I'm not a Yao hater I'm simply stating the truth. I'm a Rockets fan and thus I love all the players but I'm not a blind Yao fan boy who can't see past his shortcomings. Please point out one false accusation I made in my original post. When Yao puts up 30/12 I simply stated that it can be considered a dominant game stat wise. However, it's not the type of dominant game that Jordan, Olajuwon, Shaq, Duncan, Kobe, James etc have. I simply bring up those guys to compare with because some of you guys put Yao on the same pedestal as those guys when Yao simply is not that good. What I mean by that is he never makes his "STAMP" on the game. What I mean by that is he never makes that clutch play or string of plays (like the superstars I mentioned) which turn the game around. Simply put Yao could score 30, grab 12 and lead us to victory and it would seem like he had 16 and 8. To go further.... I hate to compare him to Dream but I can't help it since Hakeem's a former Rocket center and I'm just using Hakeem as an example. You KNOW when the game was tight with 2 mins left you could depend on Hakeem and not have to worry because he'd make a series of clutch baskets and defensive stops down the stretch to lead us to victory. When you try to depend on Yao late in the game... I don't know about you but I get this nervous anxiety attack that he's going to screw up one way or another by missing an easy bucket from 3 feet away, perhaps a key missed FT or two down the stretch, a fumble on a good entry pass attempt etc. This has happened on MORE than one occasion.
LOL this was funny...Allows the rest of the guys to get open shots which is true but what is the point of having open shots to brick most of them.. So whats the excuse for people on hear knocking McGrady??? Trade McGrady this trade McGrady that. What do you have to say about that?? The ignorance of people that say start Wafer over T-Mac lmfao. they don't know ish
I'm no Yao fanboy, and I know clearly that he isn't any of the players that you mentioned. If you're going to supplant the meaning of the phrase "stamp on a game" with "performance in the clutch," then I guess you're right in that Yao isn't one of the most clutch players in the league, and he certainly isn't Jordan or Kobe. But, I also don't think he's a choker in the clutch. A few games come to mind where Yao has lead us to victory in the closing minutes. Anyways, my point was that Yao's impact on a game goes beyond his numbers, because of the attention that he draws. Even without the ball, the opposing teams usually shift more players towards his side in anticipation of a double or triple team. This is the reason why our offense has looked lost this year when he is out.
Knocking McGrady for what, exactly? Some criticisms are valid, and others aren't. My point with Yao was that you can criticize him for many things, but if you're a bumbling fool if you're going to knock him even when he has a dominant game.
I like watching Yao because he never gave up. When he was drafted #1 everyone questioned him and the organization. As soon as he played in his first couple games and performed poorly he was labled a bust. He was laughed at by nba commentators like charles barkley (who he made kiss a hairy donkeys ass). He kept working on his game and 7 years later I still like watching him play. Defensively I think he is the best man to man defender at the center position. I think the reason that he seems like a weak defender to a lot of folks on this board is because he has to go out and guard the pick n roll so often.
That's because those defenses are effective against Yao. He turned the ball over 5 times because of it against the Sixers. When they try to do that to Shaq, it doesn't work. How many times do you see Shaq spin off fronted defenses and dunk it on someones grill?
Maybe your issue is that you cant help but compare Yao to those hall of fame players. Yao is what he is the best 7-6 player to play the game...
How can McGrady get criticized when he was injured. The man came off offseason surgery. His 1st surgery in his career. Did Battier get criticized no. Did Artest no. Yao misses 2 games or 3, Battier and Artest miss games and its come back when healthy its ok. McGrady its a different story lazy this blah blah blah it never ends. The man gets criticized for every little thing.
He is both a joy and an aggravation. He is good, but could be so much better if he was simply meaner. DD
He can be better if he doesn't get pushed around. Pushed out of position either. He needs to stop taking those tough shots. Deep position and bam. Easy points for him
I like watch Yao's game. Although sometime I will be crasy when he loss the ball, I will be happy when he overwhelm opponent. 7'6 has both advantage and disadvantage.
I love to watch Yao play. We have a big man tradition in Houston that Yao is continuing. What drives me crazy is seeing some of the other players hit 20% of their shots and continue shooting, regardless of how cold they are. Yao is fine. Sure, he could be quicker, jump higher, stop holding the ball around his waist, be more aggressive, and call for the damned ball like he owns it, but otherwise, he's groovy.
I Love watching Yao play, for somebody that tall to be as skilled as he is, is awesome to watch. I don't think anybody ever thought he'd be where he is today. I wish he spotted up more and shoot, and take his game out to the 3 pt line. The man is an automatic at the FT line. I just hate it when people say trade yao, he is a top center in the NBA, we pick up some scrub like Dampier as our center and people would start to realize how much Yao brings to this team. Our offense don't flow when Yao is out. I still think his best yrs are ahead of him. Does anyone remember the Cato yrs? I'll take watching Yao anyday over the Cato yrs.
Yao might not be the most athletic player in the world, or the most liked in the media. But, I love watching his game. He's like a wily QB (Tom Brady w/o Randy Moss, Manning #1, or Joe Montana), a player who isn't necessarily going to beat you with their athleticism, flashy, and physical prowess. It's not to say he can't win with power, because he does sometime. But, usually, he just beats his opponents with pure skills, versatile, and attacks the defense, proficiently. Compared to most players, I actually think he is pretty good at reading defenses and is unselfish enough to give up the ball to lesser players, unlike alot of other superstar talents. He's so much like QB., but doesn't get ball as much. Like other posters have mentioned, he is much more exciting when he is dominating, but at the same time he can have the quietest 30+ point and 15+ reb games...which also fantastic. If you can get numbers, like that without people noticing that is good feat. Also, he may not have the respect of certain writers and analysts, which sometimes make a running joke out of him (like JE Skeets, a hack blogger with Yahoo). But, Yao has the respect of almost every coach and team in the league, since he is usually priority #1 to stop in every single game vs. Houston, whether it is the Celtics, Lakers, Spurs, or Bobcats. Most teams know they can't let Yao get comfortable in the paint or he'll easily get 25 to 30.
I have to agree with the peeps that said he can be really frustrating to watch. And some times makes me feel embarrassed for him.
Yes, I'll even up you one and say he's the greatest 7-6 player to play the game EVER. Doesn't mean much when your competition is Bradley, Bol, Muresan and some other brick in the wall named Chuck Nevitt.
