You took the words right out of my mouth. Dampier has been one of the leagues MOST underachieving players in the past 5 years. PERIOD
BTW, Dampier's answer was after someone asked him why Yao wasn't doubled in the final quarter. The original poster took Dampier's quote out of context somewhat. Its not like Dampier just came out and tried to insult Yao. He was answering a direct question about strategy. Here is the full excerpt: Yao was slowed Wednesday before striking for 15 of the Rockets' 21 fourth-quarter points. He did it against mostly single coverage provided by Dampier, who limited the second-year center to eight points and 4-of-11 from the field in the first three quarters. Musselman bristled when asked why the Warriors did not double-team Yao in the final period, saying, "Anyone else have an intelligent question?'' Said Dampier: "Double-team for what? We didn't double-team the whole game. He's not a Shaquille (O'Neal). There was no need to.''
This team is going to be scarier than Jackson's face AFTER he is worked over by Bubba and pals in the California State Penitentary.
Unfortunately, at this point in the year, there is no need to double team Yao. Until he back a defender down and spin left and right to get past him, teams will continue to play him one on one. Now, if they can get him to make a real stong spin move, then team will be forced to trap him on the baseline with a double team. That will allow a runner to be open, and give Yao an outlet for his passes. Give him until midseason. Once he gets that move down, the whole offence opens up. Unfortunately, he was blessed with a shootin range, and his natural tendency is to drop out to that range. When he starts pinning in and around, then he will be a true center. Right now, he is more like a SF playing center....
there is absolutely with whathe says about yao... if i was a coach i wouldn't double yao neither..look at his past 5 games he shooting like 20% you dont need to double a guy that cant dunk, and always shooting jumpers and fade at a low percentage. give yao credit for stepping up in the 4th quater.. but we got lucky in the end.... if dampier would've hit those fts at the end this threads would sound very different. i think that yao ming-only fans shouldnt be so sensitive to everything..This is thw NBA people talk as lot of trash. it funy how a celebrity like Andre Agassi says h e likes Yao people post it on this bbs and all the Yao ming only Fans love Agassi.. and whoever criticze yao you guys cry foul. stop being so sensitive, yao is no where as dominant as shaq ...dand that what dampier was implying..
What the hell does this thead have to do with being a Yao only fan? You need to stop being so damn sensitive. I find it odd that Steve makes a comment that Dallas only beat us because they make a zone or that Bosh was lucky for hitting the open trey to send the Raptor game into overtime and he is slammed. Let an opposing player ignore the fact that he was outplayed by Yao Ming and not give Yao his due and we are suppose to just accept that with out critisizing him? No way! Dampier should have just said that Yao Ming out played him and in hind sight Yao should haev been doubled because he could not contain him alone in the 4th quarter. Not only did Dampier miss 2 free throws but Yao Ming missed 2 and Cato missed 1 so GS was givin the exact same damn brake and more that Houston was given.
Dampier sucks anyway...I'd take Yao any day of the week... Of course, no one compares to Shaq, so I agree with him, but he was just a sore loser who got pimp slapped in the 4 qtr... Go Rox and Keep up the good work Yao!!!
wow..i could not agree more. the shots that fell in the fourth quarter were not necessarily high percentage shots...if i remember right, they were mostly shots away from the basket. not dunks or even layups. you give a big man a turnaround shot like that...and you don't double until he shows you he's going to keep going by you to score easy buckets.
Agreed, his turnaroound isn't that awesome of a shot. He gets hot with it sometimes, but some nights it doesn't fall.
this is what Yao said after the game about Dampier: On the Rockets struggles in the second half: "I felt like my opponent, (Erick) Dampier was running low on energy. He wasn¡¯t at 100 percent today. I knew that in the fourth quarter if we didn¡¯t pick it up, we were going to lose the game."
Interested in a Warriors fan's perspective on this? Dampier was not trying to put down Yao (who is obviously damned good). I read that comment as coming from a good defensive player who takes pride in being able to guard his man without double-team help. I see that someone posted Shaq's stats against Dampier earlier in the thread. Dampier guarded Shaq single-handed for most of that game, too. And as someone else noted, GS also rarely double-teamed Duncan when they played San Antonio. So let the guy have his damn pride, OK? It's not like Yao kicked his ass -- it's just that he took advantage (as Yao himself noted) as Dampier wore down after playing the entire 2nd half ... on the latter end of a back-to-back, I might note. Which is exactly what Yao should have done; there's no margin for error (or fatigue) against someone that good.
Dampier is right on. He was taking a shot out Yao though. No doubt he was trying to say Yao isn't that good. He contained him almost the entire game. Yao looked foolish until the 4th quarter when the same shots he was taking all game finally went in. Yao's not Shaq, and Dampier didn't get worked over as badly as if he were single covering Shaq or that badly at all.
That''s what Dampier does not want to admit, that he got tired in the 4th quarter. He played a season high in minutes yesterday and just got worn out at the end of the game (I doubt Yao beats Dampier down the court when both players are fresh). Otherwise, he did a great job on Yao in the first three quarters. Really, Dampier has been playing great to start the season, leading the league in double-doubles. I think you'll see him play even better when the Warriors get Foyle back. Anyways, Dampier was right that there was no need to double team Yao since he had only made 33% of his shots up to that point. But, Yao still commands double-teams, even if he only takes turnaround Js. Yao's J is unstoppable if he's on so the only way to stop him is to double him before he gets the ball.
Wont it be cool when some other center comes along and he doesnt get double teamed and when they ask the opponent they'll be like "he isn't Yao."
Did you know? Yao Ming has not shot under 33% in any game this year. Did you know? Yao Ming leads the Rockets in FG%. Guess our guards just don't know how to dunk, huh?
He did in the 4th quarter when the game was on the line. When Yao Ming decided top take over Dampier was defensless regardless of the reason.
