I've always thought of Steve as someone who thinks like this. He just goes out there, has fun and does some amazing things with his athletic ability. But when discipline and tough decisions need to be made he just can't do it. That's just the way he is. If he had to take basketball from a disciplined point of view he'd lose interest and not do as well, which is what seem to happen last year. That's why he'll never be a winner...but he'll get paid more money than I'll EVER see in my life.
Yao used to have a 37" vertical!!!!???? Oh my god.... let see he is already 7'5" and if yao jumps 37", his head will be above rim level at 10 feet 6 inches....and that is not counting his stretched arms.....let see his stretched arms will be about 2 1/2 to 3 feet.... if yao does that move and dunk against ben wallace, i bet he can throw down a facial on Shaq guaranteed with that explosive vertical...and send that backboard and rim crashing down too.... and not only that he would be able to block Shaq's monster dunk attempts too and actually block shots and rebound i don't want to think about it....
imagine if Yao could somehow get that vertical back with some surgery or something. And then all of a sudden he surprises everyone with his new athletic ability! I actually had a dream of this the other night. It was like: Tolbert: "What?! Did Yao just dunk over 2 people from outside the paint?" Walton: "Well, it's a little known fact that Yao actually had a 37in. vertical, and it looks like he got it back."
I just finished the book and found it a pretty good read. However, there’s one aspect of the book that keeps eating at me, and that is Yao’s hypocritical, illogical, disturbing preconceived malicious misconceptions about America. I realize that Yao is a product of communist China, so this should not come as any big surprise, but it’s still disturbing to hear this kind of rhetoric from one of our own Houston Rockets. The hypocritical digs at “capitalists,” references to the Korean War and how North Korea was the good guys, his example of a hero bearing a striking resemblance to Asan Akbar. It’s disturbing to find that one of our own players is at least partially indoctrinated in anti-American communist propaganda. Yao’s view of America through his communist-tinted glasses seems quaint, almost innocent; he really doesn’t know any better at this point. Maybe he’ll come around with more time here and more exposure to what America is really about.
If anyone has the ESPN magazine from this week it has like an Article about YAo in it called "Before he was Yao" and i believe it is a bunch of good exerpts from his book.
You will get Yao's "misconceptions" if you have lived in two totally different world. Yao is not gonna change too much in another 10 years from my own experience. Simple point: it is not ALL bad in China and it is not ALL good in America. Now every summer I visit my hometown Shanghai with my kids, I jsut see my parent's and relative's better living. What's more important than people's living? Certainly not politics. Please note I said politics not democracy. Your view of China through your American-media-tinted glasses is absolutely naive.
This is natural resulting from the cultural difference. Believe it or not, the Americans have more you called "malicious misconceptions" about China than Chinese have about U.S. Talking about communisism and capitalism? You are just ruining this thread.
All Yao wrote was that before he entered the NBA, he'd never been taught much about the U.S. other than that they were the "bad guys" in the Korean War. Not too different than the way students of any nation are taught about wars: we were the good guys, the enemies were the bad guys. Wars are typically presented fairly simply in your average youngster's textbook. Anyhoo, Yao never expressed even the barest hint of anti-Americanism throughout the entire book. In fact, he illustrated several ways in which China was becoming more similar to the U.S., including his own chance to play in the NBA. There are a few examples he gives as to how Chinese and U.S. thinking may be different, but he never claims one is superior to the other. Merely different. I guess that's threatening to some.
But it is not fair if you have little knowledge or experience. You should NOT judge Yao through your glasses. Be open minded.
well, but I thought you misled those who haven't read the book yet. Maybe also because I come from you called communist country, I didn't have the same impression as you while reading the book. Actually, I had some similar ideas about U.S ever since I came here several years ago.
