Yao will average about 23-25 points/game. He will erase his previous career high in points this season too. I think Yao is on the way to becoming the best center in the league.
no excuse for YAOMING anymore. he got rest, team gave him everything can give him. He got MAX pay. and this season will decide how good he will be. A 19-9 very good player or a 23/10/2.5 elite center. I think he will have 22/9/2.2
as I picked Yao for my Fantasy team, i say he's going to average over 25ppg & over 10 rpg (i had picks 9 & 12 and took Yao @12).
I think 19/9 would be great, but I wouldn't be surprised if he put up 18/8. Yao has developed into a Sabonis - which I think was my best hope when we drafted him. He'll never be Shaq or Duncun - but if he gives us 19/9 then I'd be really happy. Actually, i'd be even happier with 18/10.
I voted for atleast 20-21 ppg, could be more if everything goes well. Rebounds will probably around 8 to 9 again. But who were the 14 people voted for Yao will only average 15-17ppg anyway? I don't understand the reason behind it. I mean even if Yao didn't improve a thing during the summer, he should still be better then last season because of the better players around him, and another year playing with Tmac.
Yao won't average 10 rebounds---I just don't see that yet. 19 or 20 pts a game and 9 rebounds, 2 blocks. I would like to see his assists go up; McGrady said something about that too; what happened to those awesome passes Yao tossed in his first season? I'd like Yao to get some assists, too, a la Brad Miller, but it might be too much to ask for now.
It's funny because if Yao averages 19.9 pts a game and 9.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, people will say he's improved slightly. But if Yao averags 20.0 and 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, all of a sudden, he's an 'elite' center. I wouldn't mind Yao averaging what he did last year as long as he cuts down on turnovers, fouls, and falling on his ass.
I pulled out the preseason stats from NBA.com. Yao, TMac, and Swift are all ranked in the top 25 highest scorers. Swift and Yao are #1 and #2 in FG%. Yao is also #3 in FT%. Overall, Yao's 19.5 PPG puts him at #5 among all players. PLAYER NAME, TEAM NAME GP MPG PTS FGM-FGA FG% 3PM-3PA 3P% FTM-FTA FT% 1 Allen Iverson , PHI 4 28.0 29.0 10.5-20.8 .506 1.0-4.5 .222 7.0-9.5 .737 2 LeBron James , CLE 4 32.5 23.5 8.0-16.5 .485 1.2-3.8 .333 6.2-8.8 .714 3 Kobe Bryant , LAL 6 29.3 22.3 8.3-16.0 .521 .0-.5 .000 5.7-6.7 .850 4 Al Harrington , ATL 6 30.8 21.3 8.2-15.2 .538 1.5-2.3 .643 3.5-5.2 .677 5 Ming Yao , HOU 4 25.2 19.5 6.5-11.8 .553 .0-.2 .000 6.5-7.2 .897 6 Carmelo Anthony , DEN 5 28.2 19.4 6.6-12.4 .532 1.0-1.6 .625 5.2-7.0 .743 7 Ron Artest , IND 4 25.8 19.2 6.0-11.5 .522 1.2-2.5 .500 6.0-6.8 .889 8 Ray Allen , SEA 6 25.2 18.8 6.2-12.3 .500 1.8-4.8 .379 4.7-4.7 1.000 9 Shawn Marion , PHX 6 27.5 17.8 7.2-14.8 .483 1.0-3.0 .333 2.5-3.0 .833 10 Gilbert Arenas , WAS 4 27.0 17.8 6.0-14.0 .429 1.8-5.5 .318 4.0-5.8 .696 11 Shaquille O'Neal , MIA 4 25.8 17.0 6.5-11.8 .553 .0-.0 .000 4.0-8.8 .457 12 Dwyane Wade , MIA 6 28.7 16.8 5.7-12.2 .466 .3-1.7 .200 5.2-7.0 .738 13 Paul Pierce , BOS 6 26.3 16.7 4.8-9.0 .537 .7-1.5 .444 6.3-7.7 .826 14 Baron Davis , GSW 5 26.8 16.4 4.8-11.6 .414 1.8-5.2 .346 5.0-5.8 .862 15 Jermaine O'Neal , IND 1 27.0 16.0 5.0-13.0 .385 .0-.0 .000 6.0-9.0 .667 15 Charlie Villanueva , TOR 6 30.5 16.0 6.2-12.8 .481 1.0-2.3 .429 2.7-4.8 .552 17 John Salmons , PHI 6 28.3 15.8 5.3-10.8 .492 .3-1.3 .250 4.8-6.7 .725 18 Kevin Garnett , MIN 4 24.2 15.8 6.5-12.0 .542 .0-.0 .000 2.8-4.5 .611 19 Matt Carroll , CHA 3 24.7 15.7 5.0-10.7 .469 2.7-4.3 .615 3.0-4.0 .750 19 James Jones , PHX 6 31.0 15.7 5.7-12.7 .447 3.2-7.5 .422 1.2-1.3 .875 19 Rashard Lewis , SEA 6 26.8 15.7 6.0-11.8 .507 1.0-2.0 .500 2.7-3.7 .727 22 Corey Maggette , LAC 4 27.2 15.5 4.5-11.2 .400 1.5-3.2 .462 5.0-5.0 1.000 23 Sam Cassell , LAC 4 23.8 15.2 6.2-11.5 .543 .0-.0 .000 2.8-3.2 .846 24 Tracy McGrady , HOU 5 22.4 15.0 4.6-10.8 .426 1.2-1.8 .667 4.6-6.4 .719
ESPN The Magazine sizes up the Rockets roster: "Will he ever be more than an Asian Rik Smits?" That's a huge move up from being an Asian Shawn Bradley.
The poll does not have the option to choose Yao's average this season if it falls between 18 and 20!!! Anyway, I like to be conservative and hope Yao proves me wrong and exceeds my predictions. I say 20 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2.2 blocks. -G'day-
I second that. Turnovers are the biggest weakness of Yao. In my mind, cutting down one turn over is better than two more points.
maybe if we had last years team returning for this year yao could have averaged 25 ppg. with all of our scorers this season the ball doesn't have to be forced. yao will improve on 18-8. with the addition of stro (and jho rebounding more) i dont see yao's rebounding #'s getting any better. take a look at yao's first 3 seasons compared to KG's: YEAR 1: kg - 10.4PPG 6.3RPG 1.6BPG 28MIN yao - 13.5PPG 8.2RPG 1.7BPG 29MIN YEAR 2: kg - 17.0 8.0 2.2 38 yao - 17.5 9.0 1.9 32 YEAR 3: kg - 18.5 9.6 1.8 39 yao - 18.3 8.4 2.0 30 basically the same production. what jumps out is that yao is doing that with 6-9 LESS minutes per game in the second and 3rd seasons. here is KG's 4th season: 20.8 10.4 1.7 38 if yao get up his minutes then these stats are within reach. stro should help keep yao out of foul trouble (at least it looks that way in preseason), and yao's stamina looks much better.
Yeah, how are we getting 10 rpg when he is only averaging 6 rpg in 25.5 minutes. Never seen a player get 4 more rpg from 10 minutes of play.
