This is a very perceptive comment and an apt analogy. Yao has gone from a semi-project his rookie year into arguably the best big man in the league today (throwing Tim Duncan into the equation). His low-post game was rudimentary at best when he entered the league - now Yao has a solid base of low-post knowledge and skills upon which he can develop, while now diversifying his game with high post looks. Many fans didn't like JVG's emphasis on the low post, but maybe a crash course was what was needed to get Yao to this point. (That, however, is another debate for another thread.) I'm still worried about Yao's shoulder, but the future looks bright for Mr. Yao. He's stepped up his game every year, and was making "The Leap" before his leg was broken. Here's to Yao taking another step forward in his growth.
Lasting Legacy Dawson honored after a 27-year run with the Rockets http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Dawson_set_to_end_a_27year_ru-221038-34.html
I'm tired of reading these articles about how special Yao is going to be. He is 26 soon to be 27 for god's sake. He is already in his prime. I want to see results, not the big P word. And so far sadly we've got none.
what on earth are you talking about? he's easily the best center in the league and with tim duncan one of the absolute best post players. his steady increase in productivity every single season is basically the definition of results and progress. surely he's going to improve but he was an mvp candidate before he got hurt, let's not forget.
Go Yao! I want a 07-08 championship banner in the rafters at the Toyota Centre. Duncan has enough rings, time to shake him off the top of the pantheon.
Good call ipaman! now if we could only find an owner to pay them off... anyone know if Mark Cuban has some extra dough?
re Van Gundy, Adelman, Thibodeu, Hakeem, etc: I swear to God, sports is worse than politics, with the old administration claiming credit for anything good that happened, while the new administration sings Happy Days Are Here Again.
It's not even a matter of where credit goes for anything good, it's a matter of people arguing nothing good happened. Credit is alway a bit fuzzy, whether something good happened or not is more objective. When Yao made a modest gain rather than a quantum leap in 04/05, some people argued Van Gundy and Thibodeau were doing this all wrong, they should turn him into Brad Miller instead. Then when Yao made his breakthrough in 05/06 and continued in 06/07, the standard line from these people is "Yao improved because he has awesome work ethic and JVG deserves no credit." Now, when a still recovering Yao struggled in the playoffs, the line reverted back to "JVG and Thibodeau were wrong all along, Yao is not duhminant, etc." Forget who gets credit, these guys can't even stay consistent on whether Yao in fact improved or not. And then when somebody writes a report that different coaches are working with Yao, supposely in a different fashion than before (factual comparisons between these sessions and the sessions with Thibodeau were never made, people inferred from quotes about Yao looking to improve that he never ever worked on these new things before), the predictable reaction from this crowd is "OMG, see what Yao hasn't been working on? That's why he's not duhminant." These people don't even wait until Yao shows actual improvment in games... the very facts that he's still looking to improve proves the previous method wrong to them.
I love yao's inner fire. he wants to win and has the work ethic to go with it. only thing i disliked or didnt agree was with dawson calling yao a finess player. i think that is a major misconception. yao night in night out gets hammerd in the low post with teams throwing triple teams at him. on offense most of he's post usually come from him establishing post position. hardly a finess player.
It seems to be a response to the "Stoudemire a a 'bask-a-holic’" all over the national news last couple days...
He used to be a finess player, having great jumpshots, soft touches, great passing and great ranches playing in CBA, and his rookie season. But he had been transformed under JVG to be a low post centre.
YUP....Yao Ming had reiterated times and again his gratitude and indebtedness to Jeff Van Gundy and his coaching staff including Tom Thibodeau for the time, effort and work they spent in transforming him to what he is now for the past 4 years. And it is too early to tell whose coaching is going to be better for Yao Ming; the only thing that remains constant is the work ethics and professionalism of Big Yao, ever in search for excellence, trying to become better and better year after year. Despite the discomfort and lingering pain on his right shoulder, he has started his work-out 4 months in advance of the new season. That's what really impressed and moved me. Not many NBA superstars are willing to do that consistently.
wow nice article i am very shocked and a bit upset that dawson had not worked with yao prior to this...if that was really jvg's doing than i a bit more upset. i was not a huge jvg defender but i thought he was (and still is) a great coach but hindering the development of your franchise player when there are assets at hand is unacceptable. good to see yao is not satisfied at all, i guess the shoulder stories werent as serious as first reported. nice to see cd and dream working with him hopefully tracy takes some pointers and is hard at work too. and rafer is taking at least 2000 jumpers a day.
I love CD. Some people might have issues with his GM decisions. But he is a great coach. And he doesn't take credits. BTW, I also appreciate what JVG and Thib did for Yao. It's interesting that Yao never mentioned about Ewing. What the heck has Ewing done other than collecting pay checks?
this is a joke...thibodeau did a great job and now they publicize every work out. didnt dream have 8 turnover games. yao averaged more than hakeem with different easier rules to score against. everyone now wants to jump in and take credit for yao's improvement...its a joke. what about hakeem's turnovers vs. seattle in those years. man cd quit trying to bogart all the credit.
