For those of you who are too young or have forgotten, KJ's "abuse" of Dream came at the end of a game that was already decided. It was NOT a meaningful play. KJ got to vent some frustration at losing and nobody on the Rockets cared. Each and every time I see someone bring that up out of context, I will clarify.
There is no doubt that our team is soft,however Yao's hard work should be appreciated. Both he and Tracy need help to overcome obstacles. Getting Artest is a step in the right direction.
Kareem was not soft. He was a finesse center. There's a difference. Soft is when Carlos Boozer is dunking righty and lefty on your head all series long in the playoffs and you don't do anything about it. Soft is trying to take charges when you're 7'6" instead of knocking a guy on his ass every once in a while. Soft is posting up a player who's a foot smaller than you and trying to lay it up instead of taking it strong to the rim to draw a foul. Yao is soft and so is Tracy which is why acquiring Artest is so important.
you need to chill dude. he's making an analogy whether he compares Yao to Malcolm X or Malcolm in the Middle is his opinion. It's not a right or wrong question. He's trying to make a point that nothing bad would happen to Yao if he took a political stance. Take that Yao stick out your butt for once.
I believe he's saying that if Yao were really this big humanitarian he would speak out against the policies of his government like MLK and Muhammad Ali did in their times. They risked everything to create positive change for their people and the modern athlete, like Yao or Jordan or Tiger, risks very little to do likewise.
You make a very good point. I think this is someone similar to the Spurs (I am not a die hard fan of them, but I appreciate fundamentals in a game)everyone underrates them as far as championship contender or dynasty for that matter. No one likes them becuase they are "boring", but in reality they are one of the top 5 elite teams in the NBA and they do it without a Kobe, KG, Lebron... Yes I know, but they have TD, TP, and Manu, but they also have a team that they pass the ball to. It is not a one man game or try to receive a highlight on ESPN. I think fundamentals are looked down upon and thus Yao Ming is not consider a dominant center when he can hang with the best of them. Or better yet he is the best and it is a matter of the rest of the centers in the league hanging in with him. I don't recall to me centers that can shoot a turnaround as well as him, good free throw shooting %. If so those days are long gone, it is all about bulying others in the post. Yao brings a differnet game and I admire his skill on the court
See A_3PO, you know how I feel now don't you? its completely the Vince Carter era of fans, they see on clip of something and apply to to an entire game, season, or career. Same as back when we got Juwan Howard, how many of these fools actually saw him play? they just saw his garbage scoring average and thought this guy the second coming of Otis Thorpe. But its worse now. I bet some people actually believe Kobe jumped over the Aston Martin. Such suckers.
Why can Kareem be finesse but Yao is soft? Why can Dream get dunked on by KJ EVER but Yao is soft? Why can Yao dunk on Shaq and Howard and KG ans Wallace and Okur and Boozer but Yao is soft? I'm debating the "soft" tag because you make it sound negative against his game and like its holding our team back when in reality its like saying Okur can shoot 3 pointers as a center but Dream can't, Dream was a bad shooter... It really sounds like to me that some people have their mind made up about Yao already, but here we bring a guy who has a suspect history behind him, but we are to accept his flaws, and believe he can change them....oh and he's hard. Artests 3 point shooting isn't great, his court awreness isn't tough, the way he reacts slowly when he catches a pass "ball stopper" isn't great, the way he doesn't follow through with the plays is scary, where are these comments for a guy who has been in the league longer and hasn't rectified them? where is the threads? Why aren't we holding all the baggage and flaws that is more than Yaos against Artest? You guys can call Yao soft but I think when a guy gets 19 pts in 20 minutes and grabs 6 rebounds and blocks two shots that he is much better than the guy who can foul hard but cannot make a free throw to save his life. Howard 8 pts 0 blocks 23min against AUS in 23 min....NO BOGUT Yao 14 pts in 30 minutes 2 blocks against Bogut..... I'll take the softee once again. Artest great player not asked to play on USA.
do we really have to teach you a lesson on Dream? 1. the KJ dunk was a garbage time dunk. most people would have just shot jumpers in trash time. if it was a critical point in the game, KJ would have been swatted. 2. Don't talk crap if you don't know. Yes Dream can shoot 3s, he's the best ever and he doesn't do it cause he that's not how he's efficiently used. 6:23mark The last shot of the 1995 Nba Finals was a THREE POINTER by DREAM. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EeDe810yZls&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EeDe810yZls&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
macfu, akim523- I'm not going to derail this thread, but let me say this. Money have tamed all these atheletes. Players now that have immense popularity and visibilty that can make a huge difference in the world choose not to. They want to keep making money and not upset the powers who line their pockets with cash. Not too long ago, famous people stood up and made the world look at situations and atrocities. Ali sacrificed the prime of his career when the heavyweight champ was the highest paid athelete and 2nd most recognized person in the world when stood up against the War. He stood up and was criticized and jailed because like he said, "the vietcong aint never did nothing to me." Today, these guys want to be liked by sponsors so they sit on the sidelines and I'm not just singling out yao. Jordan did nothing while nike made billions of child labor and continue to be processed in china. Tiger, Kobe, Lebron all stand for nothing. In the 60's and 70's guys stood up. I see a guy like deke build a hospital, warrick dunn has houses for single moms. Yao, like many celebrity types are scared to stand up and let their voice ring out. BTW, everyone and their mama know the china-sudan-darfur situation just like tinnamen square and tibet situation, but the people with power are scared to say something. That's not ignorant, that's the truth. Yao is soft, but we can win with soft. .
you aren't derailing anything bigez, if these guys can't see your message don't worry about them. you dropped so much knowledge on them that they are selective on what they see. there are no athletes today who represent anything except for money. well, Ron Artest represents his culture!
LOL at people comparing Hakeem to Yao. Might as well start the Abe Lincoln and George Bushy comparisons.
tinman - I really don't care about childish stuff liked "getting flamed" or "owned". I don't care about ignore list because I read it all and respond with my opinion. I try to be fair and consistent in my opinion. Don't tell me about making a difference when you retire when you can do it now. Imagine the impact Jordan could have had if in 87 he would have said, I'm leaving nike because they make my apparel using child labor in a country that suppress human rights. Nike wouldn't be nike today. He, Barkley and others just kept cashing checks and smiled in front of the cameras. That's why a guy like Jim Brown called those guys out. Jim Brown walked away and still stood up and took stands and made positive effects on people lives with the Amer I Can stuff working with gangs and young people. People with power can make a difference like Marvis Gaye with "what's going on?" and raising awarness and pressure on human rights violations and stuff. Its cool though, but the whole make a difference in society stuff is overblown.
Guys like Jim Brown or Ali don't exist anymore in sports. The activists appear to be more movie stars and music stars. The athletes are about money. oh. Kenny Smith was critical in his charity for Katrina!, so one athlete!
Yeah,its kinda funny. Just because a guy shoots jumpers don't mean he's soft. Oakley was a jumpshooter. Jordan was a jumpshooter. Dream for a certain part was a jumpshooter, but when he needed to be tough or a enforcer type,he could. How many centers can win a ring with a sf playing pf? When I talked to kenny, I a keep bringing it up, he says at the start he said he was going to put a shoulder in robinson chest to let him know what he was in for, that says a lot. He didn't care about a charge or anything, it was to send a message. If yao turns and lays that elbow in Okur's jaw early to let him know or drop the shoulder, knock him down and step over him, the team will know the big fella means business. The team follows the best players and take on their personality. Dream wasn't the vocal leader, but when the game got tough and physical like 94 finals against NY, dream turned it up another level. He didn't fade and shrink. He had to battle Ewing,Mason,and Oakley in the 90's and made riley double him when the philosophy was not to double. That's hard.
Don't try to spin it. He was answering to someone who believed Yao could be contribute to the society after he retires. I am not arguing whether this will happen or not. But he replies with the MLK and Malcolm X stuffs and the assassination stuffs. So can someone be considered a contributor to the society if he stays away from politics or if he doesn't get assassinated. It's just a simple question. Why do you try to dodge it? Take that hater stick out of your butt for once.
he's making an analogy and you missed his point too. try taking the English part of the SATs for once. what's the difference? you'd be ticked off he made a reference to Malcolm Jamal Warner
