Blazer exec: Yao will be greatest center in history of NBA

I found this in that article too:

Before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, there will be at least 10 Chinese players in the NBA. With Yao, Wang Zhi Zhi and Batere leading the way, China will be the favorite to win the gold medal that year. They have those three plus some guards who are great 3-point shooters; they are going to be very stiff competition for our U.S. team.¡±

 

Wow, the pressure is on.

 

Yep . . . i can see it now. The US Team of Duncan, Garnett, McGrady, Bryant, and Francis loses to the Chinese team. Probably going happen . . .

 

These guys may not even want to squander their summer vacation to play in the Olympics in 2008.

 

I thought their guards sucked?

 

Remember this was at the last olympics. Their guards do suck now.

 

Their guards do suck because all they can do is shoot 3 pointers. They don't have any handles and can't penetrate that well. They are also aweful on the defensive side.

 

their guards cannot pass and time it properly.....posting up requires good timing and a good passer.....remember Horry, Eli and Smith to Hakeem...these guys knew how to get the ball there and the chinese do not know how to do it with precision....watch Francis and company and see the difference...

 

Hmm? Isn't this the same guy who told the world, "...the Portland TrailBlazers select, from the University of Kentucky, Sam Bowie! "

Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan.......way to go Bucky!



Thx RipCityRobert

 

what a freaking bold statement!!???

at this point, he knows a lot more about Ming than I do, though...he's at least seen the guy play.

but best center of all time??? hmmmm...i'm skeptical....i wanna believe, but that's a BIG jump!!

 

..."eventually he will become the best bigman,ever to play in the NBA"..ahh,what about Dream,Wilt,Russell,etc.?
As a Rockets fan I want him to be great,but the deification of Yao Ming has gotten out of hand around here.I realize there are many contributing factors,but he needs to prove himself.Personally,I think he has a very high upside,and could be an elite center one day...doing many things fundamentally well.It shouldn't be treated as a foregone conclusion though.
Besides,Dream's "unbeatable".

 

I would settle for best center playing.

 

Wow, and i thought we were the only ones so wildly optimistic.

Good that he talks up Ming's shotbocking, that puts the nail in the coffin of stupid m.f. danny ainge's spreading of the baseless rumor that Ming can't block shots back around draft time, which he apparently read off a bathroom wall. God I cant stand him. If Ainge ever played for or coached the Jazz, I don't know what I'd do. I might just explode and die.

 

at the time the blazers already had drexler. clyde had only spent 1 yr in the nba at the time and there was no reason to pick another 2g. for years both of them were thought of as the 2 best guards in the game. only untill jordan beat clyde in the finals was he thought of as the better player.


as for yao being the best big-man of all time...

he wil never score 100 points in a game and he will never average over 20 rebounds. he sure as hell wont score over 35,000 points. i dont think any other center will be in top 5 off all time in steals ever again.

but i can tell you 1 thing... yao has the upside to become the best overall center in history. he can shoot the 3, shoot fg's at 75%, while hitting over 80% of his ft's. he will be a league leader in blocks. once he gets stronger he will be top 10 in rebounds. with his hight, he can get a couple of steals a game, from passes that go through the lane, lobs, etc... he can handle the ball.

we may have the first ever point center. stop laughing! our guards would rather shoot anyway. i bet you all thought it was hilarious when pippen wanted to play point foward for the bulls.


hey you never know

 

LOL! Nice excuse for probably the worst sport's decision in the history of athletics! I have to give you credit though, I have never heard of a person trying to take up for the Blazers on this one.

 

in general i think they do...

i visit china every year and have an opportunity to play against two of the largest and most famous university's basketball teams.

i'm only 5'11 and have to play guard in those games... and for the most part i do ok (which means yeah they kinda suck)

there's lots of reasons, they have province athletic schools there where kids are taken from a young age (a good thing there) but the general schools don't have much of athletic programs. they believe you can work kids into being great runners/weight lifters/swimmers/divers etc... but don't really have bball yet

tall guys like yao are chosen to be worked for national ball because of height and affiliation with some nationally organized group (military) but short guys wouldn't be singled out for it

in general, guards can shoot a lot and from a lot of weird ways but don't work on "sick" moves, jumpers and defense so much... in a way it has to do with lack of "proper athletic" environment (diet/competition/culture) for them to develop "sick athleticism" to get those moves, jumpers, defense.

 

to tell you the truth if yao ming was stronger. What would people say bad about him? Would he have any weaknesses? No i don't think so. That guy has the tools to become a great nba center. And if he was stronger he could be like wilt.

 

Yao can end up being the most efficient center ever.

 

He also picked Arvydas Sabonis , Terry Porter, and Clyde Drexler.

Remember, drafts are based on *needs,* not only potential.
It's easy for you to say that Jordan is a great player, because
you already know. But in 1984, Jordan was considered a good
guard with potential. There was NO ONE that knew he would become
as great as he has become. At the time, Clyde Drexler was
considered a better guard. Also, Bird, Magic and Dr. J were tearing up the
league. Jordan was an up-and-comer.

Jordan's story is similar to Vince Carters. No one knew that Vince would
have such a great impact on the league. It was Antawn Jamison that
garnered all the head-lines in college and was predicted to be the
best player out of University N.C. that year. But it was Vince that
came out of no where. Jordan actually was criticized as a "novelty"
like Dominique Wilkens was; score a lot of points, but can't win
a championship.

You can thank the Detroit Pistons for teaching Jordan "how to win."
There years in a row, the Pistons knocked Jordan out of the playoffs.
That's where he learned how to be "mean!" We'll see if Vince
can learn the same.