What are you trying to imply that you think he is good. Now that I think about it leading the league in fg% is good... real good.... but what if he ended up this year leading in both fg and ft%. That would be crazy.
Yao can definitly shoot. The only reason I think that he wasn't shooting free throws as well earlier in the year was because he had no time to spend solely on free throws and because the Rockets were getting him started on weights. Yao's got three point range too and I would like to see him shooting up that 17 or 18 footer when he's wide open instead of letting Cat take the shot with a man in his face.
i know yao is a very good shooter with much more range than he's shown. but his only priority is the team and this is unheard of in the nba. his shooting stats will continue to improve until he's one of the league leaders in many categories.
this is what i don't get...Yao ming put up some crazy numbers..and he's only a rookie..and people still vote for Shaq in the all-star !!! Yao freethrow accuracy is 80% while..when i watch the Fakers played..Shaq freethrow seems like he MISSED 80% of the time !!
OK, control yourself: This is why people still vote for Shaq: 27 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks - And he wasn't even having a good game until he got some garbage in the last few minutes. He does this night in, night out. Hitting your free throws alone does not qualify you in peoples' eyes as an all-star. C'mon...
Yes, Shaq does average 27 points per game, but he is nowhere near as efficient on offense as Yao is. Shaq has attempted 17.4 FGs per game this year, and has made 56.4% of his FGs, and 57.9% of his free throws. He is averaging 14.5 free throw attempts per game. Yao has attempted only 8.4 FGs per game this year, and has made 57.3% of his FGs, and 79.7% of his free throws. He is averaging 4.4 free throw attempts per game. Yao is averaging 13.0 points per game, while Shaq is averaging 26.1 points. However, on average, Shaq gets the opportunity to score 49.3 points per game, based on the equation 17.4*2 + 14.5 = 49.3. This is assuming that he made every one of his FGA and FTA. Yao is only given the opportunity on average to score 21.2 points per game, based on the equation 8.4*2 + 4.4 = 21.2. My definition of efficiency is obtained by dividing avg. pts / possible pts obtained from (FG attempted*2 + FT attempted). Based on that: Shaq's efficiency is 26.1/49.3 = 52.9% efficiency Yao's efficiency is 13.0/21.2 = 61.3% efficiency It's kind of silly to think about it like this, but it shows that FT % is a huge deal in a player's efficiency, which is why Yao is so incredibly special. When people start to learn that Yao is solid from the free throw line, they will be intimidated, and back off and give him easier shots. Basically, right now, Yao has a BETTER FG % than Shaq, and is dominating him at the FT line. If you doubled Yao's FGA per game and gave him 14 FT attempts per game, he would be averaging 30 points.
That has got to be the worst leap of logic I've ever seen. Seriously. Shooting free throws well in the NBA, while an admirable trait, does not intimidate ANYONE, ever. Dumb. Okay, we've established that Yao is a better free throw shooter than Shaq, and he's no doubt got a better shooting touch from outside of 10 feet. Regardless of all that, Shaq is at this point a better scorer, better rebounder, better shot blocker and better defender. Not only better than Yao, but better than any other center currently playing. I mean, seriously, I love my Rockets and I've had more fun watching Yao play than I've had since '95 -- but let's be realistic. Yao is having a great ROOKIE year, might win ROY and get us into the playoffs for a round or two. But he's not more deserving of being an All-Star than Shaq. At least not yet.
Yao is shooting extremely well, and he's a tremendous player. But, having a better efficiency rating than Shaq, and basing Yao is playing better on Shaq because "if you double his FT attempts and FG attempts" is a pretty worthless argument. The reason Yao isn't getting those has very little to do with the offense and/or the guards. It has everything to do with Shaq being a mammoth, and being able to get low post position 95% of the time. Shaq is more physical inside than Yao, and that's why he gets to the line more-people would rather make him earn his 2 points at the stripe. Yao will be dangerous because he's near automatic at the stripe as opposed to Shaq's adventures. Yao doesn't get the position Shaq does. Even when people front Shaq, he's aggressive enough to take the over the top lob and finish with authority that Yao doesn't have in his game yet. We saw in the Miami game when Grant fronted Yao, Yao was more or less neutralized. He made his impact on the offensive glass, which is the advantage you get when teams front him. This argument is like comparing Brent Barry to Allen Iverson. Without looking at numbers, Barry shoots very near 50% FG%, with high 3P% and FT%. Iverson not so much. But to say that Barry has the ability to lead the league in scoring because he shoots better percentages than Iverson and that the only reason he doesn't is because he doesn't get as many shots as AI is illogical. Iverson gets more shots than Barry because he is 10x the innovator of shots that Barry is. Flip the situations, and Iverson is still shooting 20+ times a game, and Barry isn't. Shaq can physically dominate everyone in the NBA. Yao can't. Yao towers over everyone, and has skills of guys a foot shorter than him, but can't get himself in a position to get 16 or so FGA a game consistently...yet.
Write this down: When we win the championship, the decisive points in the final minutes will be free throws by Yao Ming.
Nike, Excellent post. I could not have said it better myself. I know its been popular around here lately to say that Yao is in Shaq's class or even better. I really feel this statement just isnt fair to Yao or Shaq.
