It is a bad game for Ming. And I found he never gives himself any excuse, as many fans do. I like his attitude.
I think most would agree that he has a great attitude..his comments afterwards were nothing but needing to improve using his body versus hands...that is awesome....refs usually call bogus fouls when you use your hands to slap...Hakeem was in foul trouble too when he slapped at players and balls...he got efficient at it later in his career, but early on really committed "not so smart fouls." still, I will take his line considering guard play, refs and such..
Yao getting ripped for games like this makes it a lot easier for me to ignore the ramblings of these moronic sportswriters that it in for Yao. As valio! said, it's possible for a player to have a bad night and have a decent line, but it's not like he put those numbers up over 42 minutes. He put that line up in 17 minutes! Rashard Lewis averages those numbers and thinks he deserves a max contract. Although he may not deserve it, he still has a $60 million contract sitting on the table which most people think is fair. Considering that Yao was in foul trouble all night, I think that it speaks volumes that he didn't let frustration affect his offensive game. If this were Jordan, Burns would be amazed that he was able to put those numbers up in limited playing time. Some people just want this kid to fail. It's as simple as that. Please ignore them. And ZRB: where did you get that creepy picture from?
According to the FIBA stats, Ming has 16 pts, 4 r, 1 blk and no assist. The assist and block numbers are different from Burns' report.
Ming finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block, according to FIBA boxscore. China only had 4 assists for the whole game.
These articles don't bother me at all. I do think this game is indicative of what we're going to see this year. Hakeem had a heck of a hard time staying on the floor his rookie season and most big men had the same problem. With all this hype and scrutiny going on about Yao, people aren't focusing on what's really important: the first time he steps on the court he make the Rox a lot better team. He doesn't have to have a decent game to have impact. If he plays well at all the Rockets become scary. So let the media rave about Jay Williams and rant about Yao. BTW, don't you think it's funny Rudy's having a stroke watching the Chinese team and their coaching? As long as Yao doesn't get hurt, it doesn't mean anthing to us. I know Rudy's frustrated from lack of access to Yao, but we're a month away from training camp. Rudy cracks me up.
For a team that's used to having their "virtual no-show" (Cato) average pathetic numbers, I would say 16 pts in 17 mins isn't too bad.
If 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block by a 21 year old center is called "not showing up" then we are in AWESOME shape! Heck, with those numbers I wish Cato didn't show up either!
You forgot to add especially when he was in foul trouble the whole game, but I agree. I'll take those numbers in addition to the approximately 7 and 5 Cato would add during Ming's limited minutes.
The first thing I said to myself when I saw the stats was "He did THAT in 17 minutes?" Sorry Mr. Burns, but I am impressed anyway.
You know, the interesting thing is that while this article is distinctly glass-is-half-empty, Burns gave the Rox an "A" for the draft and called Ming a "potential franchise center". http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/2002/draft/ Of course he also said Ming could be "an Enron-like disaster". If I end up adding him to my Yao hit list thread, I'm going to call him Marty "Ed Norton in Primal Fear" Burns.
Well you can't lose by saying that Ming could be a "franchise center" AND he could be an "Enron-like disaster" can you? Except that that translates to "I really have no clue."
lol, like the stock broker who says, "Well, depending on what happens, the market could go up or down."
Exactly, that tells me that if he has an off-night or is in foul trouble he'll find a way to contribute. And if Cato can give us those type of numbers or slightly higher this team is going to roll!
re : ming being the only guy worth guarding, I watched them play (on the Asian TV channel) team USA and Bateer appeared to have better fundamentals than Yao, but Bateer is *only* about the same height as Jermaine O'Neal. China had one guard who could shoot, but their ball movement was atrocious ( so Ming will feel right at home with the Rockets.) It's only one game, but at a point a minute, we could sign him to a Cato contract.
