Don't jump to conclusion so fast based on your own assumption. Let's talk about this after Spurs serie. Well, what's the point? Even if Shaq does well in the coming serie, you could still say that Shaq was hurt or sick in the Rockets serie coincidently, and he recovers in the Spurs serie magically, so he does well there but not here. Credit to yao? No way, what is Yao? He's a timid, slow motion, no-heart lesser version of Rik Smith. How can he ever get credit, we just hate him. End of the story.
for those of who who are offended by these inferior basketball minds regarding the Yao criticisms, welcome to Steve Francis' world. posts for trading Yao are just a waste of space, but so are posts blaming every problem we have on Francis. too many of our fans see things in black and white when basketball, like life, is a shade of grey. its not just Yao's fault that we lost the series, but if he is going to be the man on this team he is going to have to take his share of the blame. it is really about time that fans took the gloves off regarding Yao.
No, you didn't. It's not Yao's fault if Shaq does well when Yao is not guarding him. I thought I made that fairly clear.
Hesitant to give credit? No way...I haven't been shy about giving him credit in the past, especially when he played well. I think a few weeks ago before his slump I even stated that he should be considered for 1st team All NBA. It's precisely because of that that I find his failure to do anything of note in the post season so disturbing. Where the heck is the Yao that made Shaq look helpless in February? I want him back.
Simple answer Francis won't let him try to take games over.While he respects Steve as his Senior he won't try to go against Steve. So don't expect him to take over Games next season if Francis is still the Rocket's Point Guard.Its just not his way.
Well if that's the truth then Yao doesn't deserve to play in the NBA. Do you really think what you're saying here is a valid excuse? Stop blaming Yao Mings weaknesses on other players!
Yetti - if yao is that big of a p***y that he wont demand the rock after both steve and jvg both stated that that is the offensive strategy then Houston, we do have a problem.
You're right, Yao's not at Daugherty's prime yet in terms of producing those types of numbers. I remembered him having 18/9 seasons consistently with the Cavs, which is about what Yao's averaging now. (Mark Price is one of my favorite players of all time until he run into injury problems btw!) Yao's situation is a unique one though. You can't compare his numbers of his first two seasons to the great centers like Hakeem, Kareem, etc. Those great centers you listed have the type of game to adapt to the NBA's fast pace game quickly because of their tremendous athleticism. The Yao and Darko's of this world get drafted purely because of their potential into developing into a force. These types of players need to build strength and need time to adjust to the speed and athleticism of the NBA. Yao's potential have barely been tapped. He can play the same way for the rest of his career, or he can 'get it' and explode. You never know what's going to happen so it's extremely hard to project just yet. All we know is that we can project the improvements from the first and second seasons, which looks very promising.
Not entirely related to the thread topic but I'm too lazy to find the right place/start a thread. Vlade Divac Brad Miller Clifford Robinson Shaquille O'Neal Dirk Nowitzki Nene Hilario Jason Collins Kurt Thomas Marcus Camby Antonio Davis Greg Ostertag What do all these players LISTED as centers have in common? They all average more assists than Yao, and in most cases in less minutes. And yet I keep reading about Yao's great passing skills. So why can't he average more assists than freaking Ostertag?
Does that make the people with thousands of posts feel threatened? I don't have time to sit and post on an internet message board all day & night, my bad.
It's not double teaming that contained Shaq, Shaq gets double teamed in the playoffs and he still put up 20 to 30 points a game. It's not Cato who played great defense against Shaq, Cato wasn't the reason Shaq missed an abnormal amount of shots he normally makes. If Cato can limit Shaq to 16 points even with double teams, teams around the league will be offering their players for the new Shaq container. It was Yao who got better each game at defending Shaq and caused Shaq to miss shots left and right, Shaq taking less shots is the direct result of his not being effective. Malone only took off in game 4. Other than that game he was his normal self scoring 10+ points a game.
Yao has been playing basketball almost non-stop from October 2001: 2001-2002 China Basketball Asso 2002 Summer - international games representing China 2002 Oct -2003 - first NBA season 2003 Summer - qualifying games for 2004 Olypmics 2003-2004 - second NBA season 2004 June - 2004 Olympics No sufficient rest, recuperation, body re-conditioning. In addition, he has not received FULL NBA training schedules; and most likely the Chinese authority would continue filling his non-NBA times with other PR schedules in China. Even a machine needs rest, not to mention a human being being so exploited. If this trend continues, I think Yao would easily get a serious injury and end his basketball life. IMO, he is now physically and mentally sick of basketball games. It seems nobody cares and some fans still complaining he's not doing enough in basketballs. May be Yao should go back to the CBA, which has 32 instead of 82 games in the NBA.
OK, I agree 1000%: Yao < Rik Smits. Now let's trade him to get something that is = or > Rik Smits. Here we go: Trade Yao for Shawn Bradley + Antawn Wlaker or/and Jamison Happy now? Hey, it is good for both teams.
1. Our players dont seem to move w/o the ball 2. They often brick when yao passes out to the three point line 3. The ball may swing around the peremiter to the open shooter when yao pushes it back out etc.......
You got to watch the game often to appreciate Yao's great passing skills. No doubt Yao is the best passer in the Rockets, he has great court vision, passing skills and a understanding of the game, so he knows where everyone is and how he should exploit the double team by passing to the wide open teammate. He also have the great touch and the skill to zip the pass with the right speed and force and timing, most of his passes are dead on, his teammate does not need to make adjustment. If you say Yao is slow, he's definitely not slow using his brain, many times I saw him make a great pass decision in split seconds, as though Yao knows what his teammate are going to do. There's mainly 2 reasons: 1. Yao does not get the ball enough, Yao needs touch to make good passes, and when he sometimes get the ball, guys are standing around and watching him go to work in the post, instead of running around creating scoring opportunity for themselves. When guys are lining up outside, in game 4 of lakers serie, Yao working in the post against 2 defenders, as soon as he draws triple team in, he found Jim Jackson line up outside 3 point line with a pass right on target, jackson did not have to adjust at all, he just square and let go off his shot. 2. Great pass does not always translate to score, so there's no assist. So many times I saw Yao whipped a Jason Kidd like pass with great anticipation and timing, and the receiver just never expected it or simply can't finish. For example, Yao pass hit Cat while he was driving to the basket perfectly in stride, Cat just never expect he would get such a timely pass and the hoop is wide open right in front of him, then he proceeds to miss the wide open layup. (Game 4 of Lakers serie on ABC). Cat looks really surprised and clanks that layout which would ring up 1 assist for Yao. There's this time probably against the Timberwolves, Francis gives the ball to Yao in the low post, Yao then doing his 2 steps to get his hook shot off in the middle of low post, in the last second (just right before he's going to release the hook shot), he has the court vision to see Francis diving into the lane from the side with no one on him(because Yao commands other defenders' attention), Yao whips an incredible hook pass over the top right into Francis' hand, Francis then goes up strong for a layup, which is probably the easiest shot he would have all year, with wide open hoop right in front of him, he clanks the layup. Yao was deprived again of well deserved assist. Then Francis got the ball back from his own miss, then he throws it up to Cato for an alley-hoop. I remember ABC's commentator going Ohh, Awe over Yao's hook pass. Many times, because the pass are so dead on, the receiver got great position for either a layup or a dunk, the defense caught in bad position, they chose to hard foul the receiver and make him earn the 2 points from the line. Yao would have easily average 6 or 7 assists per game if all his passes turn into scores. His assists will go up as soon as we have someone that can really shoot, someone like Peja, Nirwitzky, Richard Hamilton, Ray Allen, Allen Houston.
How short lived is the memory of the BBS. Remember when Yao was tearing things up around the mid-season? That stretch shows that Yao has the skills to play and even dominate. What is lacking in Yao, and all of the other Rox, is consistency. The problem isn't that Yao is too soft or as the skills its that he lacks the conditioning, both mental and physical, to be consistent.
