i think i would have to agree. he would be somewhere in like the 40th percentile of #1 picks. he certainly is not in the hall of fame level. out of the past 10 drafts from 2007-1998 i think the only sure fire HOF is lebron. after that it is pretty clear dwight howard is on a quicker trajectory to greatness than yao. it is pretty amazing that the guy averaged a double double straight out of high school and has continued to improve year over year. further, he is not the defensive liability yao can be under different match ups. but i would basically group yao with brand and howard out of the last 10 drafts. yao has significant stamina and agility limitations which prevents him from taking it to the next level. combine that with the fact that he simply cannot put the ball on the floor and face someone up because of the agility issues then you have another problem that limits how the team can utilize his abilities. further, the team just does not win when he is missing t-mac, but the team does win when t-mac is missing yao. again...that is another major problem with yao and any sort of HOF potential argument. i don't think those are things that can be overcome. but he works extremely hard so you never know. 2007 NBA Greg Oden 2006 NBA Andrea Bargnani 2005 NBA Andrew Bogut 2004 NBA Dwight Howard 2003 NBA LeBron James 2002 NBA Yao Ming 2001 NBA Kwame Brown 2000 NBA Kenyon Martin 1999 NBA Elton Brand 1998 NBA Michael Olowokandi 1997 NBA Tim Duncan 1996 NBA Allen Iverson 1995 NBA Joe Smith 1994 NBA Glenn Robinson 1993 NBA Chris Webber 1992 NBA Shaquille O'Neal 1991 NBA Larry Johnson 1990 NBA Derrick Coleman 1989 NBA Pervis Ellison 1988 NBA Danny Manning 1987 NBA David Robinson 1986 NBA Brad Daugherty 1985 NBA Patrick Ewing 1984 NBA Hakeem Olajuwon
Yao hasn't peaked. Watch any of our games so far, many of the shots he misses are shots he easily makes when he's in a groove. His average could very well be 5-10pts higher. Besides, IT DOESNT MATTER. Reputation is built in the playoffs. If Yao goes 30/10, we will make noise in the west.......
yao is shooting 50.6% and his career average is 52.2%. 1.6% does not equate to 2.5 to 5 more made field goals a game. with your numbers yao would be shooting like 70+% from the field.
yao has not peaked... in the sense that he's improving as a player. OP is right that yao has serious physical limitations to his game. He is abnormally (for the NBA... meaning average IRL) slow, has rock hands, no explosiveness. Those who think "improving" means dunking more around the basket or playing like shaq are going to be disappointed... if that's your definition of improving then, "NO YAO WILL NEVER IMPROVE, HE HAS HIT HIS PEAK." But every year we see yao improving. His defense this year is actually better than last year... and his ability to eat up the lane and change shots is significant and unmatched in the NBA. So no skillwise Yao has not peaked. His defensive decision making will improve and he has significant room to grow in terms of creating his own shots down on the block, much more of a mid-ranged game to develop, and obviously his passing, and TOs can still vastly improve as he gains experience. does that mean his PGA% is going to improve to 90% or he's going to take 10 more shots a game? obviously no Yao improving those areas doesn't necessarily translate to averaging 5 more ppg a season like past seasons... how much room do you think there is for both Tmac and Yao, 2 guys on the same team to to average MORE than 25ppg each? Morey is right, statistically you dont expect yao to ever average more than 25ppg because by the numbers that means only 1 of 2 things: 1)tmac is hurt 2)tmac is gone. it's not like there's infinite room on the stat sheet to reflect infinite improvement... you cant have tmac average 30 and yao average 35 and the team win 200 to 95 no matter how much yao improves his game
Yao has not peaked, he is 90% in my estimation. So he will continue to improve a bit and then hit his peak late this season and hold it for 6-7 yrs. He will then start a Tim Duncan-like decline. But thats ok as Shaq has shown that you can still ball at 35 and TD can still win with key components around him. I want Yao to Dunk ALL of those girly put-back layups. The one he missed in LA that rimmed out was frustrating. I can't stand Fred Carter, he said that Yao puts up "soft" double-doubles, whatever the hell that means I guess he was commenting on Yao being more of a finesse player and can't be considered dominant with a skyhook and layups. He said that even when he dunks, that he "dunks it too nice". As I farkin recall, when Yao throws down mean with growl toward the defender he gets T-up . I am a doofus
Its funny watching todays game Cleav-Celts, Rajon Rondo literally grab and completely rip the ball away from Gooden had after a Rebound and thats play nobody will remember it after 2 seg, why because he just another black PF in the league that get basketball rip from his had by a smaller player. Now if is a 7-6 Chinese guy, then 3 thread will be open and 5 videos post in youtube. Today Shaq get block and I mean completely denied by Okafor and actually fall to the floor on his big ass and you will see the little reaction that ppl will give to that play. Yao get the same block and that will be the block of the Year, 50 time highlights reels in ESPN, 10 youtube video, tons of threads open in every single basketball forum, etc. Cmon everything in this guy is overblown, Shaq and DH get strip from the ball as much as Yao, YAO and DH get 7% of his shoot blocked and Shaq 6% and Duncan 8%, but they are just regulars black guys, not a 7-6 never seen before chinese NBA player that is gentle and don't look like a typical dominating NBA center.
I swear this influx over HS and young college players over the past several years has completely ****ed up the typical NBA fan's idea of a player's career cycle... ... Players do NOT hit their peak at 27. Not in any way. Not only do they continue to improve with experience, but men don't even hit their overall physical peak until the age of 30. Think back to the NBA era up to the mid 90s or so... think how many star players didn't even get any of their major accomplishments until their late 20s or early 30s. Hakeem, Jordan, Payton, Malone, Stockton, Barkley... the list goes on. I think a player's best years are typically in the range of 28-32.
everybody gets blocked, stripped... it's part of the game. but it's how you react to it. shaq got blocked by okafor, then what did he do? he does an alley oop and then taunts the crap out of the guy who was defending him resulting in a T. that's the difference. shaq gets embarrassed and mad and does something about it. yao gets blocked and then goes about his business like nothing embarrassing happened. but he's a nice guy, but in this american culture, they don't want u to be nice after someone punked you. the asian and american culture is completely different. if shaq was doing this taunting in asia, they call him disrespectful. can't blame yao or shaq about handling their business in their own way. but i love for yao to do what shaq just did tonight. got blocked, wants to make a play right after and then retaliates.
Accomplishments and individual abilities are different, though. Hakeem peaked in his 30s on the offensive end. No question about that. But his monster defensive years and rebounding years occurred in his late 20s. Jordan actually had his best statistical years before the age of 28. Payton expanded his offensive skills into his 30s, but as a defensive player his peak was probably the 95-96 season. Malone certainly peaked late. Stockton was remarkably consistent into his late 30s, but statistically his best years occurred in his late 20s (highest PER season was at age 27). Barkley's best statistical years also came in the 80s -- his teams just stunk so he didn't garner the same "accomplishments" back then.
Yao's softness won't be an issue if he can score 8-10 consecutive points in the 4th quarter and makes key baskets down the stretch in close games and the team wins. Receiving passes for uncontested dunks doesn't count because any big men can dunk with nobody guarding the basket. If we took out the dunks and layoffs from Yao's points in the 4th quarter, he would average less than 5 points for the quarter. That's not a superstar! He's not getting the job done this season. Period.
Statistically, it's debatable whether Jordan had better years a little earlier on, but he also had much more help later on. He didn't win a championship before he was 28. You can argue that he had more help at that time, and that's why he won, and then I will tell you that that's also why some of his numbers dropped (barely). As for the rest of those guys, that all looks pretty damn subjective, and I don't know where you're coming from, so I'll just say I disagree. Completely. I mean it's really not even something that should be up for debate. It is a scientific fact that men hit their overall physical peak around the age of 30. It's not an opinion. It's biology. Statistically, some players may not be as out of this world at that age because maybe they've learned more effective ways to win games (see: Tim Duncan... well, along with several of the guys I've already mentioned). For that reason, team accomplishments often really SHOULD be as important (or moreso) than "individual" play. For another example, I would argue that Tracy McGrady in all but one of his years with the Rockets is playing better than he ever did with the Magic. Then there's guys like Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant, who just seem to get better with age (not that Kobe is old, but still). ... And one more thing - you yourself mentioned that some of those guys hit some peaks in their "late 20s". That makes me think you misinterpreted what I said. I didn't say all those guys hit their peak exactly at the age of 30 or later... I even said outright that I think, generally, a star NBA player's best years happen somewhere around the ages 28-32.
Have you seen any improvement from Yao this year? We not only haven't seen any improvement from him, but also he's going back to Mr. Softie. Worse, he completely disappears in the 4th quarter this year. You can only see when he gets uncontested dunks/layoffs or turns the ball over. Imagine if he continues to play like this for another 3 years, would you say last season was his best?
You are so predicted. I could practically guess what you are going to say when I saw your screen name. I am actually surprised that you joined the party so late. I knew you would feel like a kid in a candy store when you saw this thread. A hater like you would have an orgasm just by reading this thread. I throw up every time when I see the 'we' or 'us' in your posts. What a hypocrite you are.
Posters are completely clueless and patience-less. Early in the season, yao actually score more points and clutch shots in the 4th quarter than the first 3 quarters, the rockets are 6-1 and yao won POW. There even a thread about Yao's 4th qtr improving. Now that Yao's struggling for few games, there was thread that Yao was scared. Now even questioning whether Yao has peaked. Most players peaked at age 27-30, but for yao's case, especially this year, with new system and new coach who obviously want yao to pass more. Yao's number definitely suffers!
