The Clippers (playing tomorrow) bring an interesting big guy in "Kandy". Like Bradley, he's another player in the "much improved" category. He's also the best center that Ming will have faced in the last couple games. I'm just curious. I think Ming will outscore Kandy but I'm curious how the pairing will come out over all.
it will be interesting no doubt. especially with some espn analysts rating him the 2nd best center in the league and kandy is averaging a double double per game as well as Elton Brand who is also on the same team. By the way, yao's former chinese national teammate Wang Zhi Zhi is also on the team. The clippers have a lot of centers. they're a very tall team. i wonder if they'll use a combination of those guys to double or triple team yao???
Im interested in seeing how Yao plays against Kandi man. This is one of the bigger tests, outside of Shaq. My fingers are crossed.
Kandy having Elton for support is a good point. Think those two will double Ming? Wang Zhi Zhi is averaging about 9 minutes a game. He doesn't play much, as he's appeared in less than half the Clipper's games. Sean Rooks is their other backup center. He's played...about 10 minutes a game nearly every game. Then there is Cherokee Parks. As he's not been played at all this year, I only expect to see him if Ming fouls out all the other guys .
Definitely a tough matchup for Yao. Kandi man usually play well when he's motivated, and facing Yao would be a pretty good motivation my itself. Kandi man is long, it's big, and it's mobile. Add to the fact that Brand would be waiting on the other side for help defense, it will be a tough night for Yao. A 12 pts/6 reb game would be good enough for me.
Difference b/w Candiman and Bradley is that candiman actually has offense. We will see how Rudy and MIng deal with it. It's interesting to see to clipper coach will allow Wang more minutes. Maybe he's more familiar with MIng's game, maybe just for old times sake?
Trust me, Kandi is totally overrated (I'm a Clipper fan). He's been putting up reasonable stats this year, but he plays with no motivation and his defense is awful. He causes the Clippers offense (or lack thereof) to completely halt while they stand around watching him do his "move", which is either a three foot hook, a travel, an offensive foul, or some awkward combination of the above. Occassionally he'll burst out and have an amazing game, but those are few and far between. He's in great shape and has the perfect NBA body to be a dominant force in this league, but his attitude and lack of basic NBA smarts is holding him back. Remember that play in the Dallas-Houston game where Yao posted up against Bradley, faked, and then threw down a dunk for the "And 1"? Kandi has never done that. It'll be a happy day for this Clipper fan when some fool owner pays Kandi big dollars. I'm a tad bitter at the moment because our self-proclaimed MAX player just "lead" us to an embarrassing fourth quarter loss to the Nuggets. The Nuggets!
Yao will continue to play WELL. He has found his confidence and when a sleeping giant found his confidence, who can stop him?
Actually, the popular feeling among Yao doubters is that Shaq will stop him. It's almost as if they conceded that Ming can pretty much whip every other center in the league. Not bad for a guy who's played 11 regular season games in his NBA career.
Olowokandi's like a more talented version of Cato -- when he comes to play, he can really be a presence. Don't forget that game last year against the Rockets in L.A., where he scored something like 25 points in the first HALF. I was there, and nothing the Rox did could stop him. He was hitting mid-range jumpers, baby hooks, whatever -- you'd have thought you were watching Jabbar in his prime that night. The problem is Kandi does that about half a dozen times in an entire season. Should be a good test for Yao, though. Bradley certainly wasn't.
