My only question is, with T-Mac and Ron out currently, why has he only averaged 13 shots per game this season, when he's shooting 53% from the floor, 86% from the ft line, and can (whenever the refs actually do call them) draw fouls and take the other teams center out of the game?
My philosophy is the size/atheleticism is the ceiling and skill is the floor. That's just me, no copyrighted formula. Yao peaked last year, but the key is how long can he stay at this level? Some guys with limited atheletic ability cand stay at a high level for a long time because their skill level is so high. A guy like Tim Duncan and Larry Bird come to mind. A guy like Yao can improve, but its not going to raise his ceiling a lot. He can get stronger, he can improve his iq,he can get his mid range J better, and he can improve his stamina. None of the 3 will jump him to franchise level, but it will make him a lot more effective in different areas of the game. The only guys on the rox that really has upside is landry,wafer, and brooks. Everyone else is maxxed out or declining.
I dont think Yao has peaked just yet, but like it has been stated his peak isn't far off from where he is now. What I really want to know is does he have that other level superstars take themselves to in the playoffs. Yes even the infamous McGrady has that and we all know it. It's nice to dominate the regular season but I'm more interested in seeing Yao dominate in the playoffs. I don't want Yao saying "you can't f*****g stop me", I want him saying "NOBODY can f*****g stop me".
Yao is not completely recovered from the surgery yet. It will take a year to completely recover according to his doctor.
it didn't bother him the entire month of december. it's yao's game. some players just peak and there's nothing you can do about it. yao is not like an amare where he can expand his game to the outside (adelman tried and that failed). yao right now has a great post game (he just needs to get deep position more consistently). and more importantly, continue to do what he did v. the lakers (dominate the boards and be an intimidator defensively)
That's been my feeling all along. I've concluded that neither Yao nor McGrady will be at their best this season and I've lowered my expectations of what the Rockets can accomplish. Going forward with Yao, it depends on his mobility. Because both Yao's vertical and horizontal movement is so limited, I don't think he's going to age particularly well. When he gets even slower than what he is, it will be tough for him to be effective.
During that stretch in December before Tim F-ing Thomas broke his knee, Yao Ming was absolutely dominate every single night. One of the forerunners for MVP at the time, putting up insane numbers and leading us to wins. But maybe, for sake of the playoffs, Yao's better off not playing that way until it really matters. We don't want our stars to burn out before the big show.
His age is fine. I would be surprised if that piece fact was not intended to cover some other sh&t if you all know what I am talking about.
I think Yao has been at his peak for a couple of years now, probable will be for one or two more years. However, his stats will be down. This is not because he is over the hill, but rather the opponents figured him out more and more. It's easier to scout & prepare to defend/attack a slow interior player like Yao than a perimeter player. Also keep in mind that Yao has been in the formal training since his teenage days, his body, especially the knees, the ankles, and the feet will catch up to him due to those weight training much earlier than your average NBA players.
I thought the Chinese inflate the age of their athletes on the official documents. It's the latin american countries that take years off their players birth certificates (i.e. M. tejada).
Well, I think Yao as a scorer did indeed peek in 06/07. He was a better finisher in 06/07 than now and he had/used more moves back then. However, I do see improvements in other areas of Yao's game. He is now a better passer and argurably a better defender than he was a couple of years ago.
I don't think I've ever seen a player fail on so many dunk attempts as Yao has so far this season....the sad part about it is that it seems to ruin his game for the night if he fails on one. He just seems OFF...or out of it. He used to seem to have a lot of confidence, more than he does now....and quit the flopping....you are 7'6"! He seems like fatigue hits him worse now than before, imo. Which might contribute to his lower number of shots. He just looks completely out of sinc some nights. The other night was one of those night. He had a couple of sweet moves that reminded me of his play back in 07. A few POSITIVES, now compared to then are that Yao doesn't seem to be as turnover prone, and does a better job of keeping his man behind him while waiting for the interior pass. He seems to be more tough fighting for his position. Also he doesn't leave the ball down low to get stripped by smaller guards as often as he used to.
have you seen yao at the end of the 05-06 season? if he played like that v. the jazz in 05-06, there'd be no question we would have gone far. yao was a BEAST during that stretch (27, 12, 55% shooting ON THE REGULAR) that year. he was demanding the ball, wanting to shoot the ball... sure that was without tracy. even without tracy this year, i haven't seen that at all. hopefully yao can pull that "beast" out in the playoffs.
Complicated stuff there Leeb. My explanation is simple. I think with Yao it's all mental. He can be a dominant force in the NBA but he lacks what most foreign players lack, toughness. I don't think it's something Yao can't overcome since he's been in the league 6-7 years now and he's still playing as soft as ever. Hence why he has peak and will not get any better.
His lack of quickness makes it hard to throw a lob pass for him and thus gets taken out of the game when others front him. What we need to do is come up with more creative way for Yao to get the ball i.e. pick and roll, have him the opposite side of the court of the ball to open up the lane for Brooks drive and dish or offensive put back.
