Yao will be the best center in the league in 4 years (if no new good center come into the league and TD continue to play pf) but he will always be compared to Hakeem as long as he's in Houston and that's just not fair.
I was not very high on Yao before the draft due to the impression I had of him in CBA. I saw his playing a couple of times in CBA, two things came to my mind regarding NBA, too fast, not enough minutes for him. Everyone made to NBA has talent, the opportunity is more important in many occasions, just ask J O'Neal. Yao was very lucky being picked as #1, which in turns getting him enough playing time. That was very crucial for building his confidence; I thought Rudy T. did a great job of bringing Yao along slowly but steadily! The other problem was the pace of the NBA games; I figured Yao would be too slow to keep up. He is still having problems with the fast pace, but is doing better than I expected so far, and his stamina has held much better than I anticipated. Most people suggested Yao getting more rest, but I believe playing through with long minutes is really helping his stamina, actually. Unlike many other observers, I’m really not that concern with Yao’s aggressiveness. He did fine in CBA, fine in the international competition, where PRESSURE was much intense than in NBA. He showed his nastiness from time to time during those games. It’s a matter of getting comfortable before he shows his emotion, which requires a couple more seasons. When he gets more comfortable with his team, that’s the time he’ll start dominating in the league. There is no sense to compare him to other past greats since he is just different in his own way; the only thing we can say surely is that Yao has all the physical tools and desire to dominating in this league. --daoshi
Man if I hate the lakers with a passion, but if Yao decides to go there one day, I'll cheer for them. The original poster is right, all the fans in houston seemed to have turned on Yao already despite him putting up good numbers this season. I think that's sad, but if you look at how many people show up for rox game, then you see that houston isn't really a basketball city. I remember people kept saying Yao should join this bbs and post here instead of posting on his bbs. If he did that he'd see all the hate for him and it'd drive him out of this city even faster. Here's to hoping he bolts houston quickly after his contract runs out to another city that will appreciate him.
That just aint right .. There are few people that have "turned on Yao", but for the most part Rocket fans still love him. Is it wrong to point out the things that he can and cannot do? Most people here are concerned with what the Rockets can do to improve themselves as a team. Every player on this team is questioned as to what they can do better to improve the Rockets. ... If Yao ever did decide to bolt to LA or somewhere else, which I don't think the Rox will ever let happen, at least we would know who the real Rockets fans were vs. the ones that only care about what is good for 1 player. I'm just glad Yao is a team player and has a great attitude in this game. .. And sorry, the best players in every city are always criticised by many fans .. especially when you have multiple "star" players. Yao is going to have to deal with criticism everywhere he goes.
Sad aint it. I don't post too much on this forum but it definately seems like there's too much of a split. I'm also sad to see people saying they will root for Yao if he plays for one of our rivals. I like Yao but I like the Rox more. If Yao goes to another Western Conference team I wouldn't hate him but I certainly wouldn't root for him. I can't stand Shaq and think Kobe is a criminal but if they were playing for the Rox I would still root for them.
There's nothing wrong with following your favorite player to another team. In fact, probably most fans of Yao Ming in China/Asia will parbably do just that should Yao bolt for another team in the future.
He's a solid center with the potential to be great. At this point he's along way from being compared to any of the recent top flight centers.
you just dont know who you are trying to hate. If you want Yao to Dominate soooo much, then you will then have to appreciate steve. withought steve Yao would literly be scoreless because steve draws 25% of the D. Withought Steve ou will start seeing Yao beeing TRIPLE TEAMED!!! If you cant even handle a double team he will be just another bradly without steve.
Exactly and that is why many people on this board gets so upset when these people criticize everyone else on the Rockets team for not helping to make Yao a great player. If you only care about Yao Ming(i.e. you would follow him to another team if he left), then you are a Yao fan, not a Rox fan. There is nothing wrong with that. These people need to stop the bashing of anything thats not good for Yao because its annoying and obviously they only care about Yao ... Hence the disgust for YOFs that criticize anything and everything on the Rockets except Yao. I'll be the first to admit there is a lot wrong with this team from the backcourt to the frontcourt, but I along with other Rockets fans on this board care about what is good for the Rockets not Yao. People that would ditch the team if Yao left only care about Yao.
I don't compare him to Hakeem. And besides, if Hakeem had to deal with the zone defense that Yao faces, Hakeem's impact would have been far less. To put it another way, if Yao was single covered every night, he would probably drop about 30 pts on a nightly basis.
Yao's big problem will always be reaction time. NBA game is too fast for him. Nevertheless he could be dominating on offense if he develops a jump-hook.
Yep, without Steve, Rockets is going no where. wait..we had steve for a while, where are we? P.S. without Steve, Rockets will only have 4 players vs another teams 5 players.
I'm a socal Yao only fan. Just beacuse Yao is here, that's why i stop by, otherwise I don't give a s**t this crapping team.
unfortunately Yao still play for the rockets. And every game rockets lost, I still suffer the pain. Until then........
I can at least respect you for being honest. I wish all YOF's would admit their attitude is like this. This way we would know where the comments are coming from
I agree with RocketGordon. Yao is doing just about how I expected him to do. He's getting near that 20 and 10 mark. That is pretty good for a second year FOREIGN player. His size gives him an unfair disadvantage as far as criticism and expectations go. Just remember, when we want to start gettting into comparaisons, that Ric Smits, who was a good big man to most, had a career best season while averaging 17pts a game. Yao, is doing that in his second year. Im pleased with his growth and expect him to gradually improve and be one of the top big dogs in the game.
