No and neither has Kevin Garnett, so what is your point? We shouldn't try to acquire anybody except for Shaq or Duncan? Oh wait, Shaq had Kobe helping him, so cross him off that list also. Also, to be fair, McGrady did at least lead the Magic to the playoffs prior to this year.
Look, YAO is a second year center. Leave his ass alone, this thread is just dumb. You expect him to go up against someone who is obviously alot stronger than him and get 20 points and 20 rebounds a game. Obviously you guys have never played a game of basketball in your life.
This was reality before Yao was even recognised in the NBA, I wouldn't find that such a dumbass post.
As a life-long Rockets fan, It really upsets me to come to this site and see all the negativity surrounding Steve Francis and his role on the team when the fact of the matter is they wouldn't have won a game or had a chance in the other two without Stevie's leadership. From the looks of things, you guys want to give Yao a role that (judging by his play on the court) he doesn't seem to want himself. This guy will never be a leader in the Hakeem or Shaq sense of the word. YAO IS THE SOFTEST PLAYER IN THE LEAGUE with a capital "S". I watch these playoff games very closely in crunchtime and and have observed the following from Yao: He never ever positions himself for a rebound on offense or defense. You guys constanly give him a free pass on this but every rebound he gets practically falls in his lap. Imagine if he put forth some effort (maybe moving toward the basket, spinning off a defender or just a flat-out elbow would gain a few points with me). He can't handle physical contact. He spends more time on the floor than on the boards. If a player blows on him he goes down. He's a terrible shot blocker for a 7' 5" center. (Shawn Bradley would block twice as many shots with Yao's minutes) Trust me people, this has nothing to do with going against Shaq. Yao is just way to passive. As I eluded to earlier, I've seen point guards throw him to the floor. Until Yao gets alot tougher mentally and physically he'll just be another Patrick Ewing. Very good career numbers but no rings. You guys should be glad to have Stevie. After watching this series...I know I am.
Ouch Bones! I am not ready to call Yao soft or will be soft or any of the sort. I do know he lacks the aggressive style needed I think to be DOMINANT RIGHT NOW. Who knows if the trait is there and will develop in the future. But its not apparent at the present moment. I never wanted to trade Steve like I stated before because I believe you need TWO dominant players to win a championship and I think we have that at the two most crucial positions. As for the comparison to Patrick Ewing, well, I hated the guy. Still don't like him even if he is on my team. But one thing that will never be denied is the guy brought it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Worked hard no matter what. Played hard no matter what. No excuses with the guy. A warrior. If Yao gets HALF the passion and fire of Ewing, we can start putting him at the end of his career with the Center Gods that roamed way back when. I am no where near to say Yao is a bust. What I am ready to say is that he might just be VERY GOOD and NOT GREAT. Which is fine with me if we build our team accordingly to win the rings. The hell with the stats. Hey, I am repeating...
Yao just needs to get laid and stop playing all of those video games! Maybe Stack can hook him up with some of those babes from Live. A man always does better when he's got a good woman beside him (not a good woman thousands of miles away in China)!
Great post Almu, I agree with your assessment of Yao. I think others have tried to say the same thing, but say it in the wrong way and every YOF jumps all over it. I'm not going to bust out all the stats of the great centers, but if you go and look at career numbers, most great centers were already dominant by their second year. By great centers I mean Hakeem, Jabbar, Ewing, Robinson, etc. At this point, I think Yao can be a good player and have a vital role on this team, but he lacks the fire and passion to be great.
Good posts Almu. Although it could get hard to get your points across about Yao on this board sometimes. About Yao, and specifically game 4, where your frustrations come from, you are not the only one to feel that Yao could really have made a difference. His defense was horrible, and his passing out of double teams was just <b>awful </b>. Again, this is one of the worst defensive performances I have seen by Yao this season. And I wont blame the 30 points by Malone on Yao, cause Yao was playing zone mostly and giving Malone open shots.....but that was the strategy so live with it. But I am blaming his poor positioning on help defense, and making bad mistakes. I remember one time when he went to double on Kobe to help Cat....then all of a sudden he left him, and Kobe went inside for a layup.....and he almost never went up for a shot block. I mean, come one, 6 fouls, 3 TOs and <b>0 blocks </b> in 35 minutes, for a 7'6 dude Steve has played his ass off, JJ is doing his thing, and Cat is hounding Kobe......if Yao had played like he did 6 weeks ago, we'd be up 3-1...
Could it be that he is just slower than average players due to his size? Look, I hate it when he fumble the rbs, but it's riducolus to question the guys heart considering how much it itakes to move 310lb upon down the court for 35+ minutes. Just look at Shaq's performance so far in this series. He has only been effective in the 1st qtr most of the games because he was tired after constatntly fighting 300+lb defender. The same with Yao. The guy just doesn't yelling, or screaming, or curse, but that doesn't mean he didn't try his best. Leave the guy along, he will be just fine!
I wouldnt question his heart, and I know he will be fine, but his performance in that one game was horrible. If you are happy with him getting 0 blocks and 6 fouls, then you have lower expectations from Yao than I do. I know he is 7'6, and thus is slower, but he has played pretty decent on defense the whole year. But game 4 in particular, he was awful. About Shaq being ineffective, thats cause we are zoning on him, leaving Karl Malone open every time. Watch the tape. And to be honest, I dont think Yao has played his best this series. I dont doubt his heart, just dont think he has played good. Thats all. I'm sure he is trying, but just simply hasnt played to the level he is capable. Yeah, he will be fine......might even challenge for MVP in a couple of years......but how is that helping us in this series. It was right there for the taking, man......and it hasnt happened. But I'm not giving up on this series yet.......I'm just evaluating this series in particular, not the future..........
