Many people have claimed that Yao Ming will become the next great center based on his promising start so far. Indeed he has performed well in a few games and has made remarkable progress. However people should note the following: Shawn Bradley, rookie year: 49 games, 10.3 PPG, 6.2 rpg, 3.0 bpg, 2.0 apg. Yao Ming, rookie year so far: 19 games, 11.1 PPG, 6.5 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 0.9 apg I certainly hope that Yao Ming will achieve much more than what Bradley has achieved by the time Yao has been in the league as long as Bradley has been in the league to date. However, the above stats show that the critics who said that Yao Ming might be nothing more than the next Shawn Bradley is still not proven false, at least not yet.
You would have to add minutes per game and field goal percentage to make this comparison fair. Besides that, weren't the 76ers in a complete rebuilding stage with Bradley getting a lot of looks? The Rockets already had established scorers, Yao had to earn his touches and minutes.
Plus, Bradley wasnt even the number 1 pick. So, some could say he overachieved. Bradley over Ming, all the way. Not.
One thing that is important to keep in mind when evaluating rookies and their future potential is not just their averages, but the flashes of greatness that they display. Yao's averages are held down by the early games of the year when he was adjusting when he played less than 10 minutes and ineffectively at that. Maybe bradley had multiple 25+ pt. and 15+ reb games in his first 20 games, but I doubt it. Also, just by looking at Yao's build you can tell he will get stronger in the upper body, which will help him immensely. I dont think Bradley has put on much weight since his rookie year. You are right though, there is no guarantee that Yao will improve or that he wont be chronically injury prone for his entire career as many big men are. However, I very much like what I see, especially his outside shot, agressiveness, positive attitude, and his ability to get along with his coach and teammates. I couldnt possibly be more impressed with Yao.
Bradley lost his girlfriend when he went on his Mormon mission. Yao Ming still has his. This is a microcosm of the difference between the 2 men.
Oh, and I'd like to know if Bradley's team was the 3rd best team in the better conference in the league.
The heck with those statstics. Any person who has as little bball knowledge as I do won't compare Yao and Bradley after watching these two guys playing on court. You don't even have to watch these two playing against each other to know they are not comparable. Shrimpie
how about comare their first 19 games stats? thats a huge differece between 19 games and 49 games, I don't think it's fair for Yao. I could see him putting up double-doubles consistently midway into the season(actually hes starting doing that now). that would make the stats alot of different by the end of the season.
Yao 30 points, 16 boards, 1 ast, 2 blocks Bradley 0 points, 2 boards, 3 ast, 1 block Yao in his rookie season. Bradley in his 12th season. The most lopsided center match in NBA history.
Shawn Bradley went to BYU, and I am going to BYU. I am a fanatic BYU sports fan (their football team totally broke my heart this year ), and I support all BYU allums. As much as I still support Bradley, I would have to say I am sooooooo disappointed by him. He's tall, blocks pretty well, and a ok rebounder, but that's it. When he was drafted, we thought he was gonna be a superstar. Heck, he was drafted before Anfernee Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, Allan Houston and Sam Cassell. Rumors here in BYU indicate he doesn't have a strong work ethic to build up his body and work on his skills. (We understand that, since mormons emphasize family lives over professional achievements). He also doesn't have the personality of a franchise player. Most of all, he doesn't have the talent. If you know Yao Ming's parents are both centers for the Chinese national team, or if you just watch Yao Ming play, you know he's born with certain basketball genes that can't be made up by hard work. Plus, if you know Yao is one of the hardest working guys on the team, and Bradley hasn't worked hard since last summer, you know they won't be the same. Just because they are of the same height doesn't mean they have the same talent. Stockton and Iverson have the same height as most of us, and they are future hall of famers, and we are... I am a good student at least. Geez, I can't believe we are still having this conversation at this point. In summary, YAO IS A BALL PLAYER HAPPENED TO BE TALL, AND BRADLEY IS A TALL GUY THAT CAN'T PLAY BALL.
When comparing the two you have to go by hard, solid objective facts and not highly subjective opinions. While I also hope Yao Ming won't be the disappointment that Bradley became based on initial expectations, the hard objective fact is that Yao's rookie numbers (thus far) and Bradley's rookie numbers are remarkably similar. Perhaps at the end of the season, Yao's numbers will be much better than Bradley's. All I am saying is that at this point in time, solely based on the numbers, Yao is really not proving to be better than Bradley was when he was a rookie, at least not yet. We certainly hope the critics are wrong but based on the numbers, they are not yet proven wrong and it is too early to say that the critics were wrong when they claimed that Yao Ming will turn out to be nothing more than the next Shawn Bradley.
While factual, you still have to prove a high correlation to make your point. Simply put, first year stats don't necessarily mean much and to imply that Ming could turn into Bradley solely based on his first year stats means... nothing.
