Major concern...Australian press included.

ScreamingRocket is trying to give us a warning sign. Let's be cool.

I believe Yao will do fine in his rookie year. Relax. Let's trust Rudy's judgement and coaching abilities.

Also, I want to point out that there is NO guard in China that knows how to dribbling pass his international opponent one on one. In CBA, every team signed an international player to run PG or SG. No wonder Yao gets little help.

 

SRJ,

You can't argue with winning. As long as this team stays healthy, they're playoff material. There's only so much criticism, none of which would come from Houston imo, that can be levied against a player in that situation and I doubt Yao would be aware of it anyways. Hell, he would probably invite the criticism from everything we've heard about him, so I wouldn't worry about something of that nature shaking his determination.

Don't underestimate how far the coaching staff/players would go to deflect criticism away from him either, and from a strictly basketball standpoint, Francis made Cato look like an offensively capable NBA center which is an accomplishment in itself. Yao's multitudes better skill-wise and Francis has proven he can elevate the play of the centers on the team, so I don't see why it should be any different with Yao. His presence shortens the learning curve immensely.

The only thing I'm 'afraid' of is a barrage of Fran metaphors once the season starts. If he can come up with such gems as "They had more cowbells than you'd find in the wardrobe chests of an army of rodeo clowns." to describe the crowd at Arco in the playoffs, I cringe in fear at what he might have in store for us when this team shows how good I think it's capable of being

 

Screaming Rocket, don't worry too much about Yao. He is a very intelligent person. I believe for someone as talented as Yao, a good brain will make the difference of day or night. If Yao will, he could be an impact player soon. Actually Yao is now taking on a low profile after media hyped too much on his call to Shaq.

BTW, I don't think the result of this tournament amounts to anything. The World Tournament in U.S. is what Chinese NT is preparing for. The players now are only exercising their call plays. If they win every game, I will become very worried because that means the coach is not giving every player adequate time to get ready for the final duel.

Let's put a more accurate prediction on Yao when Chinese NT is playing in US. Then the whole team will be more in shape.

 

in our very first game with toronto was dream absolutely dominated by Zan Tabak, who was bench warmer in houston.

 

Guys, I think we have to take things easy, and realise that these things we see in Ming's do not necessarily point to how he will play when he gets to the NBA.
First, people may be surprised to hear me say that I am very relieved by what I've heard about Ming's last game.
- Yes, he scored only nine points, but on 100% shooting - 4/4, 1/1 from the line. In the NBA, he would have been getting more balls and would have had more shots. This idea of the team team being more important than the individual is something foreign to the NBA, so I think those worried by Ming's performance are basing it only on the number of points scored. And concerning his ten rebounds, if he could average that in his first NBA year, I'd dance for joy.
- As somebody pointed out, this idea of the NBA being so superior that a player coming from outside the NBA would automatically average less points or be less brilliant than before is bull. See Gasol, who averaged far more than he used to in Spain. Dirk Nowitzki was a second division player in Germany, and now he's one of the best players in the NBA - after only a couple of years playing!
So, please let us wait to see how Ming will perform when he gets here. As a frontline pro-Minger, I am confident he'll do very well.

 

3 years of games. You mean when Ming was 18-21.

Here's the question:

1. Aren't most of the competition during this time at least 3-4 years older than him.

2. If they are, are they the equivalent of a division 1 basketball player?

3. Isn't China a pretty bad team overall. In other words, aren't most teams double teaming him?

I'm not doubting that you have seen his competition. What I am saying is if Chris Antsy is outside shooting 3 pointers all day - that's not an indication of Ming's low post defense (Just like if Raef La Frentz was shooting them on Shaq). If they double team Ming all day and he has sorry ass teammates, you can't do anything about that either.

The fact Ming was 4-4 means that his guards could never get him the ball or he was constantly doubled. If he was 4-12, then I'd be worried.

 

That's my point, you're guaranteeing that Ming won't average 20 and 10 and be a success, but I GUARANTEE there are people who saw 95% of Sam Cassell game's and thought he wouldn't amount to anything. There are people who saw 95% of Sam Bowie's games and thought he WOULD be a success. There are small, relatively unknown programs that have put the clamps on future stars in the NBA. Robert Traylor was a star in college, didn't amount to much in the NBA so far. On the flip side of things, there are players who were predicted to flop who became big stars. I mean there are people on this board who has seen as much college basketball as you've seen of international basketball and there are STILL players who surprise us when they get to the NBA, no matter how many we have seen them. How many times has a guy who doesn't deserve to breathe in the NBA got drafted in the first round, while guys like Van Exel, Patterson, Mobley and others get drafted in the 2nd round? That's why I think it's jumping the gun to say to say you're being realistic and that Ming won't be a success.

 

I highly doubt Ming will get many double and triple teaming in his first season unless he tears it up. We do have Steve and Cuttino on the team and they will not b left alone along with Eddie, Kenny and Nachbar. How can u trap off of them?

 

Someone who watched the whole game said in another thread that ming was tripled teamed most of the evening and he was trying to guard 2-3 guys.

 

Worry not! Yao will be around with talented rocks, so relax and wait til the season begins!!

 

4-4 for 9 points?

what are you guys worrying about? he is shooting at 100%!

The Chinese national team has no team work, no leadership, no coaching. That's why no one can sustain playing at high level in that kind of team.

 

What? He was 4-4 from the field? Damn, and I was actually starting to get worried reading this thread (not really). So what? He was obviously double or triple-teamed and was forced to pass the ball a lot. When he was able to shoot he made it.

As far as Yao's defense, you can't really make an assessment unless you saw the game. Did you see it? Did those two guys dominate Ming inside by backing him in to the basket? Or were they just hitting their outside shots? Did they score all their points against Ming, or did they score most of them when he was out of the game? If they are as bad as you say they are, then I'm sure the one guy hitting five three-pointers must have just been a freak occurence.

You are calling this a "major concern" and have come to the conclusion that "we are not gettting a guy who is going to dominate the NBA" based on the <b>stats</b> of a game? That's why some are calling you a troll eventhough you're not. Trolls tend to be very sure of themselves and their posts seem kind of arrogant and unfounded. Basically what you said is, "Ming is not going to be dominant, please be aware of that." Gee, thanks for making us all "aware."

I don't like rating players solely by the success their teams have at a single level of competition. I like to assess them based on their skill level, physical attributes, and athleticism. We already know Yao has skills and Yao has height. So, what does it matter that the Australian team can focus all their defensive pressure on him and hold him to only taking four shots because the rest of the Chinese team is not very great? When you get into predicting how a player is going to fare against a team or a league based on the way he played against another team or in another league, you're getting into a really gray area. Does he have the skills and the height to eventually be a great NBA player? Yes and YES. Will he be for sure? No, not for sure. Is any draft pick going to be a dominant NBA player for sure? No. The fact that you said with so much certainty that he <b>will not</b> be dominant is what's causing people to detect a hint of troll.

 

Where's the new Clutch headline?

"Yao scores 9pts and gets schooled by NBA scrubass Aussie Chris Anstey"

Let's try and be objective here. If you report the good you should report the bad.

 

You are not a Rockets fan.

This guy has not played 1 game and youre already critical.

It's more important that the Ming is a bust than the Rockets are succesful.

I don't know what your biases or prejudices are but why don;t you save them for the Compaq Center where you can boo him in person.