One thing I find it strange is that those "experts" were so harsh on Yao early on, labeling him a bust, disappointment... you name it. But no one seems to be disappointed at this Italian kid Bargnani, and no one thinks Bogut is a bust.
damn, toronto can't even cover 4 points at home? never good when the 7 team parlay is over on game #1.
Too bad for the raps...Bosh wasted a lot of shots in that game and it costed them in the end. Jason Kidd played another great game, as usual! I hope they can contain Carter again in the next game...
Entertaining game with two teams who have no chance of winning a championship, or even go to the Finals. The Nets ran out of gas and the Raptors just don't have what it takes. I won't bother watching another game in this series.
Neither came into the NBA with near as much attention/hype as Yao. Compared to expectations, they're progressing as planned.
Booooo! What are you talking about, the East is weak and ANY team has a chance...plus the Raps did not really have a good game, Mitchell was out coached... they did not know how to respond to the zone. Chris Bosh is not going to have a bad game like this again, well atleast he better not or else this team is out in 4.
That's something I don't quite agree with. When Yao was drafted, he did not get too much hype. (Thus the famous donkey kiss bet).
this really is the first time I got to see the Raptors play a team other than the Rockets. They play team basketball, so unselfish(outside of Dixon). The only problem I see is their lack of slashers and finishers around the basket, and Bosh is not yet to be counted on in the clutch, they are a deadly shooting team though. I expect this team to be really good next season.
As much as I love Yao, he had every bit the definition of hype. Hype is attention. And Yao got more attention than any other rookie in the past 10 years other than Lebron. Just because Barkley didn't think he would be so great, doesn't change the fact that Yao was a major curiosity that everyone wanted to check out. That's hype.
i know Canada is sometimes unfairly characterized as the kinder, gentler North Americans but; 1.) yah can't let some points frustrate your commitment to booing. 2.) you're dressed in NJ's red, the Nets thought they were at home. c'mon, make that place more hostile!
Heh heh! LOL! I forgot about you. At least you admit Mitchell underperformed. So did Bosh. I want the Raptors to win but it's obvious they aren't there yet.
Yao was overly hyped with claims like he was going to change the way the NBA was played. Critics like Barkley were just the backlash you get to those kind of claims.
To be fair only Bill Walton made anything close to those kinds of claims. Most NBA "experts" were more in the bust camp. And the backlash was against the attention, rather than against the opinion that Yao was going to be a superstar, which very few people actually thought (or at least voiced) at the time.
Yeah, it was mostly the massive attention, not necessarily expectations, that doomed Yao to harsh criticism.