As many of you know since the Dream era we fans have been down this road too many time before. First EG who in no way scratched the surface of his potential and Steve who may or may not have lived up to his depending on what your expectations of him were and now Yao/Yoa. This is not intended to be a bash Yao thread, instead I would like to know what you think Yao's maximum potential is and whether or not you think he will reach it. For me, Yao has the potential to be a dominating big man able to take over games and carry and lead a team but there are too many red flags to allow me to believe he will ever become this player. First of all Yao's stamina has been exposed as a major problem so far in this his two youngest seasons in the league, a man that big simply does not have a big enough gas tank to grind it out over the rigors of an NBA season and chase gazelles who can run all year round all game up and down the court. Secondly, Yao as big as he is, is not a dominant force on the boards, he simply does not have the desire or quickness to be the guy you can pencil in for double digits in rebounds every night. Thirdly, Yao's lack of lateral quickness makes him more of a liability in team defense than he could ever help in that area. I've seen numerous times where guards have beaten him to the rim just because he was not quick enough to effect the drive, I specifically remember Earl Boykins getting to the rack on him in that last game against the Nugs and just rolled my eyes over that one. Being Successful with Yao, in order for this team or any team to be successful with Yao the coaches first must realize all of this and set the offense and defense accordingly. When he is on the court and not tired, you can utilize him much the way we have been trying to use him but you have to be prepared offensively to do other things whenever he is on the bench, that means no more using Spoon, Mo, or god forbid Cato in the post and forcing our other talented players to dump it down to these guys. It also means that when Yao is on the court and his shot is not falling you must be willing to take the offense on a different direction and use him in different ways. I started seeing this in the playoffs and the team was largely successful with this strategy. Being successful without Yao, since many of you see Yao as a franchise player worthy of being the focal point of all moves this may not be an option for you, I respect that, please respect my opinion though. I hear all over the board that were we to field offers for Yao all other teams would line up with offers, I would at least listen to these offers and should one team offer two All-Star players in a position of need or in a position which would be a considerable upgrade over a current Rox player I would make the move and the reason I would do this is because whether Yao ever reached his potential, whatever you gauge that to be, the Rox would no longer be waiting for anything they would be contenders now and that is all I can ask for. For instance, Dallas was a name mentioned somewhere else, if we could get Dirk and Jamison for Yao I could not pass that up. Cato Dirk Jamison JJ Francis Mobley Mo Boki That lineup is a contender right now, no more waiting for potential that may never be realized. As I said this is just an exploratory thread to gauge what your expectations are of our star player over the future seasons in the league, what you think he can do and even what you think he will do.
What I love most about Yao, is that he is a learner. He will learn to be tougher. He will learn to be more dominate. He will learn to be a superstar. He continually improves, and has great fundamental habits. The only concern has to do with his running out of gas in April, and I think that has to do with playing in his homeland during the offseason, and how they condition him during that time. It is going to be up to Yao to change that, and that could get sticky. Its in everyone's best interest now that he become a superstar. But, what happens if China decides to take over Taiwan, and they decide to call him back. What would happen if China decided that he had learned everything he needed from the NBA, and now he needed to play full time for their national team instead, and teach others? That's more what I'd be worried about, but not whether he'll become a superstar or not.
I think that... * Earl Boykins has gotten to the rack relatively easily in every game I've seen him play. There's a reason he's in the NBA. And it's not the fact he only turns the ball over once for every three assists he dishes. * Dirk and Jamison make $25.2m per year. Yao makes $4.4m. * If the Rockets had a group of guards who could get easy points in transition there would be less pressure on the half-court set. * Even if Yao Ming never got any better, he would immediately improve every team he was traded to except the Lakers. Steve Francis wouldn't improve the Kings or Spurs or Mavericks more than who they already have and would be a marginal improvement over Cassell and the MEM guard tandem.
Can't we merge all of these idiotic "Yao sucks" threads together? You act like Yao is never going to be any better than he is right now. That's just silly.
I was in the "Yoa is the next Shawn Bradley - trade the pick now" camp. I feel that I have pretty clearly been proven wrong. He is our guy now. We pretty much have to see this trrough. I am trying to think of great players who were traded. Alcindor/Jabbar leaps to mind. Who did better as time went by, Bucks or Lakers? Barkley for three decent players, Philly goes out of the playoffs, as Phoenix moves in. Kobe for Vlade. You only get so many chances at greatness. Yoa has a chance. It may be bust, but you hve to go for the brass ring. I would rather have tried for greatness and ended up in shot down in flames, than accept mediocraty from the get go.
LOL. On one hand, u suggest Yao is equivalent to Smits. On the other hand, u suggest to Yao for Dirk AND Jamison. So u basically mean that Smits can bring u an all star player PLUS sixth man of the year? This is the second time I ask u but would u please stop to embarrass yourself here?
On one hand, Yao gets superstar's fame and treatment, on the other hand Yao is not a superstar right now, that is why.
A nice comment wrote by RICHARD JUSTICE, but a perfect answer to you, Summer Song Giver. even this guy know better than someone else
