Question re Yao: Can one learn a "Dominator" mentality, or is it innate?

I think he already has that mental disposition. I'm just not sure he has learned how to express that physically on the basketball court. He seems to know when to take over a game and what he personally needs to do to make that happen. He just has yet to grasp the way that American players do that physically and psychologically.

I do think that can be learned.

 

Jeff, I think he has it too, he doesn't need to "learn" it as much as he needs to practice using it, i.e. get familiar with the use of that talent if you know what I mean...

Be like Hakeem... !

 

Duncan was bashed alot because he alwasy choke in 4th quarters, especially facing Shaq. Look at him now.

 

Have you guys noticed how much better Yao plays when the game is on the line? He's like a completely different player. I think he has the mentality, he's still just getting used to the aggressiveness that the NBA has.

 

If u talk about mentality, I think people might forget that he's the leader of both national team and cba team. He's has proved that he has such mentality to lead his team to championship.

But how can he be a "dominator" if he's not yet a dominator in nba? Sometimes I wonder if people recognises Yao also has his weaknesses. His athleticism is weak. His stamina is weak. How can he dominate nba if he's not yet improved those areas? I keep hearing people suggest that yao should be more "aggressive", as if he can bump away anyone like shaq if he's agreesive enough. Yao's simply not yet ready to dominate, both physically and skillfully. It has nothing to do with his mentality.

Do you think he cant win the opening tip because he's "soft"? Or weak in mentality?

 

He has limited quickness and weak hands. He gets the ball slapped away or fails to GRAB the ball too often. Weaknesses that can and will be addressed, if they are not working on this already. Playing the Chinese and international competition didn't allow him to develop these areas, the NBA will force him to.

 

Rileydog : I think that Yao Ming will discover himself as time goes by, Just like Hakeem discovered himself first in the U. of H. and then with the Rockets.When he realy discovers all of his advantages and just how good he can be, then we hope, he will apply what he discovered. I see his mentality being more like a extra tall Duncan rather than a Shaq type player. JVG recently mentioned that in all great players they are not taught but discover themselves. Possibly Yao Ming might set a new standard on how we judge domination and killer instinct.Possibly one relating more to IQ and cleverness rather than to Brute Force and Power.
Yao Ming, because of his mind set, needs to grow into taking over games rather than just being the one that does it. For example he is unlikely to demand the leadership of the team but would more likely earn that respect by becoming the best player on the team. The big key is when he does something realy great in a game does this give confidence and does this produce the desire to repeat.

 

I agree with the sentiment here .. The only thing that will help Yao become dominant is time and experience. I am sure he is completely sick of people telling him to be aggressive. To dominate all Yao will need is confidence.

I've noticed that if he misses a shot or two he worries too much about what the other players think because he is still a relatively new NBA player.

A few years down the line he will have enough experience to not let things like that bother him and he will be able to take it to other teams as he did in the 4th quarter Friday night.

The only thing I wished could happen for Yao is that somehow they could get Olajuwon to teach him footwork because if Yao had footwork anywhere close to Olajuwon he would be totally unstoppable. But I guess that might be an unteachable thing.

 

You have to also realize that in order to dominate..you got to have good passers in the team. You wonder why Shaq dominate?? Yea a lot of times, his teammates pass him the ball right EXACTLY at the time when he makes the move or when he's opened. In other words, his teammates make him look good too, it's not all about him. You wonder why Malone is such a great player? Yea, cuz he got Stockton, who made it easy for him to be great in the game. One player alone is not that easy to dominate, it requires good passers and good coaching.

 

I think the "dominator" mentality is a combination of process from natural born and late learn.

I'd categories people into three different groups, 1st group are the ones who don’t show that kind of mentality unless be forced into the position; 2nd group are the ones step into the position once they see it; the last group are the ones proactively seek the opportunity.

Most people fell into category II, where they don’t aggressively seek to “dominating”, but when the right opportunity comes, they will step into the spot light. I think Yao fells into this group based on his past performance.

Yao entered Chinese National Team at a very young age, but he was a nobody for several years, even when he was domination in the CBA at the same time. He didn’t stepped into that “dominating” role until this year when most of the veterans left the team. It was a different story with the Shanghai Sharks because they designated him as the focal point at a very early stage. I think the same process is working on Yao again right now, he was a bit timid as a rookie last year, but more assert this year with flash of dominance. I believe he will develop into that “dominating” role within 2 or 3 years, maybe sooner if JVG plays a strong hand in Yao’s role defining process.

To summarize my answer to your question, yes, I think Yao has the mentality to “dominating”, but it takes a little time to get there.


--daoshi

 

How do we define "dominating" and "aggresiveness" in terms of basketball?

Is it based on brute force - backing oponents down and using your weight? Dunking with force? Showing emotions?

Just curios.

 

i think yao has plenty of piss and vinegar. the problem might be that he defers to his teammates out of respect for their fragile egos. if this is the case, how long will it take before he gets tired of tippy-toeing around francis' and mobley's emotions and takes over as team leader?

 

If efficiency is one of your deciding factors, do you consider Chris Mihm to be dominant? He is currently ranked 3rd in "Efficiency per 48 minutes" according to nba.com. Shawn Bradley is sixth. Yao is 19th.

Note: The accuracy of this efficiency rating can be argued.

I guess what I am trying to say is everybody has his/her own interpretation of what "Dominating" means. If we don't have a generally accepted meaning of this, it would be difficult to determine if he is or not.

 

Agreed, however, when Hakeem entered the NBA, he was already a dominator. He wasn't perfect by any means, but he averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds his rookie year and 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals his second year when they went to the Finals and lost to Boston.

He was also an elbow-throwing PRESENCE in the low post. He enjoyed throwing it down on guys and taunting them after blocked shots. His attitude was just different from Yao. His game wasn't as refined as Yao's, but he was a better player at the same point in his career.

Yao is eventually going to be a great one, but he came into the league behind the 8 ball. His learning curve is just a little larger than guys like Hakeem.

 

Yao is 10th per 48 minutes

-G'day-

 

did you see yao in the asian games over the summer, especially the game against the koreans? he was dunking on them like he wanted to kill them!...i wish he could do the same to Shaq

 

Some would argue that Duncan still chokes in the 4th quarter. I would be one of them. I sure as hell would not put Duncan in the same group as Jordan, Magic, and Bird yet. He may have two rings, but if you role the tapes during those championship runs you would notice Duncan shying away from the spotlight in a lot of the key moments of the 4th quarters of those playoffs. Yes, he stepped up a couple of times, but he was not there each and every situation like a Jordan, Bird, Magic, or Hakeem was.