Well, I don't know what "destroying" implies, but I think Yao more than held his own. Sure, he didn't score well, but I mean, come on. Shaq easily weighs fifty or sixty pounds more, and Yao has played more basketball this year than anyone else in the league. And consider this...he blocked Shaq FOUR times in ONE game! When was the last time you saw ANYONE accomplish that? Not to mention three of those blocks were on DUNK attempts...wow. 10 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 blocks, Shaq attempts 4 free throws against Yao. Yao more than proved himself a worthy future successor to Shaq as the most dominant center in the league.
i thought Yao did a great job..no one expect him to out do Shaq..as Shaq didn't out do Hakeem back then..but he held Shaq pretty well..i actually see Yao front a player for the first time against Shaq (how come he didn't front other centers?..Shaq is the heaviest center..if he can front Shaq..how come he can't with the other?..)...did Yao got a double double?..that's good enough...
Damn right. Don't forget, that Yao isn't necessarily the 1st or 2nd option in our offense. The Lakers depend on Shaq for scoring, because everyone knows that Samaki, Horry, and Fox are garbage. The Rockets' have more depth, and more go-to guys. We've got 4, maybe 5 guys on the court who can score on demand. So it's stupid to say that just because Yao didn't score 20 pts, he got beat. His blocked six shots, and changed or altered about ten more- including Kobe's game winner. Last year that shot would've gone in and it would've been good night. No disrespect to Cato, who busted his ass tonight, but this game isn't close if he and Collier are our only centers.
I haven't seen someone blocks Shaq 3 in a row on dunks like that. The kid from shanghai is alright. When his upper body gets bigger and stronger. Watch out!
"China man or Chinaman" is offensive. It is different from the man from China or Chinese man because it implies that it is a different type of man than a normal man. Frenchman is an adjective followed by a noun. The equivalent is "Chinese man".
With Yao in the paint, Kobe seldom attempted to drive to the basket tonight. He just kept taking outside shots. And those outside shots were not falling. 5-21...
I noticed in the 4th quarter Kobe drove to the middle but decided at the last second to dump the ball to the perimeter guys. Yao certainly changed the way Kobe played. There was no sportcenter dunk by Kobe tonight because of Yao.
Yao wasn't destroyed at all which goes to show much a player can achieve if they play good fundamental basketball. Does anyone know how is Yao's left index finger after tonight's game and if his knee is hurting him?
Yao did a very good job defensively.... but offensively he just coulnd't establish any position with Shaq on him.... though he did a good job of pulling Shaq out and letting Steve to drive in.... GO YAO!!!
Biases aside, I belive Yao guarded Shaq as well as I have seen anyone. I don't if it was because Shaq respects Yao, because of all the hype (I think Shaq actually looked a little tentative in the beginning) or it was Yao's height. All I know is Yao played him really well. NOw offensively. Yao needs to learn if the jumper is not going, that he needs to go straight to the basket, but that will come with time. Good job Yao, and kudos to Shaq for being so classy before and after the game. STuart
Like I said, it reminded me of Russell vs Chamberlain last night. Russell always got outmuscled by Chamberlain, but he always played him straight up and kept him working. Russell also always won games because he let his team work together on offence--and the Rockets were able to defend Kobe better because all 5 of them weren't always occupied with Shaq (with Yao covering him). I think the first time Russell faced Chamberlain, he blocked 2 of his shots in a row, similar to Yao did with Shaq.
If the jumper isn't going Yao should go for the jumphook with either hand and also cut inside so he can get some chances to dunk. If Francis can set him up like he did on Yao's last points it would be really great.
