I don't know if Yao can keep up his NBA leading field goal stats all season, but the kid can really stroke the ball from the free throw line pretty damn consistently. He may well be top 5, ok maybe top 15 in FT% by the end of the season.
It's a good thing too, he'll get a lot of fouls. He's made something like 40 out of his last 44. Amazing.
He is already #11 on the NBA block list, averaging 2 blocks a game. His rebound is #25 in the NBA, averaging 7.9/game.
Sigh... league-leading FG%, getting near the top in rebounds, excellent FT%, ability to foul-out other centers, strong passing skills... I know it's been beaten to death, but we need the ball inside NOW! If we're down so much and the Cat is going 0-10, Rice is missing all his shots outside, Franchise is forced to drive all the time, no one else can shoot... why don't we even turn to Yao more often! Jeez... I almost wish Yao would even try the 3! But we're talking about his FT%. Yup, I think he'll be top 10 by season's end!
Yao will propably need to be at 88% or more to get into the top 5. I think he can end up 80-84% on this throws, but 88% or top 5 in the league is probably asking alot. I wouldnt bet on it.
Currently Yao is top 20 in the following 11 categories: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/yao_ming/index.html?nav=page Ranks #1 in the NBA in Field-Goal Percentage(0.577) Ranks #11 in the NBA in Blocks Per Game(2.0) Ranks #19 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds(70.0) Ranks #17 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds Per Game(2.7) Ranks #10 in the NBA in Blocks(52.0) Ranks #15 in the NBA in Double-doubles(9.0) Ranks #17 in the NBA in Offensive Rebounds Per 48 Minutes(5.0) Ranks #17 in the NBA in Defensive Rebounds Per 48 Minutes(9.7) Ranks #13 in the NBA in Rebounds Per 48 Minutes(14.7) Ranks #10 in the NBA in Blocks Per 48 Minutes(3.72) Ranks #4 in the NBA in Efficiency Ranking Per 48 Minutes(33.05)
Yao is an excellent FT shooter but Top 10? fuhget about it. This is all irrelevant. As long as he's proficient from the charity stripe, at some point people will be less inclined to foul him.
Yup, just realized that Top 5 would be a little tough. But I do feel confident he can be Top 15, maybe even crack Top 10. Don't you get the warm feel when he does get fouled that it'll be like an automatic couple of points? I mean, I doubt if Laker fans feel that way when Shaq gets hacked. But that's the other extreme of lousy FT% for a center. Last several games, Yao's been totally money from the line.
