Hi everybody, I am in Vancouver and I went to GM Place to watch the game. First of all, I want to comment on the guards on the Chinese team. They are BEYOND horrible! They CAN"T pass the DAM ball! They sukk and they are big ball hogs! Yao only had 6 attempts and often couldn't get the ball because the Chinese guards were scared and piissed in their pants. Even my grandma can throw a better pass, and I mean it. Contrary to many people's comment about Ming's outside game, Ming did not take one single outside jumper. He scored ALL his points in the paint (around the basket) with 100% of accuracy. He was literally unguardable in the paint. He was agile and aggressive in the paint and had several nice moves including a quick spin-move. If the Chinese guards can pass and feed the dam ball like how Lakers guards do to Shaq, Ming could have easily got 30+ points in about 25-30 mins. He played decent D, but again he had to cover for the stupid defensive lapses left by the Chinese guards. As a result, he often couldn't establish his position in the paint by having to move around and cover up the guards' aasses. When he had the chance to establish his position in the paint, he often blocked the shots, altered the shots or intimiated the penetrators. He is actually stronger than I thought. I knew his lower body is SOLID but I didn't know his upper body is quite strong too. He just needs about 15 or so pounds and more strength on chest and arms in the NBA. He had many positives and so much potential. However, there were some weaknesses in his game. He did not do a good job at boxing out and fighting for a position. It's not that much of a problem about his strength, but rather the lacking of knowledge and experience to do so. If he learns how to do it and gets used to the physical defense, he will play much better defense and get many more rebounds. The next problem is that he might be foul-prone in the NBA, not because he is slow or weak, but because he lacks the experience. If he learns how to do the right thing in the right place at the right time, he will do fine in the NBA. I think coaching will be crucial to his success. If you guys have any question on the game, you can ask me. Cheers. Go Ming !
this is a very good post, snowblow11 , but don't feel frustrated if it doesn't get many replys immediatly, because it is 1:48 EST in the morning already and many posters here may have gone to sleep. I would like to translate your post into Chinese and post it in a Chinese Web site. I know many Chinese fans want to know how Yao did in this game too and they couldn't otherwise. Thanks again.
Awesome recap. Thank you so much for having your first post be this meaning ful to the BBS at large. Welcome aboard.
Welcome to the board! Nice first post, too. Some of us saw some "live look-ins" on NBATV, but they only showed about 10 minutes or so. Still, I know what you are talking about. I saw once where Ming was posting up, and was calling for the ball right by the basket, but the guard shot it and missed. Also saw some miss layups. Now I know what the posters who have seen him in China mean by poor guard play. Hmm...I'm sleepy now. I read more recaps later today.
It's really great to hear that one of the guys from the BBS got the opportunity to see Ming playing in person. Fine post. Thanks a lot. Welcome to the Clutch BBS. Keep on posting.
Good to hear about the details. Was Ming actually trying to get more opportunities to shoot and just didnt get the ball or was he submisive?
I saw on sports center tonight on espn, where they showed Yao made a monster Jam by over powering the center who guarding him, kinda like a shaq dunk!!!!!!!! way to go!
nice post snow... much better than some other article by some idiot reporter saying ming was "pushed" around by smaller ppl, had a terrible first half, only stood out because of his height.. man, he must be a ming hater!!!!!! ... and he didn't even mention ming had 17 points on 6 of 6 shooting fg and 5 of 5 from the line... 100% accuracy.. 5 rebounds and 2 steals............ good job ming..
great post...for those of us at work at 12:30 in the morning...ugh...this was a pleasant surprise...welcome to the board.
I'm kinda disappointed Ming didn't take an outside shot... he's got a better percentage from 3s than Kobe Bryant!!!!!!!!!! better % from the FT than shaq... and probably from the field as well... we'll see.....
To austinrocket: Ming was not submissive on the court. He was constantly looking for touches and trying to attack the basket. Some of the fans on this board already mentioned about his monster dunk and pull-down-both-handed block (a lay-up by Nash? can't remember). Ming did that dunk and the following blocks because he was angry. He was angry after the guards kept failing to pass the ball to him. He got so frustrated and pissed off due to the guards' inability. So when he finally got that ball in the paint, he threw a nasty in-the-face dunk to release his angers. The crowd were crazy for him at that moment. I almost felt sorry for Ming. Heck some guards can't even throw a wide-open pass. I guess it's because North American guards are a lot faster and more physical. Under these pressure, the Chinese guards sometimes were scared to pass to Ming even when there is an opportunity. Rudy was there too, and I guess he was pissed off in his mind because his boy Ming couldn't get enough touches, haha. Ming did become more aggressive in the 2nd half tho. The officiating was of course on the Canadian side so that the Canadian centers kept pushing/elbowing Ming without being called thruout the game. In the 2nd half, Ming couldn't stand it anymore so he started to show some emotions by pushing them back. In an attempt to take a charge, he even hurt a Canadian player who had to lie down for like a minute. Many people booed but I actually like his toughness. Gotta sleep, talk to you all after I wake up.
I know a lot of people think Yao Ming is a soft player; a laidback beanpole without desire and aggression. Most of these people are uninformed, but that's not the point. It's good to hear, snowblow, that Ming was very aggressive in taking the ball to the hole and blocking those shots. When I first heard about his monster jam, it kinda surprised me, as Ming was not one to really dunk a lot...but statements like that will change the minds and opinions of many rather quickly. Doesn't really hurt for one to have a mean streak to him on the court, though. Ming sure seems like the real deal. Even as a Magic fan, I'm kinda anxious to really follow Ming and the Rockets this year, as I think Ming is the next BIG thing. Thanks for the reports.
BTW, he did not get many rebounds because he did not do a good job boxing people out. The Canadian centers always got the positions in front of him and closer to the rim. Ming had the length and strength (yes, strength) to get a lot moe rebounds but he just simply didn't know 'how' to fight for a position when rebouding. Obviously he is not used to the physical style. I guess some real NBA expereince and coaching can change that. He has the tools but just didn't know 'how' to use them.
I like the part which he dunks, then stare at the people who guarding him, I guess he is mad about been pusing around
