(yao ming): humility at the expense of aggressiveness?

i think the first five minutes of yao's first game against shaq pretty well sum up what kind of player he will be, just needs to get in shape, but the aggressiveness is there.

 

Or the dunk he throw calmly in game 3 against Lakers to silent the crow, after Kobe dunked over him. While being humble outside, Yao clearly has the inner fire in him as being the best player to help his team.

 

AAAWWWWWWWWWKKK AAWWWWWKKKKKKK, YEAAA.
That f'n crow was driving me nuts. Had to worry about him crappin on us afterword though

 

if u had ratliff all over ur ass and u wasnt gettin any calls you wouldve done the same

Yao was just sayin "back up nucca" in his own personal way, and i dont think theres anything wrong with that

 

More and more, Yao shown his aggressive side. Here is a photo at recent game against Australian Melbourne Tigers.

<IMG SRC="http://news.xinhuanet.com/nsports/2003-08/07/xinsrc_356484eadbba461895eb55726d2bbeb5.jpg">

 

the fact he made 21 out of 21 shots in a game...tells me hes a perfectionist....and the fact that he cries after losing games tells me he is really competitive and hates to lose..

i dont think we have anything to worry about...he'll find a way to dominant and then conquer...

 

verse,

I don't think you truly understand the traditional Chinese way of thinking.

Unlike Americans, who brag before they show anything substantial (in the name of assertiveness and aggressiveness), Chinese believe that being underestimated is much better than being overestimated.

If people underestimate you, you can sneak up on them. And later on when they find out how good you are, they'll respect you a lot more. If people overestimate you, they'll try to key in on you. And later when you prove to be less than the expectation, they will despise you.

I'm not saying that this is the right or wrong thinking. It is pretty obvious that Yao is going for the "Chinese way" rather than the American way. Is he really a very humble guy inside? Who knows?

 

I agree with you. The traditional Asian way is "To let your result/work talk for you but not bragging about it". Those who bragging about themself as the best before really being the best will be frawned upon.

Telling yourself that you are not the best (yet) is the first step to improve yourself in Asian philosophy.

 

OK, here is one of the questions in the interview that were not translated for some reason:

After some enthusiastic debate on how to saving gas on driving...

You see, he wanted to dominate over every opponent. Basically, he said he is dominating over every other NBA players whose name is not Shaq. Now, don't tell that to the American media, and I think he is bragging.

I am sure he tried his thinking thingy on Shaq but the usual means he tried on any other guys just won't work on Shaq. It's not like he will stop trying. He was just too weak comparing to Shaq's strength last season. He was weak comparing to most other NBA C/PF but the differences are not that big, so he can do his tricks. But no, no on Shaq. It's why Yao is so eager on putting on some weight. Shaq is the last opponent he needs to conquer. In 3 years, actually 2 if you count the last year, he will have the strength needed. But again, Shaq might have retired from NBA by then. What a pitty...

 

Yao said his goal is to win a ring in a recent interview. As long as he's got the ambition I think he'll turn out to be fine.