YaoMing, I am an avid BB fan and want to see you become the MD (most dominant one) in the NBA. to that end, you can ill-afford to play polite basketball. you need to adapt your BB mindset in sync with the prevailing "dog-eat-dog" mentality in the NBA While BB skills / finess / IQ are important, it is just as important to let opponents know that you also have sharp elbows, and not afraid to use them. absent that, they give you no respect---and continue to play dirty against you. notice how the opponents are playing you, as compared to Amare Stouddamire. ====> they do not hestitate to play dirty against you---elbowing and kneeing you. the Refs can't see everything. your polite demeanor, on the court, tells them that you will not retaliate ====> they don't dare playing dirty against Amare, because they know he will retaliate. there is an element of fear, or respect. Hakeem / Kareem were two of the greatest finesse players of all time. at the beginning of their careers, opponents played them dirty. but they adapted--going w the flow---and retaliated. they were embroiled in some fights; throwing the first punch to let oppoents know that they have zero tolerance for dirty plays. The respect was hard-earned---paving the way for their BB skills to take over. with retaliation---harsh reality in the NBA---comes respect. it is a "dog-eat-dog" world; polite demeanor is reserved for off-the-court activities. I look forward to you taking the first step towards dominance in the NBA---punch the next guy who tries to rough you up. so what you may get fined or suspended ! your first punch will reverberate to the NBA ballers "look out, dawgs, that Yao is a bad mother......" they'll think twice before incurring the wrath of Yao. A little respect goes a long way, insofar as giving you room to operate in the paint, to let your BB skills take over
can somebody take this great post and cut and post and put it into Yao's own forum, where he would have a higher percentage of reading it... thanks guys, i dont read chinese and i dont know how to get in there...
Good post man. The refs will look to call the foul more often if they think Yao will react hostily to the unfair play that is not called by the them. Maybe the day Yao gets in a fight is the day he has truly arrived.
You know, the thread title made me think this would be yet another silly Ming-only thread, but... That was pretty good, bblock. Welcome.
I'm not sure if it's wise for Yao to get himself into a fight. I don't know if Van Gundy can wrap himself around Yao's tree trunk leg as he did before. Also, I wouldn't want Yao to get himself a career-ending, or even worse, a chronic, crippling, injury. Then he would not reach his full potential and we'd all be wondering what could've been... Given that, I do think he needs to be more aggressive and throw his body and elbows around more in the context of the game. I would also like to see his teammates help him in retaliating to dirty play. Remember the days when Charles Oakley was Patrick Ewing's "enforcer". Maybe Kelvin Cato can be Yao's enforcer.
bblock, While I agree with your comments about how he should try to model his game.....I just don't see the need for people to give this guy advice. He is what he is. Believe me, Ewing and the Van will get this guy to play the way they want him to play. We're just standing at the water cooler trying to tell a professional athlete how to play his game. Just doesn't make much sense to me. It's like the time I was in the bathroom at a Rockets' game....the janitor in there was trying to tell Rudy how to coach....give me a break, these guys have made it to this level by playing inside their own game. So i repeat bblock, your assessment may be dead on, but I just don't know normal people can expect Yao to take it to heart, though I would like him to. Good points though.
How is that people on this forum think Hakeem was a finesse center? I've gotten to the point where my head doesn't explode everytime I read it, but it's still heresy. Dream's entire career he was a banger and sought contact. Those legenday wars down at Fonde between Dream and Moses were brutal. Just because the guy developed the most sophisticated post moves in history and invented the Dreamshake does not make him a "finesse" center. Ewing and Robinson would think your insane for suggesting it. If Yao were half as physical as Dream was when he entered the league he'd be outplaying Shaq now. On a Rocket's fan site, this is just sad.
Maybe its good for Yao to get rough up alittle. I mean sooner or later he is gonna get sick of people disrespecting him on the court. You can take a gentle housecat and its usually docile, but if u box it into a corner or situation where it feels threatened it will come out scratching and clawing. Maybe Yao needs to get really banged up, i dont mean injured, but like when Shawn Kept put those scratches on his back. Yao was upset or when Theo Ratliff kept cheapshotting him.
moses malone is the banger prototype "....i goes to the rack... fo..., fo..., fo..." hakeem's skills were more refined, lots of finesse moves and jumpers, plus the strength & guile to bang to gain better positioning. 2 of the sweetest finesse moves in the history of the NBA---Hakeem's Dream Shake and Kareem's Sky Hook. priceless ! ===== J Diddy, the cheapest short was Jason Collins elbowing Yao's temple, and the Ref did not call a foul.
I can't say that punching someone is good advice, but if Yao gets scratched like he did last season, I'm all for Yao stooping down to get into someone's face, or shoving the guy to the floor.
with jvg and rudy still looking over his shoulder? although it would be groundbreaking, i doubt it would ever happen. but i bet he could still kick anyones ass in counterstrike. except maybe boki.
