It's from Insider, no link.... By Terry Brown One day after Brad Miller scores a game-high 19 points in an exhibition game while his Sacramento King teammate Mike Bibby scores 17, Yao Ming gets the headline with 14. Houston Rocket forward Juwan Howard had a game-high 12 rebounds while Chris Webber had 11. Ming had 7. Heck, by looking at the box score it was hard to tell if Yao should have even been the starting center for the Rockets in front of 11,000 screaming Chinese on Thursday night Shanghai. Yao had 14 points, seven boards and five turnovers in 26 minutes Thursday in the NBA's first game in China. Yao Ming (Thursday): 14 points, 7 rebounds and one block on 40 percent shooting in 26 minutes Dikembe Mutombo: (Thursday): 10 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks on 66 percent shooting in 19 minutes. It might have very well been China's first NBA game and every one of those fans might have been cheering Yao's name even when he wasn't on the floor, but that doesn't change the fact that the opposing team's center led them in scoring. Yao was his team's third-leading rebounder, and Shaq just got traded to the East. One of these days, Yao is going to have to earn these headlines. He's the best center in the West now, right? He's about to become a three-time all star in his first three seasons, improve upon his All-NBA third-team standing and catapult his team far into the playoffs, right? So let's start with last year's finish line. Yao (2004): 17.5 ppg, 9 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0.2 spg, 1.9 bpg, 52% shooting. It's an impressive line, even an all-star line. It was a year he improved in almost every statistical category. Against the Hawks, he scored 41 points. Against the Pistons, he had 20 rebounds. Against the Heat, he had seven blocks. These are all career highs, and they all came last year. So with his third NBA season about to begin, perhaps it is time to look beyond his 7-foot-6 frame and see, exactly, where Yao Ming fits in. According to his headlines and accolades, this is where it sounds like he should fit in: Shaquille O'Neal (third NBA season): 29.3 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 2.7 apg, 0.9 spg, 2.4 bpg, 58% shooting. But maybe that's not quite fair. Let's try this guy. Hakeem Olajuwon (third season): 23.4 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.8 spg, 3.4 bpg, 50% shooting. Okay, that's another cheap shot but I think we're starting to get the point. But just in case … David Robinson (third season): 23.2 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.3 spg, 4.5 bpg, 55% shooting. These are three other centers who were three-time all-stars in their third seasons and getting the same amount of praise as Yao is getting now as the next great big man who is going to change the game. But I'm still a little bit confused how he's going to do this after being the 13th-best shot blocker last year, 15th-best rebounder and 29th-best scorer. He's still 7-6, still impacts any single game by his mere presence and is still an older Shaq's greatest foe. But have we gone too far, too quick? How much better is he statistically than these three guys who have a total of two All-Star years in 18 combined seasons for eight different teams? Brad Miller (2004): 14.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 4.3 apg, 0.9 spg, 1.2 bpg, 51% shooting. Erick Dampier (2004): 12.3, 12 rpg, 0.8 apg, 0.4 spg, 1.8 bpg, 53% shooting. Jamaal Magloire (2004): 13.6 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1 apg, 0.5 spg, 1.2 bpg, 47% shooting. Or maybe he falls somewhere in between Miller and Olajuwon, right next to a couple of Hoyas who have had spectacular NBA careers. Patrick Ewing (third season): 20.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.2 spg, 2.9 bpg, 55% shooting. Alonzo Mourning (third season): 21.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.6 spg, 2.9 bpg, 52% shooting. Statistically, those numbers seem to be attainable goals for Yao to reach as he enters his third season. Maybe he does. Maybe he doesn't. Maybe one day he becomes this generation's greatest center. But with so far still to go, that day will be cheapened if we declare it long before it actually happens.
That's what we call overanalyzing a preseason game. Yao was the headline because of where the game was played. He's also putting way too much emphasis on statistics.
This guy is a statistic Moron! He has already forgotten about the ball-hogging Steve and Cat and he did not mention that T-Mac could be the Rockets first option and Yao don't need to score much or at least to get up to those stats of the player he mention. Those franchise player he mention in their third yr. did not have any ball-hoggers so of course they're gonna score a lot of points without a zone defense being implemented in the game back then. Worst of all, he uses a preseason game in his example of why Yao is overratted is just plain ignorant. Yao got the headline since its a big deal for him to play in front of his home crowd and thats the point for having the game played there. I guess T-Mac is overratted b/c he only scored 10 points on 3/11 shooting in that China game.
Yesterday's game certainly wasn't Yao's best game, he was nervous in front of his hometown crowd and obviously he could play a lot better. But this article raised an interesting question: since many claimed on this board that for most international players to become really great, they need 3 years to adjust. So if Yao finishes this season with stats still below 20pts/10rebs, is it safe to say he might be just a very good player but not a great one? So far his fame far exceeds his achievement, people compare him to Shaq and Dream, but the stats are not even close. He is lucky in some degree that NBA lacks quality center and he is the only Chinese player who can play well in NBA and has a monster market backing him. Who should Yao eventually be compared to? To be fair, I will be very happy if he could achieve as much as Ewing and Morning.
He does have a point, up to a point. But notice some of the percentages he DIDN't include. Free throw % (which I don't have in front of me) have GOT to be in favor of Yao, I would guess by a wide margin, over all those others he mentioned. This is important because, unlike Shaq, who can lose a game for you all by himself simply because he can't hit free throws, Yao is not going to ever be involved in any opponent strategy called 'Hack-a-Yao', because he would make them bleed for it. This directly translates into more wins. And the previous poster was exactly right. Yao's assist numbers are far below what they will become, if only because he no longer sends what should be an assist to a guy who dribbles the rest of the shot clock off and heaves up a desperation 3 at the buzzer. Likewise his scoring average actually SHOULD go up, for the same reason as noted above, as well as the fact that he now has players who actually know how to throw an entry pass, and will, in fact, pass at all. As for the rebounds and blocks, well gee, yeah he's 7'6", but look at where he learned to play, and his whole culteral 'niceness' he is having to learn to overcome. Tell you what, take any one of those guys, with the possible exception of Olajuwon, and place them in such a bizarrely different culture, and ask them to behave completely contrary to their upbringing, and see if THEY manage what Yao has managed by his second year. I think the guy is just sad and angry because he is having Shaq withdrawal.
Stupid article. The author's whole argument comes from comparing statistics, but he goes against his argument when ranking the top centers. He puts Dream higher than David Robinson, but Robinson's numbers are better (overall). According to his methods of ranking, Robinson should be the better center, but he clearly believes Hakeem is (which he is )
I don't have a problem with this guy questioning whether Yao deserves the hype that he gets, but this part is bogus: Um, hello. These are about the only allstar worthy years that these guys have ever put up. Aren't we trying to compare how Yao is going to improve and what to look for in his third season. Then why selectively pick the best season from three guys that weren't putting close to as good of numbers in their 1st to 3rd years in the league. He can reserve judgment if he want. I'd be doing that too if I wasn't a big fan of Yao. But I DO have a really good feeling about this year. Yao had a full two month run last year where he was absolutely dominant. But ended up running out of gas in the final month and postseason. If his stamina and strength is improved as much as everyone says it is, then I think he can keep up his level of play throughout the season. And having a running mate the caliber of T-mac isn't going to hurt anything either. It's only been two games in limited minutes, but T-Mac has already setup Yao for easy shots three or four times. Believe Baby, Believe!
I think Yao's stamina has a lot to do with the fact that his rebounding and blocked shots aren't as high as the other greats...look how many more mins they played per game compared to Yao. As far as points, well, just look at how many shots they got per game compared to Yao as well. Bottom line, if Yao could stay in the game 4-5more mins. you'll see his stats up there with the others. In case no one wants to look up these stats(all in their 3rd year, except Yao in his 2nd) ............Min.....FGA-pergame Dream 36.8....17.8 D-Rob 37.7.....15.8 Shaq 37.......... 20 Yao 32.8........12.5
I think Terry Brown's point were good. It's not like he said Yao sucked or anything close to that. He basically called for a reality check and the stats he used are about as close to objective reality as we can get in sports. Should Yao (today) be put in the same catagory as Shaq, Dream and David (after the same number of years in the NBA)? No way! Should he be put in the same catagory as Ewing or Alonzo, I'd take that.
and four plus turnovers a game isn't going to cut it either. Yao has to learn to rebound and to take care of the ball.
Yao actually turns the ball over less than the other 3 did. By the other 3 I mean , Dream, Shaq, and Robinson. This may also be a product of less mins played, but I don't have the TO per 48 mins to compare them by, just TO per game. Yao's highest TOPG has been 2.48, that's hardly close to 4+.
Is he going to play center for Kings? I will think so. C Webber is the starting PF. For those centers who can shoot from outside, another problem for Yao when he faces them. I still remember last year's game against Nuggets. Damn, Camby shot lights out the other day.
I HATED that! I remember watching those two games and I kept saying, Ok he'll miss this one, OK he'll miss this one, OK he'll miss this one, I don't think he missed more than four shots, COMBINED, in those two games.
This guy didn't say anything that wasn't true, He merely stated that for all the hype that Yao gets his stats aren't overwhelming. Everyone has been speculating based on Yao's percieved potential and callling him "great". I believe he does have it in him to be "great" and I have seen flashes of "greatness" from him but, honestly where is the guy out of line? I for one will be disappointed if Yao isn't 20 and 10 this year. It's his third year, time to step up. nine
To make a fairly judgment, he should at least scale individual stats according to the average game points of the team. The style of team play affects the individual stats, the same 10 points per game means quite different to the team of Dallas Mavericks and to the team of Houston Rockets. In an extreme case, if there is a player in a team that can score just 6 points in each game, while the opponent team can score only 5 points in total, then that player would lead the team to win all the games and become the greatest basketball player ever. My point is that you can't judge a player by pure stats, or at least create a way to compute the stats base on the individual impact to the game.
But thats a problem with most centers in the league... thats why Yao is such a commodity because although he'll have trouble defending centers with jumshots, the other side of the argument can be made. Stuart
