This is why I still have hope for Yao. He simply needs to get stronger to be better...thats all. If he was stronger he could: grab rebounds better, get better spacing between him and his defender to put up more shots and get better position, and hold on to the ball better when being stripped. When Yao gets stronger all his stats will go up, period. He has all the skills he just needs the physical aspect, which is probably the easiest to obtain between the 2. Yao is 1 rebound behind J.O'neal and 4 points back too? In Yao's 5th year I wouldn't be suprised if he was going for 22/12. Hell, a little better conditioning would put him up there with Oneal this year. 4points and 1 more board in 4 more minutes...thats very achieveable.
I still Yao will be the next big thing in the league. Unfortunately, he is not gonna achieve that in Houston. I see him going to LAL in 3 years. I don't think that Houston will trade him, but he probably opts to be a free agent. Unless we get TMac, or Kobe, or similar talent, I just don't see Yao being with the Rockets for long.
Unfortunately, when they scheme to stop him, it works. Put in smaller players, front him, play a fast paced game, watch Yao suck wind and barely make it up court. Until his conditioning improves, it's going to keep on working.
Jermaine O'Neal YEAR TWO - 4.5 points 3.3 reb 1.0 blocks .3 assists 13 min a game. J. O'Neal YEAR FIVE - 12.9 points 9.8 reb 2.8 blocks 1.2 assists 32 minutes a game. O'NEAL'S STATS He is in his 8th year. So....if Yao is already ahead of O'neal...what was your point again? DD
Hey guys, there's no law against myopia. You can continue to believe that Yao will dominate the league one day. I don't. I hope I'm wrong. It means the Rockets will be great. However, what I see is a guy that will have a few moments but on a consistent basis, will never reach that next level. Also with the wear and tear put on him by his schedule, he's going to hit his prime much sooner and for a shorter period than other NBA players. You're looking at the next 6 to 7 years IMO. Yao will be 30 at that point and completely worn down. You're already seeing signs of it just as we did last year. After the all star game, Yao's performance level went down and you're starting to see it this year. By the end of the year, Yao will be a walking zombie again and not much use in the playoffs I'm afraid - if the Rockets even make the playoffs.
Let me tell you, DaDa is one of the posters that I really respect on the board. He has an opinion, states it, and never launches personal attacks. DaDa and I disagree, but hey, that's what a sports board is for - to discuss and argue different view points!
great..so how do you retort??? clearly jermaine o'neal's second season did not define his career. if you grew up watching hakeem, you know his style of play by his second season didn't define his career, either.
Your whole argument is based on some ridiculous assumption that Yao won't get ANY rest during the summer. He rested a whole month last year during the summer and he's going to rest 2 months this next summer, that's what he said during a post game interview this year. If I remember correctly, Yao will have at least 2-3 months of rest during the summers after next year too. How much rest do you think he needs before you'll stop being critical about it?
"Unfortunately, when they scheme to stop him, it works" Sam, I was just thinking that. I really wasn't one of the trade Francis people, but we really need some players to make teams pay for what they do to Yao. Yes, Yao has to improve how he handles it also. As far as being at a crossroads, we're past it. We will be a team built around Yao. I'd even say it is more likely that both Yao and SF would be dealt, rather than just Yao with Steve staying. I really had hopes that this team would mesh, but the more I watch the more doubts I have. The players just don't complement each other. Kind of like the time I wanted nachos but all I had was Swiss cheese. I thought,"Hey, I like both. Ought to be good." The memory of the taste still give me shivers.
Juugie is not a Yao hater. He's just Tom Tolbert. It's a valid stance that will be accurate as long as every player isn't 100% dedicated to getting the ball as frequently as possible to Yao (ie as long as Francis and Mobley control the ball and this team).
Yeah Juugie, how DO you retort?? YOU brought up JO'Neal--YOU made the claim that an NBA player's 2nd year shows his full potential. Now we see that those two directly contradict each other, so are you man enough to say you're wrong? If you don't think Yao will ever become great, just say so, and we'll understand it's just ONE OPINION, nothing more, nothing less--don't try to bolster your opinion with the notion that "the 2nd year" is somehow indicative of a player's career success, when that clearly isn't the case. Pretending like you're some sort of guru or super-scout and you possess some special insight that the rest of us don't. Pathetic.
Sorry Juugie, I've got nothing against you, but this had me laughing out loud in the library. It's classic sig material.
Yes, by the end of J'Oneal's 2nd year his numbers weren't there but he hardly ever played. In fact, the Blazers often said that one of their best players doesn't even get into the game and they were talking about him. At the end of his second year, those that saw him play knew he wasn't timid or slow - the main problems with Yao. Four or 12 or 100 years aren't going to make Yao quick, aren't going to give him explosion, and won't change his naturally passive personality. Those things are what hold him back now, and they will be the things that keep him from being an elite player.
It is way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way too early to be coming to a conclusion like that. I see a player that has made vast improvements from year one to year two that is following a similar learning curve time frame that most foreign born NBA players have gone through before rounding into the all star form we now see them display. Two years into Nowitski's career, people were still laughing at Don Nelson for making that pick. Same can be said for Peja Stojakovic, Andrei Kirilenko, Rik Smits, Detlef Schrempf, and a dozen other foreign born players who have come to the league in the past 15 years and have eventually become star players. One and a half years is not enough time to form an opinion on a player like Yao. None of this guarantees that Yao will eventually live up to expectations, but it is laughable to me that you're giving up on Yao when we're not even at the all star break of his second year in the league.
Also, you bring up players that were 18 or 19 years old in their 2nd year. Show me someone who was 23 years old in his second year that went from being above average to dominant.
