Man I just watched NBA 2 Night, and two of the top 3 facials of the week were over Yao. Finley and Bryant posterizations of Yao....
His arm used to move very fast in Dec. Quick finesse moves are hard to defend, but now his moves slow down which makes them more predictable. So he has to rely more on power to score. I think he is still experiencing fatigue.
That tells me he contends every shot. I love his efforts. The one from Kobe, he was totally late and had very little chance, but he went for it and got a facial. Then look at Robert Horry the next possesion when Yao spunned and went for a crowd silencer. People may think Horry did a smart thing, but I don't think so.
I reckon I am one of the few who don't care if and when a player "posterizes" Yao... first of all, top tier players, especially athletic ones, "posterize" players in the NBA (its what they do). It still only counts as two points (or three if fouled in the process). A Shanghai Shake counts the same. Second, the teammates have to help out by not toreadoring the D and letting a Kobe or Finley swoop in for the dunk. At that point Yao has little chance anyway. Usually that means not letting the D getting broken down by some PG outquicking Steve or Moochie into the key. Sure, Yao will get stronger in the upper body and will be able to better defend against dunks, but in the mean time, lets just be happy with what he is doing on the court (and push others to help out a bit more)...
Who cares if Yao gets dunked on? KJ put it on Hakeem, I mean posterized him, and who cares? Seriously, that was a nasty dunk. Sure, I could say KJ cleared out Hakeem with the off arm, but it doesn't matter. Dream got poterized by J.R. Rider in Rider's rookie year, big deal. Patrick Ewing got dunked on by half, maybe three-quarters, of the league. Blocking shots is a small part of defense. Yao alters shots and forces people into bad shots, which is more valuable.
Yao will be the best center ever once he hits his prime, just as the Dream, just as Kareem... Hell, this is just his first season and just look at his awesome display... Just wait and see...
Barkley gave Yao props for trying to block Kobe's shot, as most players are too concerned about getting posterized to actually contest shots. They're too worried about looking good, then playing well. Barkley then dogged on Robert Horry for ducking and getting out of the way when Yao dunked the ball. He may have saved himself from some embarassment, but I'd much rather have a player who went up to contest that dunk. Too many players are worried about looking bad on Sportscenter. Yet another sign of the decline of American basketball...
