"Don't believe Yao Ming's superman!" (ED: Literally, 'saint'.) From the Elder Yao's eyes, his son is actually very ordinary. Recently the older Yao was interviewed. He said, "Yao Ming's an ordinary basketball athlete, but he's been very lucky. The Rockets just happened to need a big center like Yao Ming, and that's why he's been able to get his footing in the NBA so quickly." "In the past few years, the Rockets have been weak in this regard. They've relied on the perimeter game, and that's precisely why they got rights to the first draft pick and Yao Ming. Yao's luck is *that* good, as soon as he arrives at the NBA this great of an opportunity shows up. Of course from a technical stand-point, Yao Ming truly should be considered ok, and his (shooting, handling) touch is not bad, and if his body can pass the (stamina, strength) test, then he'll do even better. But his body can't be counted as strong, so it's a good thing he likes to use his brain... if he can't beat them physically, he'll try something else." From the beginning on the bench, to his current smooth sailings, Yao Ming's only been in the NBA for 60+ days... but it feels like it's been 6 years. The elder Yao continued to say: "We originally projected it'd take at least 2 seasons to become accustomed to the NBA. We planned that in the first season, strive to get 10-15 minutes of playing time a game. And in the second season, after strengthening the body, slowly become one of the major forces/focuses. But to achieve this after 60 days, none of us ever considered it. But he still has many weaknesses, and I think he'll soon face great challenges." Yao Ming's road has been relatively smooth not just because of his own efforts, but also because he's been over-looked (lightly-perceived) by the competition. "Before Yao Ming, China had two basketball players in Wang Zhizhi and Bateer play in the NBA. They never became the major forces on their teams, and so the league had a tendency to slight Chinese players." "When Yao just started playing, he hadn't scored a single point. In this kind of a situation, how could he draw attention from opponents? They were all suspicious of a Chinese player's abilities, and hadn't done a lot of research, giving Yao room to execute. I believe that in subsequent games, Yao's difficulties will grow."
