well, nobody is forcing you to dont vote for Yao, nobody has a gun in your head saying "Dont Love for Yao". Clutch is not saying he will ban every people that votes for Yao Jeff only gave his opinion, and being an article in the clutchfans, became a sticky.
Its also for his health, not just about "earning it". We can't even play him at back-to-backs, now you want him to play an extra game when he could skip the whole event and rest at home? What if he lands on someone's foot and ends up rolling his ankle?
Because he's on our team. For an old person, you seem to miss the very basic fundamental of being a fan.
I'm going to wait until I see how Yao performs this season before I vote for him. He's probably my favorite player on this team and my logic is that if he gets voted into the AllStar game without performing, it will confirm that the All Star distinction does not reflect performance on the court but is more of a popularity contest. This will lessen his previous AllStar appearances which I believe he earned on the court to a much greater extent. Put another way, "seven time AllStar Yao Ming" will lose its lustre as an indicator of his impact on the game as a potential Hall of Famer.
Totally agreed. I hate it when undeserving players get voted into the all-star game almost as much as I hate undeserving players getting selected for the ALL-NBA (especially defensive) teams. If my favorite player at a position is far from deserving a spot, I won't vote for him.
I've read the whole thread and the original article and just to throw my 2 yuan in. I agree with Jeff that if we are talking about on court performance Yao doesn't deserve to be an All Star and if he continues as is he shouldn't be on the all NBA teams. That said though as others have noted the All Star Game isn't just about on court performance. That was inevitable once they made it contingent on fan voting. By opening it to the fans you have to acknowledge that it is going to be heavily swayed by things like homerism and popularity. That is what it means to be a "star" as popularity is going to weigh heavily in that. So I can totally agree with you that Yao doesn't deserve the recognition of being the best on court center out of the Western Conference this year but for an All Star Game that is the sole or even main determinant it is about the players that have the most star power. I will still plan on voting for Yao even though he isn't performing that well because I am a homer and also because I think Yao deserves to be a star and recognized as such. In a world of spoiled self-centered professional athletes Yao is one of the good guys. He's humble, hardworking, loyal and unlike Charles Barkley is very much aware that he is a role model and does his best to live up to it. He lives the values that we like to say that we uphold yet often don't reward. For a guy at that high of a level with that much fame Yao could easily be another arrogant loud mouthed pro-athlete who thinks himself greater than he is. Yao isn't that and that he himself doesn't consider worthy of being an All Star makes him more deserving in my book. Finally I am also a little disappointed in the original article and in many of the comments putting the blame on Chinese fans. It reads as though the Chinese fans aren't knowledgeable and voting blindly. Granted that there are a lot of Chinese fans out there but at the same time there are a lot of Chinese fans who are very knowledgeable about the NBA and also a lot of non-Chinese fans who also vote blindly. Even if many fans are voting for Yao out of ethnic pride I'm not sure that is that awful of a thing. Consider that Jackie Robinson was a great player but was his on field performance so good that he deserved to have his number retired by every MLB team? In many ways Yao is Jackie Robinson for Chinese. He isn't the first Chinese NBA player but he is the first to make a major contribution to the NBA and a symbol that Chinese can compete at the highest levels of athletic competition. Even if this is just symbolic I don't see what is so bad about Chinese fans celebrating Yao in this way. In my opinion the best result of this is that Yao gets voted in and then declines to play. I think if Yao doesn't miraculously get more healthy I think that will also very likely be the result.
One more thing. I don't see what the big deal is about this thread being a sticky. We often have too many threads on related subjects that clutter up the forum. It might be better if we have more threads stickied.
All Star game is not All NBA teams. It's just a popularity vote from the fans. Yao is not the only player to get voted in to all star games whether he deserved it or not. Numerous other players also have and are. Honestly, the All Star game has become a joke and I can't even watch it anymore. Same with the dunk contest which is like a comedy routine these days. I don't think the All Star voting even matters. Does anyone even take the All Star weekend seriously anymore?
What if....JUST what if.. Yao gets voted into the all star game, gets injured, and his career is over.
I'm not going to vote for Yao for several reasons... - He is not the top center in the West. Right now, he's arguably the best center on the team in terms of actual prodcution. -He'd be taking a spot away from a center that does deserve it. - Yao has consistently been boring in the All-Star game - I want to hear the phrase 'and they did all this without an all-star' again. - Since this is a contract year, I'd rather he not be awarded this as it will help him bargain for a better salary. - Even though this a popularity contest, it is still looked upon as a performance award, more so then earning 1st/2nd team honors. You often hear the phrase 'X time all-star', you'll never hear 'X time 1st teamer'. - It will be a sign that perhaps Yao isn't that big of a cash cow anymore, and the Rockets can then be more open to treating Yao more like a typical player then they have in the past. - As stated, playing in the all-star game when it isn't deserved is more embarrassing then an honor. - voting in a player that doesn't deserve it makes our fans look like a bunch of homers.
I have to agree with the idea of the article. I was once referred to as "Unbiased to a fualt." I don't care if a player is on my favorite team. If he's not playing up to the level he should be I have no problem admitting it. Going along with that notion I wouldn't vote said player into the all star game. Not only would I not vote for Yao because he has not put up all star numbers but also because watching the all star game is about watching an assembling of some of the greatest players in the league have some fun. Not about watching the Rockets. That's what the season is for.
The irony of this is that you people will probably vote for Martin and Scola despite their complete lack of defensive skills. No GM in the league would say that either is the top player at his position in the west. If they were then we'd be 9-3 instead of 3-9. But ya, keep being hypocrites. I'll vote all the rockets because I wanna see them play.
