Oh, and you can <b>guarantee</b> me that those players <b>will</b> be better than Ming? Don't think so. I'm sorry. I don't care how respected the guy is, I count at least five very questionable comments in that short excerpt that are either stereotypical, stupid, illogical, uninformed, or seem to come out of thin air. Personally, after reading that, I would not take Rick Majerus' opinion seriously. But, that's just me.
Majerus is just steamed at Ming because they were both eating at the same restaurant in China and Yao ordered the last bowl of turtle soup. Get over it Rick!
Whether those are his exact words or close to exact, the guy said "I don't know" or "I don't know about Ming" three times!! My guess is that he REALLY DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT MING and I would not take his words seriously. From that statement, he probably thinks that Ming's primary offense is his jump shot. But Ming scores most of his points down low from lay-ups and dunks which proves that he was sleeping during the four times he was watching Ming's game or that the last time he watched him was 2 years ago right after the Olympics. He also said.. Combining the two quotes above together, what does he have to say about his 72% FG from jump shots then? I don't see how NBA players will change his jump shot so much being 7-5 with a shot-release two feet above his head. I don't find his reasoning to be sound. The average height of CBA players is 6-5 to 6-6 and centers are 6-10 to 7-1 ... and Ming has huge hands!
50 Ways to Love the NBA- http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/020625.html Article from ESPN. Enough said! No. 14 From 1998 ... After Houston takes Turkey's Mirsad Turcan near the end of Round 1, Majerus compares Turcan to Moses Malone and officially gets cut off by the bar at the Vancouver's GM Place.
Experts can be wrong. If they were all right, every lottery pick would be a franchise player, and every first round player would be a star. The same "experts" thought Harold Miner would be a star. It is amusing that Dallas Mavericks owners, reporters, and fans are obsessed with the Rockets getting Ming and how the Rockets should be "worried". Yeah, Rick Majerus sure is the end all be all!
I've figured it out: Rick Majerus is dyslexic, and has no height perception. See, the way I figure things, Majerus looks at Ming's 7-6 listing, and says "that must be a misprint, he's really 6-7, they just got it backwards". Therefore, when you compare people 6 inches shorter than Ming, who are 7 footers, they would be 6 feet tall. I wish I could find it, but someone did a comparison of the average ChBA PF/C vs. the average NBA PF/C, I think the difference was maybe an inch? And since he thinks Ming is only 6-7, he doesn't think he can handle the 7 footers. What other "trees" could he talking about? Is Shawn Bradley going to get some skills, and Muresan, Bol, Smits, and Sabonis all are going to find the Fountain of Youth?Ming is THE tree. More likely, teams will be trying to out how they'll get through our trees (Griff/Ming), not the other way around. Doesn't Majerus know that we dream to be the Pistons of the late 80s/early 90s? Big hands also have their problems-Shaq and Ben Wallace can't roll the ball off their finger tips well, which is why they're terrible free throw shooters. Ming's hands won't be the problem. Maybe Majerus hasn't seen those clips of Ming palming a rebound one handed, and then flicking it in?
What really annoys me about Majerus is that he claims that Ming is only going to be another Laimbeer (I guess Laimbeer was a dominant shot-blocker, and had a ton of offensive moves), and then praises Stoudamire, the guy whose stock is falling because of his lack of defense, because of his big hands. Hello, Ming can palm the ball with one hand! Then he says draft MIKE DUNLEAVY #1 and package for a quality big man. Yeah package a deal for a quality big man, why didn't WE think of that! Since it's so easy! Hey CD, get on the phone now, I heard Shaq, Duncan and Zo are available if we don't draft Ming! Then he says Ming doesn't have the desire to rebound, and discounts his 20 rebounds by stereotyping an entire nation. Then he says that Ming could get up to 350 pounds and STILL not be able to bang with NBA players. I'd bet you money that a 350 pound man can bang with the big boy in the NBA, especially if he's in shape. Then he says nobody can guarantee that Ming will be a franchise player, then he rambles and said he could guarantee a bunch of COLLEGE players will be franchise players. Why's that Rick? Because you saw a 19 year old Ming a few times, but you get a chance to see highlights of college players all the time? Then he says something along the line of "People compare him to Rik Smits", ummm Rick, if you've seen him as much as you claim you have, you don't NEED other's opinions. I just have a feeling the guy doesn't know anything about Ming NOW and is pounding the guy because he's not a college player he's seen all the time.
I thought I did say things like rebounding agrressiveness can be taught easier than shooting when you are physically capable. Bradely, I am afraid, does not have that physical capability. He does not have the base nor the upper body to help himself for positioning and boxing out, thus he can be taught, but will have a hard time executing it. Yao is built like a trunk in his lower body, and he already weighs more than 60 pounds than Bradely at the same age with much more potential to fill out even more. Unlike Bradely, he has been taught young with much basketball fundamentals, and he also move a lot better and faster than Bradely ever was. The only similarity Bradely has with Yao is his height, otherwise, they are two totally different kind of players. And no, Yao will not get 20 boards a game, but sooner or later, he will average more than 10 that Majerus think he is incapable of. Bradely even with all his inefficiencies, did average 6 rebounds a game in his rookie year afterall. -G'day-
He says MJ has huge hands, which he does. He also says kobe has huge hands, which is the opposite of the truth. Kobe has small hands. When Phil Jackson was asked about comparing Kobe to MJ, he brought up the fact that Kobe can't do some of the things MJ could because of his small hands. Get the facts straight, Rick... Bulls Fan
This is the paragraph that will make Rocket fans cringe for the next 10 years. Yao ming will be the next coming of Shawn Bradley and China will more than likely pull him out of the U.S. after two years of poor play. I know nothing will convince you guys he is a dud and I understand. I was in this same position last year with Pau Gasol. If it works out like it did for us with you, you will have the last laugh.
so basically you're saying that you doubted gasol and convinced that he was a dud and didn't want him.......and you understand our situation on drafting ming b/c it's the same situation you went through last year.....well if that means ming is gonna avg. 18 pts and 8 rebs a game then alleluia!!!!!!!! on majerus...i'll give him credit...he's been right on most prospects...not all..but most. but, as much logic as a non-rocket fans sees in what he says, he haven't seen the guy play. we haven't either but that damn video clutch made made me a 2nd time believer in ming. the guy has finesse--which is something smits never had. sweet spin moves, GREAT footwork....majerus will be eating his words like that turkcan-is-moses-malone analysis of his.
Either way you look at it, agressiveness can not be taught. You are either have it or you don't. I understand that there are big differences between Bradley and Yao but if any player can be taught how to rebound then Bradley would be one of the best rebounder in the game based simply on his height. I just think that Majerus has a point about the quality of player that should be drafted with the #1 overall pick. Sure with the age of the players comming into the draft now, and with all the Euro's comming over it's hard to tell what each player will become. Is everyone certain that Yao will be without a doubt the best player to come out of this draft? Do you guys think that there are other players in this draft that will eventually be better than Yao? If you do then why not take that player regardless of the position he plays. Do you guys want a player that will be an All Star for years to come or do you simply want a player that is going to average 10/8 for his career? I hate to bring this up again but look at the '98 Draft. The Clipps took a Center that had huge upside (Kandi was also better suited to play center in the NBA based simply on his size than Yao is) and past on players that will be in the All Star game (and maybe even Championship games) for years to come for a player that averages about 10/8 a game. Would the Clipps be better off now with Dirk, Pierce, Bibby, Jamison, or Carter instead of Kandi? If Yao will be without a doubt the best player to come out of this draft then by all means he should be the pick, but if not why not take someone that will be the best player. Also to bring up Bradley again ... most of you are probably too young to remember but when Bradley was drafted all the experts were saying how he was going to revolutionize the Center position because of his size, and yes athletisism. Sure we can all say now that Bradley is a stiff but at the time he was drafted that was anything but the case. Just something to think about.
G, nobody has a crystal ball. There's no way to know if ANY player will be an All Star, or even a decent NBA player. Not just because they may not have the talent or desire, but injuries and accidents happen as well that can't be predicted. I guarantee you there will be good guards and forwards in the draft next year, but I will be shocked if there is a 7'6" guy who can run and shoot. I will be happy if the Rockets pick him, because I think the potential upside outweighs the potential downside.
