Unrealistic Expectations

Actually, the only thing he did poorly was miss a couple of shots. He was in position the whole time he was in the game. The picks he set were very good (and you could see that his bigger body - and Ming does get wide on picks - led to more driving ability), he rolled very well. He pinned his man on a couple of occasions, he runs the floor amazingly well for someone his size, he rebounded decently, and his interior defense caused the Spurs to change their offense slightly. And the thing about Ming is that there's just this feelign, and watching him play last night reinforces it, that he is just soaking up knowledge with each minute on the floor - he will get better.

 

I thinked he played decently also but his rebounding was terrible last night. He let Gino take a ball right out of his hands. He doesn't seem to go to the ball but lets the ball come to him. I think in time he will be better at rebounding. I just think he has ever had to work for a rebound before.

The positive I saw were plenty. The fadeway, the space he takes up on the defensive end, and the spin move.

One interesting thing I noticed was that when he set a pick, he was so big, he kinda got in the way of our own players. I don't think Cat and Francis now how use a pick very well since they are so used to the ISO. I think our guards need to watch some Stockton tape.

 

Anybody think his focus and step may be off from travel and the circus around him? How about not knowing the offense? Give him time, this was a get it over with initiation to let his nervousness out...

 

I'm going to pat myself on the back here. I predicted 17 min, 8 pts, and 5 rbs for the guy before the game. I was reasonably close, in the final accounting.

Foul trouble is really going to be a bother for the first half of the year. I spent last season, white-knuckled, just hoping that Mengke Batere would be able to stay in the game for the Nuggest for more than 15 minutes... and he couldn't. He just kept fouling.

That kind of frustration is something we'll see here early on. But Yao Ming's quick, and he's certainly teachable. At worst, Rudy T. will have to tell Yao to tone down his aggressiveness on defense a little... so that he gets more game minutes to work on other facets of his game.

Let's see how Yao does tonight; I'm guessing there'll be improvement. 22 min, 9 pts, 6 rbs, 2 blocks.

 

It may even run a little deeper than that.

I was at the game and sat directly across from the Rockets' bench (albeit very high up). Yao Ming was very intense just sitting on the bench watching. When there was a stoppage of play, he focused attention on the Jumbo-tron to watch the replay.

I have a curious habit that when I am in my deepest level of thought, I place when of my hands under my chin (actually the palm under the chin and a forefinger across my mouth) and I totally focus. I was shocked to see this same mannerism used by Yao Ming. Yao Ming is about as focused as can be imagined...on and off the court!

I was impressed and think he will be very productive in the future.

 

Ming did OK last night, but he came down to earth. Expections on him from some people are simply unrealistic.

Ming looks much more coordinated than Bradley. He shoots the ball well and pass the ball well. But his rebounding lacks of force, easy to be taken away by other players. Bradley rebounds better than Ming for the time being.

Yao showed two offensive moves last night, the turnaround shot and the baseline move. But both of them are too obvious. Defenders can figure it out pretty fast, like David Robinson did. Ming needs to develop two options on every move to confuse the defender. He has a lot to learn from Hakeem. But the quickness of Hakeem is not someting that can be learned.

 

One thing is evident, Yao definately needs to hit the weight room. He got knocked over by Danny Ferry. I'm sure Shaq looked at the highlights and rolled over laughing. I do hope that Yao can get comfortable with the offense soon.

 

It won't take that long. Jet lag is supposedly 72 hours. He played in less than 70 and he wasn't sitting around resting. His speed, concentration, strength will all be better in the coming days. Give him a few games. He may not have been in "game" shape either. remember, he only played like 15 minutes a game in Korea and China.

 

i thought he did pretty good. Some rookies go 0-4 o-5. Boki didn't make any shots till the second game he played in. Just the fact that he made a fadeaway on Robinson says a lot.

 

great review JayZ.

Did you read what Maurice said. Maurice had the ball against Duncan and Yao cut to the low post and Duncan shaded towards him to help Robinson, leaving Mo...

"The shot was five foot open. That never happens to me."

 

Ming may seem to fail many times this year in the eyes of those fans who measure a players worth with stats. A 7'6 man must wow them with personal stats or else he's not living up to their (un)realistic expectations. When I measure Mings value, I like to measure his value to the team in terms of wins and losses.

When Ming is the game, his defensive presence alone should tilt the point differentiation in our favor.

I dont care how many times he gets dunked on because Ming will be responsible for ten to twenty altered shots for every dunk made over him. If its short term pleasure that a fan wants, the dunks on Ming will always seem more impressive, but if a fan wants the long term satisfaction that winning brings, he will be more impressed with the altered shots. Thats how I see it.

Wins and losses is where the measuring stick of Mings impact begins for me.