[NJ.com]The Star Ledger: Knicks can't measure upto Yao Ming

I hate the NY media. in the other article posted they made reference to it being one of yao's best games of his career as well. it's like they had no clue what he was doing in the 2nd half last year. the world only revolves around NYC.

 

"Usually when I'm covering a big man, I'm looking at his shoulders," Lee said. "But with him, I'm looking at him mid-chest. It's unbelievable." I laughed my a$$ off

 

The NY Media is usually obnoxious, but in this case I'd have to agree with them. This is one of Yao's best games of his career.

 

15-21... That could be one of his best games in the NBA. People who follow the Rox know he is dominate, but others don't so I wouldn't blame the NY media. I live in LA, and everyone out here thinks he an okay player. When I throw out his stats at them, they always doubt another aspect of his game. For example, when I throw out the stat comparison between him and KG (which another member on here has in his/her sign), they argue that KG was a high schooler. When I argue that Yao was in a similar if not hard situation b/c he played in a different system and had the culture differences to overcome, they just bring up another excuse. So only way for Yao to shut up the nah-sayers is continue to rip through the league like he is doing.

 

It will take so much more than just that.

Yao needs to win a championship (or more) and an MVP in the Finals (maybe in season also). There is no other way he is getting S*** of credit. Think about it, last year he was ripping through league and got a whole 3rd String NBA, (behind Shaq who had a BAD YEAR, and Ben Wallace (who is NO WAY better overall than Yao).

I think Yao has to absolutely do 2x what the normal human would have to do to make critics shutup. Lebron had to do alot and did a tremendous job of making critics stop, but I think Yao has to do ALOT MORE.

I honestly told my friend Yao is winning MVP this year, at the beginning of preseason and I'm sticking by that, but I think without at least a Finals berth he will still be disrespect sadly enough.

 

Don't wanna start a new thread, but here is an NYPost article on last night's game:

http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly...s/knicks/yao_amaz_ming_knicks_marc_berman.htm

YAO AMAZ-MING

By MARC BERMAN

November 11, 2006 -- HOUSTON - Eddy Curry was emasculated last night.

Curry, whose "manliness" quotient sank to negative figures, made Rockets' 7-foot-5 center Yao Ming look 8 feet tall. Yao blocked four of Curry's shots and humiliated the Knicks center in the Rockets' 103-94 rout at Toyota Center.

Yao posted 35 points on 15-of-21 shooting, 17 rebounds and a career-high-tying seven blocks. An outclassed Curry finished with seven points, shot a pitiful 2-of-11 and played just one possession in the fourth quarter in a game that exposed how far he is from All-Star caliber.

The Knicks fell to 2-4 and finish their three-game road trip tonight in San Antonio, which thumped the Knicks last Monday.

"Oh, man, it was bad out there," Curry said. "I got to give credit to Yao. He played me great."

Curry admitted he had never seen Yao this good.

"Hands down, he's never been that active, blocking everything," Curry said. "He's in playoff form, All-Star form. I've never seen Yao like that. I'll see him in 10 days, hopefully a different turnout."

During training camp, Thomas said Curry needed to show more "manliness." But last night, Thomas made a pathetic excuse for Curry's pathetic night. Curry was benched for almost the entire fourth quarter and played 22 minutes.

"He really hasn't played in a week and I think he lost his rhythm," Thomas said, referring to foul trouble the last couple of games. "He lost his timing because they foul him out of every game. I don't think those are blocked shots if Eddy had his rhythm."

More to the point, Curry didn't have any fire. After getting blocked for the first time two minutes in, Curry grew frustrated and afraid as the game wore on. It became embarrassing.

"It's definitely frustrating to get your shot blocked," Curry said. "I got to learn to shake things off. It sticks to me a little bit. It makes you think about when you take a shot, you wonder if you're shooting high enough."

The Knicks could have won if Curry showed up because Quentin Richardson, the best Knick to date, did a fine job shutting down Tracy McGrady, held to 13 points (4-of-12).

Also on the bright side, the Knicks again showed their comeback grit after falling behind by 19 in the third quarter. The Knicks got within six with 1:15 left after a trey by Stephon Marbury (20 points). But Yao grabbed an offensive rebound with 54 seconds left, leading to McGrady being fouled for two free-throw makes with 48.7 seconds left.

"There's a lot of fight in this team," Thomas said. "If we can keep fighting and show resiliency, it could be a pretty good year for us."

To offset the Yao factor, Thomas started former Rocket Kelvin Cato at power forward over Channing Frye (two points in 10 minutes) to start the third quarter. It marked the third straight game Frye did not start the second half. Despite denials, Thomas could be closer to removing Frye from the starting lineup. David Lee again had a strong game (14 points, seven boards) and battled Yao stronger than Curry.

Perhaps the lowest moment came when Curry backed in late in the second quarter and Yao stepped away. The 300-pound Curry crashed to the floor and was forced to call a timeout.

With 5:12 left in the third, Curry backed in and finally floated one over Yao's arms for his second bucket. Curry clapped and roared, but on the defensive possession he was smoked again. Rafer Alston shot an airball that Yao caught short of the rim and laid it in, with Curry fouling him. It was Curry's fourth foul and he went to the bench with 4:56 left in the third, and didn't return until 3:00 left for one possession.