. The outburst marked the first time in Yi’s two-year career that he had scored 20-or-more points in consecutive games.

Two days after that, Yi was at it again: 25 minutes into the Nets’ matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks, the big had tallied 16 points, four rebounds and two assists while shooting 3-of-4 from three-point range and 6-of-12 overall. But late in the third quarter, Yi swiped at a ball on defense and broke the pinkie finger on his (right) shooting hand.

With Yi in the locker room, New Jersey went on to lose that game, 104-102, on a Luke Ridnour floater with 0.5 seconds remaining. The fracture was diagnosed, and sidelined Yi for five weeks (16 games). He spent much of his rehab working on his left hand and post game with General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe, but returned unable to find a groove, averaging only 6.2 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting .243 from deep and .357 overall. By the end of March, Nets coach Lawrence Frank had opted to give Yi’s spot in the rotation to Ryan Anderson.

“You’ve got to pick one,” Frank said then. “He’s had some struggles. You try to give him every opportunity to work through it and he gave you glimpses that you wanted to stay with him. But we have an investment in Ryan as well – we drafted him in the first round. It felt like time to give Ryan a shot, and you hope stepping back helps Yi the way it has helped some other guys.”

Though Yi reappeared for minimal action in the season’s final four games -- all after the team had been eliminated from playoff contention – it won’t be until next season that fans get to see if confidence and consistency become everyday additions to his game. For now, he’s headed back home to Shenzen, in China’s Guangdong province, to “hang with his parents” and a take a break from basketball.

But it won’t be a long one. By August, the 21-year-old forward will be playing for the Chinese National Team at the FIBA Asian Championships, a biannual qualifying tournament for the Asian Games (scheduled next for 2010) and the Olympics (2012). That’s a month most other players are using to ease their way back into shape for the start of training camp in September.

“I think Yi has a lot on his shoulders, being a guy who has to play year-round,” said Nets forward Bobby Simmons, who also played with Yi last year in Milwaukee. “He has to play for China and then come back and play here. Yi’s a guy that I’ve seen overworked, to the point where he has to stay on top of his game.

“He has some ups and some downs, but from him not taking a break during the course of an entire year – (last year) he had the Olympics and everything, and he had to go right to training, and they practice two or three times a day -- he just doesn’t have that time off like everyone else. But you’ve seen stretches where he’s a great player.”

Those stretches are what enticed Nets management to trade for Yi just prior to the start of the 2008 NBA Draft, in a deal that sent popular forward Richard Jefferson to the Bucks. Milwaukee, submarined by injuries to starters Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut, also finished out of the playoff race, though Jefferson turned in averages of 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting a career-high .397 from three-point range. Jefferson’s 116 makes and 292 attempts also represented career-bests.

But the trade was made with an eye on the future, and Yi’s fluid athleticism and deft perimeter touch -- Yi shot 79 more threes this past year than the one before, while increasing his percentage of makes from .286 to .343 -- offer tantalizing possibilities for all-around improvement as he prepares for a third NBA season. These same long-term goals led to extended run in the starting lineup (52 of 61 games), even as Yi’s production waned post-injury.

“We made a commitment to Yi,” said Nets president Rod Thorn. “Obviously, we traded a very good player for him. From my perspective and the team’s perspective, we had a commitment that we would play him. He was up and down and then before he got hurt had four or five good games in a row. When he came back he didn’t play as well – for whatever reason.

“We were going to give him every chance going into the season, because we felt he had a lot of potential and were hopeful that over the course of time our judgment would prove right. But when he came back, he had a tough time. We need, and he needs, to pick it back up next year.”

Yi knows all this, sidling by a look back at the season because “all that stuff is gone” and his focus is on the offseason. He’s proud to be participating on the Chinese National Team, and is ready to take advantage of the opportunity to work on his game.

 “There’s a lot of stuff I want to do this summer to improve myself: (strengthening) my body and a lot of individual (skill) work,” Yi said. “I think all the guys will see a different me.”

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