I don't think you know the value of one dunk on Shaq. How about the first 18 footer Yao drops in Shaq's face? A nice, easy drop step off glass over Shaq? See, the crowd will go wild. Yao is not as strong as Shaq. We know that. The world knows that. But who else can score *over* Shaq that easily? Do you see where I'm going here? Yao does not have to score 40 to do well. All he has to do is play decently. Shaq can score 40 on Yao, and people will say, "No big deal." But if Yao scores 14-16 on Shaq, they will say, "Good job for a rook." If the refs call ticky-tacky fouls on Yao then the refs will decide the game, not Yao. I say, let them play.
What? 'a 10 years veteran with 3 rings is gonna destroy a rookie' is a very stupid prediction. Period. Just some other people have made some other naive predictions doesnt make a difference. Yes, the prediction is stupid.
I AGREE with U RocketForever!!! This dude needs 2 change his handle 2 houstonKKK, cuz he's starting 2 sound like one!!
i think that yao is going to shock the world. he may not get shaqs #'s, but i bet he holds his own and gets his #'s too. ming is a stud and im sure he will be ready for this one. hes been playing it down, but dont be fooled. yao lets his game do the talking. i bet the rockets win too, and thats the most important thing. of course im biased
I don't recall Olajuwon schooling Shaq. He usually outplayed him, yes, but Shaq usually still got his 20 pts or so and 10 rebounds.
I think that what we shoud be worrying about is whether or not Posey will shut down Koby. Shaq's gonna wear himself out dunking on everyone trying to make a statement....so I think it's safe to predict that ShaqFatty will be spending more time than normal on the bench. By the way.....didn't Yao use to be able to make free throws on a fairly consistent basis?
Found this piece of article from AsiaNews, which really makes me wondering: why has Yao softend up? He is getting pushed, hacked, scratched... left right & center. The New Mr. Big The search for an answer to Shaq continues. Can the latest entry, mammoth Rockets rookie Yao Ming, measure up? By Ian Thomsen ............ snip............... Another misunderstanding concerned Yao's attitude. Perhaps grasping at straws, some NBA team executives speculated that because he had not indicated he would defect, he wasn't strong-minded, and that would be reflected on the floor. Instead, he used his recent tour of North America to exhibit not only toughness but a healthy nastiness as well. During China's 94-66 exhibition loss to Canada on Aug. 16 in Vancouver, he broke the wrist of 2.03-m forward Andrew Kwiatkowski during a rebounding skirmish. Then, with a wave of his long fingers, he dared 2-m guard Prosper Karangwa to attack the basket during a two-on-one break—whereupon Yao hip-checked Karangwa a good 10 feet, bruising the Canadian's ribs so badly that he required a flak jacket throughout the rest of the worlds. Make no mistake, Yao is not a gentle giant. ............ snip...............
Well NBA is more tough and physical than international games. I think Yao's improved a lot and he's more aggressive than he's ever before. Don't worry.
Please please folks, don't get me wrong. I want Yao to do well. I was merely taking issue with those folks in earlier posts about a month back where all these fellas were posting about Yao being able to beat Shaq. I like Yao, he's a great guy. If he puts 15-20 points up, that would be great. I completely agree that if Yao can hold his own, that would be an achievement already. But like everyone agrees, it is obvious he will get beat up bad. That is the most obvious conclusion and perhaps it is stupid to have to post it. But the issue has been brought up. So just to clarify: 99% chance that Yao will get beat. But I hope he can pull something out of the hat. I like Yao. I dislike people overestimating Yao.
I have a feeling Yao will be in foul trouble early and there won't be much of a show-down between the two.
i agree with houstonkk....it seems like yao has been a little over-hyped and people need to back up a little and realize that this guy is still a rookie and is by no means superman. I think yao's game has some deficencies that need to be pointed out without threat of 50 bbs posters calling him anti-yao or insulting the poster's intelligence. That being said i think everyone knows that Yao is not yet in the same league with shaq, and any argument to the contrary is ludicrous. I think Yao has great potential and will be a very good center in the future..but as for the present he is not the best center in the league..nor does he deserve to start in the all-star game ahead of shaq. My prediction: Shaq dominates tonight and Yao learns that to be succesfull in this league you must be more physical around the basket. You can hold me to this. Oh btw...calling Yao the china-man...good god people grow up and let that slide..insinuating someone is a racist because of that is just plain foolish.
Apology accepted. Shaq did NOT destroy Yao. Shaq destroyed Cato, and overtime fatigue "hurt" Yao in the end. 4 blocks on Shaq, and if Yao had hit his jumpers which he usually does, he could have had 20 plus points tonight. Hey but it's not about who's wrong or right, I'm just glad we won!!
I hear you, man. We did Ok tonight, so everyone's happy. I think some people misunderstood you. The original poster of this thread was more vicious.
