yao's peak/future

obviously, this isn't necessarily the most pressing issue on the board at the moment, but i haven't seen this line of though very much on the board, and i thought i'd share my perspective.

watching him over the past few years, it's clear that he has a passion for working/playing well, and it's been stated by coaches and teammates that he has a tremendous work ethic and desire to improve. however, it's his passion for the actual game of basketball that i question. big men/post players, unfortunately, often seem to enjoy the game less than perimeter/all around players because they have a more difficult time controlling the flow of the game/controlling their own performance. it's only the most dominant and forceful players (wilt, shaq, olajuwon) or maniacal (mourning) or "perimeter player trapped in a big body" (webber, garnett) who seem to have the capacity to really enjoy all aspects of the game and winning.

take mourning, for instance--he was smaller than even olajuwon, had very few pure offensive skills even in his prime--but he clearly enjoyed the game by viewing it as "battle" (to a disturbing degree). thus, he became a great player--arguably more impactful than ewing, despite ewing's great pedigree and promise.

i don't see any indication of yao "loving" the game from any perspective, except for the fact that it's his job and he wants to do well. i believe any improvement at this point has to be skill-related (passing, shooting) or awareness-related (positioning, timing, etc.) rather than physical (strength, coordination, quickness, etc.). whether that's possible under van gundy, i don't know. basically, if any significant improvement is to be seen from him, it will have to be extracted from him with care (magnify existing skills), rather than expecting him to transform himself voluntarily. for these reasons, i don't expect his interest level to sustain for many more years, despite his durability. the window with t-mac is pretty small, as many posters has suggested previously.

on a side note, van gundy, personality wise, is probably my favorite coach in the league, along with phil jackson. van gundy is brutally honest, blunt, and a maniacal worker (like mourning). jackson is arrogant, manipulative, and a wearer of many hats (a great politician). i think it's too late in the game to drop van gundy and hope for another savior--time is running out (in terms of years) and i think it's better to hope for a third "marginal star" to come by trade and be the utility player and "rabid artest". that would be harrington--a defensive monster who would instantly transform the personality of the team from "old, slow and passive" to "rough and rugged". without one or two "attack dogs" (oakley, mason, artest), it's hard to intimidate teams defensively. i still think it's possible to play van gundy ball and win, if dawson/van gundy strike gold with a third player.