you base this fact on? from what I've read, from the owner to the trainer, to his current coach, previous coach, NBA experts, NBA all stars, NBA legends, they all said he's the hardest working guy in the world. With all that said, I just dont see how he CHOOSE NOT TO with anything he do in life.
I think what he meant to say was that he 'chooses' not to be as aggressive at times when rebounding. Sure he worked hard to get to the ball, he's always around the ball. But he sometimes gets the ball knocked away from him, or bullied over, or undercut by smaller players. He'll simply clap his hands in frustration, yell '***', cause he knows if he was more stubborn and aggressive in that situation, he would have had the ball. Guess what? next trip down, he will be more aggressive, and secure the rebound. But guess what? a few trips later, he'll lose it again. Then get it again. Its a cycle with him. Thus, he 'chooses' when to be aggressive.
I pretty much agree with you on Yao's rebounding issue. Sometimes I am really pissed off when the ball was knocked away from his hands. I don't know whether he can eventually learn to use his elbows or not. Hopefully yes, but probably not in reality.
he got short arms....a fatal flaw for a rebounder... that's why you always see him trying to reach for the ball and the ball just fly by the farest he could reach....
There's a common misconception that yao has "short" arms. He has short arms for his height (whereas most players have a much longer wingspan than they are tall), but his wingspan is still 7'4.75, according to his predraft measurements. There are only a handful of players in the league with a longer wingspan than that. He's much more limited by his lack of speed and athleticism.
so according to you, yao has serious limitations, as well as attitude and lack of heart problems. and yet he's a cash cow. why would fan pay to watch him since he's such a poor "role player" and let les make money? the endorsing companies are just out of their minds, too. it's just you who are the only smartest fan of all.
^^ one more thing. if a 20/10 player is a mere "role player", then there ain't too many stars left in this league, are there?
Yao gets good numbers and all but I've never seen an all star get neutralized by mediocre players as often as Yao ever.
because of 2 reasons: 1. he's from their country 2. they've never seen anyone so freakishly huge It's r****ds like the MD in training guy who cause Yao to be a victim of extremely high expectations.. He's not a superstar, he's not someone you'd build your team around, I freaking love him, I adore his work ethic, his positive attitude, heck, atleast he plays hard and gives it his all, unlike the T-RAT.. but you can't just go out and say that he's a franchise player worth of building your team around.. he's an excellent piece, but not a CENTRAL one.. and when I say "heart problem, and wrong attitude", I'm talking about his inability to get back at people when the punk him, I'm talking about him getting his shot blocked by a 5'7 guy and ridiculed all around the league, I'm talking about STromile Swift, Randolph, and various other no-namers teabagging him.. hey, I loved how he owned the warriors afterward and supposedly "punished" Randolph, but that's just what Bill WOrrell said, Randolph wasn't even his man, and he shouldn't even worry about a no-namer like that.. 6 rebounds in a game? freaking Brooks got 10 the other day, BROOKS!, who is almost 2 feet shorter than "Big Yao". That's why I don't hold him to high standards, because it's unfair to him and unfair to my health..
i remember during a game where Yao got the rebound and got it swatted away (like usual), then after the play stopped Artest came over and told him to hold his elbows out when he rebounds.
Why? Check, bodoglife.com The Rockets are now getting 50-1 to win it all and 25-1 to win the Western Conference. Last week, they were listed at 15-1 to win the Championship. I don't get it.
Slow down before you hurt yourself. r****ds assume, and guess what you did? I don't think Yao is a superstar in the same sense that Lebron James and Dwyane Wade is a superstar, but then again, there are only a handful of "superstars" in the league. I also don't hold Yao to unachievable expectations. However, I do expect him to do the things that he is capable of doing, and that's rebound, defend, and take what the defense gives him. If the defense decides to front him, it's the team's duty to use that to their advantage.
I agree everything you said except that part. Yao will never be a great rebounder. He's just too slow. His upper body strength is so weak and it loses a few rebounds a game for him. One thing he could improve is to learn to use elbows. Just like the way Deke does it.
Rebounding is about anticipation,effort, andd angles. The effort to put ur ass on people, the anticipation of the ball carom, and the angle to get it. Yao is always under the basket looking for a boxout. That's a feel thing so you keep your eyes on the flight of the ball. Feel, bump, release. That's why u see Oakley, Cage and guys like that be very good rebounders. None were atheletic or long.
yao got more $$$ from his endorsement deals than les paid him last year. do you think that's only because he's from china? yi is also a chinese player, eh? and he's getting to the allstar starter line fast, eh? why doesn't he get so many endorsement deals? these companies must be dumb dumb dumb. and since you don't hold yao to high standards, what do you have to be so upset about him?
that is true. but how much is it because of the defender himself or the defense as a whole? all 5 defenders key in on yao when he touches the ball. yao's not superman you know, triple teams will stop him.
Well it's easy to key in on Yao because he's slow. He usually doesn't get good deep low post position and ends up in mid to high post. Defenders double him but they are able to rotate back to guard their man most of the time. They are able to force Yao into turnovers or cause him to commit an offensive foul. If you watch Shaq back in the days or any good low post player, they will get doubled as much as Yao. The thing is Shaq and other greats, have fast moves towards the basket before the double team is able to arrive. Even when Shaq gets doubled, he's still able to score or draw a foul anyways. Like the fronting defenses, Yao just needs to learn how to attack the double team more efficiently. Being taken out of the game so easily is not really a good excuse.
