That's the truest thing that keeps Yao from being great. I still believe he'll progress this season by huge bounds, but his need to have an NBA aggressive mind-set is what separates him from greatness. He is TOO unselfish and wants to blend in too much, where he should stand out like a 7-6 Chinese guy should stand out. The fact that Francis and Cuttino are gone have helped him, not so much as their lack of involving him, but the feeling that Yao now gets as one of the elder statesmen of the team. Stuart
Oh, and another 7-3+ guy that never averaged 10 rebounds... I believe Shawn Bradley never averaged double-digits in rebounds. Stuart
I couldn't agree more. What people have to realize is that Yao having a bad game is not his fault all the time. The biggest problem I see with him at times is just like everyone says, he needs to be more aggressive. However, it is hard to be aggressive when 1) The referees allow the opposing defenses to grab, jab, elbow, hold, and basically murder you. 2) The referees then on top of the no calls proceed to call tick-tack fouls on you. 3) The coach has no faith in you that you can play through the foul situation as one of the stars of the team, therefore, he pulls you automatically not allowing you to get into any kind of rhythm. 4) Your team is full of bone heads like Mo Taylor and JJ that think that they are superstars in their own right and rarely ever pass the ball into you even when you do establish great position. The bottomline is yes Yao over all needs to be more aggressive, but if the refs give you no love it is hard to be effective. The best example I can give you of this is even the great Tim Duncan in a couple of games at the Olympics was rendered completely noneffective because he was getting absolutely no love from the refs.
Bradley's rebounding numbers are very comparable to Yao's when given playing time, which does not bode well for Yao.
The dude needs to assert himself and improve his pooosy ass rebounding. Yao is a starter and is the second tallest man in the league, yet he ranks 39th in rebounds per game at 7.5. This is unacceptable. One player over a foot shorter than him averages more rebounds per game than Yao. Any guesses who that player is??? Yao needs to man up and take the damn rebound. I'm tired of guards getting rebounds from Yao. I'm really beginning to think Yao has zero verticle.
Bradley was also never depended on to be a go-to guy. Every player has a finite level of energy he can expend in a game. That's why there are so few 20/10 players in the league. The next time Shawn Bradley has a 20/10 game might be his first.
If the NBA kept stats on vertical leaps, I think it's fair to say that Yao would rank in the bottom 10%, maybe even dead last. The guy is 7'6" and can barely jump high enough to dunk. This to me is worse than his slowness. The inability to jump high negates the only advantage he has - being tall.
Regardless of whether the refs took him out of the game or not, the criticism has got to be there when Yao fails to perform. Otherwise, he will start blaming the refs for every bad night. If the man screws up and has a bad game, hes gotta be called out for that until he earns the respect for us to not to. Dream having an offnight, doesnt deserve criticism. A 3rd year player having an offnight, after 2 years of inconsistency, definetely deserves our criticism no matter the factors that went into it
I don't think it's Ewing's fault that Yao is a non-assertive roleplayer who likes to watch TMac do all the work. But I do think it's Ewing's fault that Yao has lost all of his great footwork and finesse moves from his first season.
Yao is playing like a little girlie man and whining and practically has little tears coming off his little chin right now. Grow some kahunas Yao ! Please !
You're not serious, the only thing medicinal that will help Yao is the same thing that let Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs. Then he would be banned from the league for life.
That's really a good suggestion ! Is there anybody who can transfer this message to Yao? Linker88, I think you can apply for a job in Team Yao
Before Yao came into the league the scouting reports said that he could only rebound in his own space because of his lack of hops. So I don't know why everybody thinks he should be such a great rebounder. I do agree with JVG that Yao should have brought it against the Nets, I had hoped that those great games that Yao played when T-Mac was out would carryover when T-Mac returned. Yao needs to realize that in order for this team to be something special, he needs to bring his A-game when T-Mac is in or out of the lineup. I can't figure out how a guy who nearly fouls out the whole frontcourt of the LA Lakers could have such a sub-par night against the lowly Nets.
I believe one of the qualities a superstar must have is to increase every other player's performance. Look at heats right now, every one is having a career high year because of Shaq's presence. I wish Yao will reach that level one day.
Referees have total control over Yao. His game is dictated 100% by how refs call the game. This is why he needs to step out to the perimeter and hit the jumper since that takes the element of officiating out of the equation.
