THE DUDE is Freakin 7 Foot FIVE!!! IF this Cat Bulks Up its to No USE! Hes not going to push anyone around expect Push them in the Fore HEAD and kill them!! He's too tall to utilize upper body strength, Only in his legs does he need the strengh.. Which to me he already has... Hell is the leg muscles the strongest muscles on the human body?
if he doesn't bulk up, expect shaq to throw his elbows through mings freaking ribs...of course he needs to bulk up...he's not that much taller than shaq.... bulk up or get out! ming needs all the muscles and strength he can get in his upper body
Everybody. From legit analyst to crack pot reporters, from GM's to players, from BBS members like Achebe to Zac D, and from me to Ming have all said that Ming needs to bulk up. Look at the pictures of him standing next to Rudy T. Rudy is like 6-8, maybe a little shorter now, and he is eye level with his neck, so it's not like he is going to tower over other centers. Why wouldn't you want a bulked up Ming though? If he becomes stronger, that just makes him an even better player. If Ming can add some 15 to 20 pounds of muscle, that would be awesome. He could easily bang with Shaq. He's got a little bird chest right now, but if he could put some muscle there, and bulk up his arms a bit, he'd be a juggernaut. Why would that be important? We can't JUST rely on a finnese game, if he could be equally good inside as he is outside, it makes him a more complete player.
If he doesnt bulk up or get stronger, it will be more difficult for him to adjust to the physical nature of the NBA.
In his upper body strength mostly. Do you ever wonder how shaq takes people up with the ball? If he gets stronger in the upper body ,armsand chest, he'll be able to power through people and get foul plus the shot. Then on some plays he'll be able to finish them even though he gets fouled and the ref doesn't call it. This is why Garnett and Wallace doesn't finish plays at the end of the games. They can't finish the foul plus the basket so they just drift and shoot jumpers instead of powering through people. His base is fine but his upper bosy power need refining.
i think Yao really just needs to add more strength, become more cut. while he may need to add a couple of pounds, there's no need for him to be a 7'5. All he needs to do is get more refined body. a 180 pound of solid muscle can push a 240lb fat guy around any time
I agree that Yao needs to add strength but not necessarily bulk. His flexibility and speed may be his strengths in the NBA. Kareem and Wilt never had tremendous bulk, they were more agile and wiry. Maybe Ming can neutralize Shaq with his speed and court intelligence.
Wilt didn't have Shaq-style bulk, but he had his share. When Kareem came into the league, Wilt gave him some of his used suits, but Kareem said that he just swam in them, due to Wilt's wide shoulders and back.
Not true. Strength is important, but you cannot discount mass. It also has a significant impact. Look at offensive lineman and defensive tackles in football. Those big guts don't make them stronger, but they do make them harder to move. Another way to look at it. The 180 pound guy may be stronger, but he also has a lot more to push than the 240 pound guy.
Every athlete needs to lift weights and improve their strength- that is a given. There will never be a rookie who enters the NBA that won't need improvement in this area. Please though, consider these stats- Shaq, after final year in college- 7'1", 303 lbs. Ming, before this draft- 7'5", 296 lbs. Where are the pundits and amateur prognosticators declaring that Hilario and Borchardt need to bulk up or they will get thrown around in the paint?? I have not read it said one time, even though Ming weighs almost 70 pounds more that Borchardt! Ming needs to lift weights to improve himself, but the rest of the league is going to need to lift weights just to handle Ming in a couple of years. When he is 340 pounds at 28 years old, and running by an older and fatter version of Shaq, you naysayers will turn into bandwagon hoppers.
Yao has added 60 pounds since the Australian Olympics almost 2 years ago, thus its not hard to see him put on more quickly over the next few years. -G'day-
Shank, Your comments are great, but regarding Chamberlain, you gotta remember that he was probably the strongest center/player to ever play the game (yes, stronger than Shaq). Wilt WON the Big 8 (I think the Big 6 then) shot put championship, and was ranked in the world then. He was considered the world's best volleyball player even when he was pushing 60 years old! Anecdote: I was at a conference a few years ago and the motivational speaker (a "Jack ?") listed on his bio that he played some pro ball and was an All-Big 6 center at K-State. I visited with him after his talk and he matched up against Wilt when Wilt was a Soph (Freshmen couldn't play varsity then) and he was a Senior. He said Wilt was so unGodly strong and athletic that, if he were playing today, his stats wouldn't be that much different than they were in the '60's. One of his best friends was a KU football player and said Wilt came into the weight room once (yes, they lifted weights even in the dark ages), put 400# on the bench press, and proceeded to do reps with it! The players, coaches, and trainers were shocked! Chamberlain was a regular weightlifter (long before basketball players ever were), a sprinter and runner of fame, and a champion shot putter. Although Wilt never would let anyone weigh or measure him, it was widely agreed that he was at least 7'1'', maybe 7'2", and weighed well over 325#. Remember, muscle mass is 50% heavier than blubber. Look at Tony Boselli and it's hard to believe that his playing weight is 340#, when he looks thin. Yeah, I'm a Jayhawker, but that said, many historians will rank Wilt with the greatest athelites of all time; and without question, the greatest big-man athelite of all time.
i agree that Yoa must get some more muscles, But i do not agree with the fact that he needs them because he needs more weight. weight isn't always the best option, a few negative point about weight. 1 if someone is heavier than he is also more injury prone. it is hard enough for a 7'5 player to stay healthy if he is verry heavy it wil only make him more vunreble for injurys. 2weight makes you slower. from what i'f heard one of Yoa's strenghts is that he is fast and agiale for someone his size, so why make him lose those skills. he needs to become stronger, but not heavier at all costs
Yao is freakin 300 lbs!!! I checked a few random centers that came to mind on NBA.com: Divac 260 Motumbo 265 Robinson 250 Mourning 261 Ewing: 255 Olajuwan: 255 Ostertag 280 Bradley 285 He's got freakin 40 lbs on just about everybody! Everyone says his strenght is in his legs right now so the high "center of gravity" argument doesn't seem to hold much water...esp against the above group of folks. Look, obviously he'll add weight when he's 25, 28, 30. But he isn't even 22 yet and he already outweights 90% of his competition...by a wide margin. Hell, Shaq outweighted Dream by 80 lbs too but Dream still handled Shaq just fine in the finals. Mind will probably never be a banger like Mourning but that won't mean he isn't effective. I'm not worried about his weight like everybody else in the world.
One thing also is that genetics don't really allow asian people to bulk up too huge. Asian people do not need to be huge to be strong. example: Bruce Lee. He was able to take a 100lb dumbell and lift it straight up to chin level in front of him with a straight arm. Yao is deceivingly strong but looking the part couldn't hurt
What on earth?!?!?! Genetics also don't allow people to be 7'5" but we have an exception here. And it has nothing to do with his ethnicity.
