I posted this to an Ohio State Football discussion group that was talking about Yao today. Most folks on the board had the same view many of us did about Yao before the draft and I thought I might try to educate them. The main reason I crosspost this here is for the stats highlight in bold. I thought some of you might find it interesting if you weren't aware of all the numbers. I personally was a little surprised. Mike __________ I know it is offtopic and I hate to contribute to that, but I feel I must share here, since it is pertinent to the future of sports and it is apparent that there are some misconceptions on this board. As a big Houston Rockets fan (behind only OSU Football and Cincinnati Reds baseball), I have watched Yao play several times. I am admittedly somewhat biased, but Yao Ming is 22, 7'5", has a sweet jumper out to 20 (leads the NBA in shooting percentage), runs the floor like a 6'7" small forward, and has incredible passing ability (compared to Divac and Sabonis, two of the best passing centers ever). He also has very good footwork, several times already this year performing moves that have reminded folks of Hakeem Olajuwan, one of the most agile bigmen of all time. Yao came over without a training camp, after a full Chinese Basketball season and with no break. He comes from a culture where it is considered bad etiquette to dunk on someone, where people should be reserved and quiet and respectful and his game reflects that, but is also changing quickly to reflect the NBA game. He is an incredibly intelligent guy who has a very interesting charisma that cuts across the language barrier. Here are some numbers for you. Yao is currently averaging 12.7 pts, 7.7 reb and 1.9 blocks a game in 24 games. In his first 7 games as Yao was getting acclimated and learning about his team, essentially his training camp, Yao avg 4.3 pts, 3.4 reb and 0.4 blocks a game. Since then, Yao has avg 16.2 pts, 9.5 reb and 2.5 blocks a game. In fact, in the last 8 games, Yao has avg 19.5 pts, 13 reb, 3.1 blocks a game. If you look at his last 8 games, you have guys like Webber, Duncan, Garnett, ONeal (both), Nowitzki, Brand who are at that level of points, rebounds. Add in the blocks and you are left with Oneal and Duncan and Brand. Rookies to come in and perform at that level are few and far between in the history of the game. In short, Yao is right now producing at a level rarely seen by a rookie in the history of the NBA. And he has shown skills that suggest he could be even better in time. That is what all the fuss is about for those you haven't seen him or who think he is just a Chinese Shawn Bradley. It has been very common for folks who have not seen the guy to discount him. I did so myself for a while. But, he is the real deal. He could VERY EASILY take over the mantle of best player in the NBA from Shaq within a year or two. Hope that helps. Mike
