I am a Chinese so I know more about Yao's attitude.Yao is a very traditional CHinese. A chinese never put up to be very arrogant as americans.So it is the difference of US culture and Chinese Culture.
I dont care if he is arrogant on the court! He has the potential to be one of the best center to ever play the game! So I want him to be arrogant like us Americans on the court!
'Crappy Chineese Culture'is this the American Point of View? Yoa Ming is not a Traditional Banging NBA Center and never will be. He is a Finesse Player with his owns strengths which are not being used or developed under Patrick Ewing.
It is difficult to change his conception. He doesnt like to be arrogant, he has changed a lot for playing in NBA.In Shanghai he is a coy man...
Believe me, it's his ability not his attitude. The limit of Yao is not sky but his physical condition: stamina, strength and quickness.
I agree with djunior that Yao need to be more aggressive and its not Francis fault for that..... well, all Francis does is to pass it to JJ to pass it to Yao, and Francis has been doing that a lot..... the thing that I must say is chinese culture is not crappy at all.... we probably have a more interesting culture than u all..... it seems to me that Yao just dun like to get push around and get rough, and he has been using the chinese culture as an excuse for him..... did he ever watch the badminton players from China play? they play with a killer instinct..... its all in Yao's mind whether or not he want to be more aggressive, it has nothing to do with the culture!!!
Here is the answer in a nutshell! Trying to change Yao Ming into somethging he is not, is not positive. His strengths are what should be developed. In the games so far Yao Ming looks like he is not getting involved enough. JVG/Patrick Ewing should lay down defined goals for Yao Ming. He needs specific ideas in his head as to what is required of him. ie:- Score at least 15 points with three big, strong dunks. Jump for all rebounds, even if others want to get them. You must have at least 10 rebounds per game. You must block at least 4 shots a game. You must score rather than pass out. You must use your hips and rear end to gain position as you move towards the basket. With goals to acheive he might start demanding the ball.Steve Francis needs to tell Yao Ming that he should scream for the ball when he wants it.Yao Ming can be fired up ,it has to be demanded of him.JVG should stop using him as a decoy and get him involved more.
Heres something I read yesterday in the Detroit Free Press: "The Pistons have a drill in which players go through repetitive jumping in sets of five or six. Milicic's vertical leap has improved from 25 inches to 30. Early in camp, his first jump would be 25, then he would drop down to 19 or 18. Now, he can reach 30 inches on his first leap and stay around 28 to 29. http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/early12_20031112.htm I think the Rockets are probably working on it... I hope at least. But I do think it is not so much his jumping as it is his timing. He needs to be able to grab the rebound at the apex of his jump. Whether he can jump 10 or 20 inches off the ground, he needs better reaction time and timing of his jump. Stuart
jediknight94595 you need to slow down yuor makin to many enemys with this thread and Get ride of collin!!! thread also. Your just a jr memeber and your saying alota things that are really out there. Its just 1 damn lose get over it dude seriusly
Last year it was Rudy and Larry, now it is Patrick's fault? Or is it Steve or Cuttino's fault for not getting him the ball even when he don't have position or he passes it right back out when they pass it in? Why should Cuttino be forced to give him the ball when as a shooting guard he has a higher fg%? This is exactly the problem around here. Everybody always wants to blame somone else. He is just an overly tall, lumbering, player without the athleticism to be a great. I expect Yao to improve marginally throughout the years, but never be what Most on here expect. We need to just accept what we got and be happy with it. People who compared Yao to Smits before the draft were right. He is not overpowering, has a good outside shot, will occassionally take a game over, but will never be a dominant player nightly. He definately does not compare to Kareem as somone on here suggested.
i think yaos problem is that he has not been totally got involved in the system. there is lack of confidence between him and his teammates.they very often cant get what they want from each other.so the most important thing for the rox is to build mutual trust among the team,and it will take time.but i believe the rox wil be ok!
You must be crazy!!! Common people, take a good look a Yao's legs and tell me what it made for? I know it's aint for jumping. That's a monster tree trunk legs and the only thing it's good for is stability. Jumping isn't the problem for his rebounding but like you said, it's his timing and speed is also a factor. Why do you people think guys like Francis and Kidd rebound alot? Because they aren't right under the basket and their anticipation and reaction helps alot when they can see where the ball is heading more then the people right under the basket.
Referencing the Chinese culture as "crappy" is way out of line. Djunior how can you expect your basketball sense to be respected when it is obvious that you have no common sense.
Yao can't jump because he's never had to. How many Chinese 7 footers are there in the Chinese Basketball Leagues? He's always been able to simply reach out his arm and grab a rebound, so how could he learn to jump? And playing b-ball non-stop all year can't help. Question: Were the draft night Yao-Haters right? Are all their warnings coming true? The honeymoon is over...now the real question must be answered: Should we have drafted Yao?
But one thing we should know that how many centers nowadays can score over 15 points per game????As I know, only Yao and Sharks.Anyone else?Only two!!!(here I means among veriest centers)
DJ Junior I thought you were smart, but your comment about China and opium was way off base. Anyways people fail to realize that why Yao seem to have attitude problem is because of culture difference. Most of Yao's teammates are African Americans, and there is a huge difference in culture between Asian and blacks. Is it a coincidence that Yao's best friend on the team is Boki, who is white? It was also the case with Wang Zhizhi in Dallas, he was friends with nash and nowitzki and the Nelson's, but now he's with the Clippers for 2 years he doesn't really mix well at all. That's because Asian culture is more similar to white culture and can thus asians communicate better to whites as oppose to with blacks. I think this may have something to do with Yao fitting in with the rest of the team, however instead of blaming Yao for this fact, we should remember this is only the start of his second year adjusting to a different culture, and that as time grows he will either have to bond with the current team or be traded away. Also I think I need to place some blame to yao. Generally speaking for those who don't know China well, Shanghainese people, whom Yao is, tend to me one of the more passive people in China in that they don't usually voice their opinions agressively. However I don't understand why Yao was able to have so much emotion playing against Korea but not against NBA players. That shows me he is not very professional and lacks mental toughness. He can beat up on the koreans and display all kinds of agression and emotion, almost to the point of ugliness and unsportsmanlike demeanor, yet he cannot maintain the same type of attitude for his day job - the NBA. Again this is a problem with many Chinese athletes. Because they have been spoon fed by the Chinese system where athletes are isolated from the rest of the world and only concentrate on their sport, once they come into the real world they have tough time dealing with it, a prime example of this is Wang Zhizhi.
I agree. Basketball aside, does anybody really enjoy seeing arrogant people in our society? Some of you sound like Yao needs to become like an arrogant, punk kid or something, like a bully at school. If the Chinese culture can be truly summed up as being respectful and courteous to your fellow man, then I envy that aspect of the culture. Calling a culture "Crappy" simply because it doesn't reflect the culture of basketball player in the States, is out of line. Back to Yao, he can be more aggressive, but that is not the same as being a big headed, arrogant punk player. Just look at Tim Duncan. It is hard to change people, it's like trying to make someone who doesn't believe in God, to turn around and love God. Yao is his own player, with his own strengths. He'll get better, but we can't expect him to mold into another Shaq......he'll be Yao. An improved Yao is what we need. Of course, aggressiveness will come when he gets more experience.
