Cuero (Houston): How good do you think Yao Ming is going to be? Tom Tolbert: I've always said I think he will be an 18pt, 12 reb. type of guy. I dont' know if he will be one of the dominate guys that get you 25 a night or something like that. But if he could get 18/12, I'd think that was pretty sweet. Some expectations for him are just too high. But he will be a good center for a lot of years.
Tolbert the tool has a thing against Yao so I wouldn't take anything he said seriously. He also thought Shaq's joke was funny and didn't see a reason for an apology.
I don't exactly think Tolbert thinks poorly of Yao...heck, a 18/12 center automatically puts you in the top 3 centers of the league right now. I don't agree with him but I do respect him for sticking to his opinion. Listening to his radio show in the Bay Area, he's been saying that since the beginning of the season. So most of you guys would have liked him for not predicting Yao to be a bust. Hopefully Yao will make him eat his words like many other critics but I don't think Tolbert is a Yao-basher at all. Just a little less optimistic than some of us
How good a player Yao will turn out to be depends a lot on his supporting cast. Unlike other 7+ ft stiffs, Yao is a skilled BBall player. If he has Jason Kidd passing him the ball, he will blossom.
Tolbert could be right, Yao could be just an 18 12 guy, you might wanna add 5 dimes a game though. Given his basketball orientation of team play, fundamentals and sticking within the system, these might prove true. ..... Yao doesnt need to jack up numbers like Shaq to be great, he can be dominant in so many ways because of his versatiility. If only rox learn to appreciate his overall skills, they would have fared much better..... ___________________________ Naismith is Yao great great great great grandpa
Yao be just an 18 12 guy!!!! But don't forget, his 18 points come from high percentage shot. That's means he does not jack up brick to cause turnover. It is better than 30 12 guy who keep throwing bricks without consideration. I thought the NBA calculates the game score base on the total of all players' buckets, not just take the highest.
Yao Ming is a Larry Bird / Magic Johnson type of basketball player. By that I mean he is 100% team first and uses the entire array of basketball skills. Like Bird and Magic he is always looking to get his teammates involved in the offense. Like Magic and Bird he has the skills to be one of the top deadliest and fiercest offensive weapons in the league but he may never lead the league in scoring. I think as Yao Ming progresses he will be the same type of intellectual player that Magic and Bird were and not the dominating physical athlete that MJ or Dream were. If Yao Ming turns into an 18ppg and 12rpg player then I think he will absolutely be an upper echelon player if not the top player in the league before he retires because along with those numbers he will also have 4 - 6 assists and 2-4 blocks a game. As he matures in the league the Rockets will initiate their offense with Yao Ming more and more and people will see it. Even last night while Z out scored Yao Ming it was still obvious that Yao Ming had a different aspect to his game that Z just did not posses. Another thing is that when the game was on the line in the 4th quarter Yao Ming was able to elevate his game and decisively outplayed Z. Those are the qualities that will make Yao Ming a superstar in this league. With all due respect to Michael Jordan, those are the same qualities that made Bird and Magic the two best basketball players that I have ever watched play the game.
Yao and Francis can learn from each other. Yao can learn to be more aggressive and dominate more. Francis can learn to get his teammates involved more.
Yao Ming will be an 18-12 guy if he continues to shoot around 10 shots a game. We've said it before... but if ever manages to get an average of 20 shots a game? No way, he's not averaging 18 points a game.
So Tolbert already changed his line? He has been saying all along that Yao would be a 20/10 guy, now he changes it to 18/12. I guess he found out that being 7'6" makes it much easier to grab rebound than scoring. Tolbert has been very negative about Yao from the pre-draft days. He has changed his view some since Yao's progress in the 1st half, but the tone he uses when talking about Yao just pisses me off. You know what's his favorite sports? WWF Smack Down! That speaks volume about his intelligence!
Yao has all the offesive skills Olajuwon had except hes 6 inches taller!!!! Man this guy will easily be a 30-15-5 guy. I know it for a fact because once he actually has an offseason of real actual rest and isnt wasting his time with the Chinese national team, and actually has time to bulk up man hes gonna be a beast. All Yao needs to do is eat steak and hit the weight room.
I do not expect Tolbert to be a huge Rockes/YAO fan, that's fine with me. But I have a hunch that he is very biased against us. If my memory serves me right, Tolbert went bananas during the Lakers game when Shaq was called foul for bumping SF; but he was dead quiet when Shaq goaltended, the out of bounds call on Taylor and a few other occasions.
Well, I've always heard Tolbert saying that Yao would be an "18 and 12 guy". Never did see him think Yao would be 20/10. The problem with his assessment of Yao, as people have been saying, is that it completely overlooks the intangibles that Yao already possesses over most (if not all) centers in the league. The guy is just an awesome passer and he understands the game much more than most players and he can get guys involved in a way that goes beyond scoring and rebounding numbers. Tolbert's one of those guys who just likes to jock the guys with monster stats but I don't think he really understands the game any better than your average NBA player, i.e. not much
OKAY. THIS LOSER WAS THE GUY DURING THE DRAFT WHO WAS SAYING IT WOULD BE A MISTAKE TO PICK YAO. HE SAID PICK JAY WILLIAMS! WHAT A DUMB...................
Yao is only a few players who has the ability to destroy you in many ways not just in scoring. Just imagine how scary he would be in 3-4 years from now.
Tolbert tries to be the yang to Walto's ying, and Bill is wow for Yao Ming. TT's words are not to be confused with pearls.
Tolbert wasn't the only person who didn't think Yao should be the first pick in the draft. The arena was filled with BOOS after Stern announced Yao as the first pick. Very disturbing in my opinion.
