Coaches and Players in the Know Say Ming is the Thing

Players and coaches in the know agree transition should be smooth
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

After more than 400 NBA games, David Benoit has a pretty good idea what an NBA star looks like. He has played with and against the best, and also Greg Ostertag.

Benoit has long since learned the difference. He is convinced he can spot something special on a basketball court -- and that he has seen it again.

"I've played with Shawn Bradley. I played against (Hakeem) Olajuwon when he was at his best," Benoit said. "Yao Ming to me is way more to the Olajuwon side. And he's going to be better than Rik Smits. I'm not taking anything away from Rik. But this guy is right there with Rik at this time. And he's going to get better.

"This guy can play. He can really play."

Benoit joined Yao's Shanghai Sharks in time for the team's playoff run to the China Basketball Association championship earlier this year. But he is not alone in his raves. Other veterans of the NBA and CBA offered similar proclamations.

"If he was coming out of the University of Houston right now, he would be averaging 30 points, eight blocks, a bunch of rebounds, ESPN would be going crazy, Houston would be going crazy," Pistons assistant coach Tony Ronzone, who was an assistant with the Chinese national team for five months, said. "I just love the kid. But especially being with (Rockets coach) Rudy (Tomjanovich) and playing with Steve Francis, I think great things will happen."

The compliments come quickly from the players and coaches who know Yao in part because he seems to have the desire needed to make the most of his ample tools. At 7-5, with surprising agility and soft, sure hands, Yao has the right combination of size and skills. But he also has a lot of work to do to adjust his game and body to the NBA.

"He wants to learn, to get better, and he's a real competitor," Ronzone said. "This kid is a gym rat. He's the first one on the floor and the last one to leave. He calls me at night. I love the kid, and people will love him. He is a media star. He's great with the media. People don't really know about Yao, but they're about to find out."

Ronzone said the growing pains will not be nearly as trying as many predict. He said Yao's size, skills and sense of the game will make him and the Rockets immediate factors.

"Forget about all that stuff people are saying about it taking one, two or three years for him to get acclimated to the NBA," Ronzone said. "He will be successful right away.

"With what the Rockets have, guards like Cuttino (Mobley) and Steve Francis, those guys are going to be loving Yao. He can pass from the post and has great skills. He can play. He can run the floor. And another big thing is that this is a kid who was not forced to play basketball because of his size. He's a kid who wanted to play basketball.

"I'll tell you what: I'd hate to be in the West right now. With the Rockets adding Yao Ming to what they have, I think the Rockets are right back (in the playoff mix)."

But Yao apparently believes he will have to adjust. He asked Tomjanovich about fitting his game into the Rockets' style and how he would have developed had he played college basketball in the United States.

He also has asked players with NBA experience.

"He told me he knows he would have a big adjustment to the game," Benoit said. "He said it will take a year, year-and-a-half. Me personally, I don't see it taking that long. The level of play of his game is just tremendous.

"He is really a good team player. He has a good understanding of how to be the center of the game. His maturity level is very, very high. I was amazed by it. He understands what's important. This guy can shoot 18-foot jumpers and 3-pointers. But he knows how to be a big man, to be down low and handle that part of the game."

Alex Carcamo, who played in China last season, has been working out for NBA teams in hopes of landing a free-agent contract. But as one of the regulars at the UCLA offseason workouts with Kobe Bryant and Paul Pierce, he said he knows what Yao will face -- and what NBA players will face going against him.

"There's no doubt about what he'll do," Carcamo said. "You don't find a 7-6 athlete that can move the way he does. He can post up. He can shoot the 15-footer. He plays good defense. He led in blocked shots.

"I've played against NBA players; I played against him. What he did in China, it's not a fluke.

"It's not natural to find a player that tall with that much athleticism. Everybody says `small body.' But all they have to do is get him in a weight room. He has huge lower body. He knows how to post up. He has moves. He knows how to pass. He's a great teammate, too. They did a great job teaching him.

"Out of 29 NBA teams, there might be five good centers. He would have to be one of them. Right away. Right now."

Benoit is just as certain. But more than that, he said he is as convinced that Yao will change the Rockets.

"Great players are great team players," Benoit said. "This guy is a great player. And I love Steve Francis. When they add Yao Ming to that mix, they'll have something. He has the desire to play the game, not just score. He's a competitor. He will make himself a great defensive player.

"Eventually, he will be an All-Star -- every year if he's injury-free. I believe Yao Ming will make them competitive just by him being on the floor.

"I've played with Mark Eaton, played with Shawn Bradley. I played against some of the biggest names of the NBA. I'm telling you, this guy can play."

 

Here are some other Ming articles from the Chronicle:

The final frontier

Quest members think Yao has future in NBA

 

The Chronicle now has a section dedicated to Yao Ming and the draft:

Yao Central

"The NBA has gone international, but Asia remains a relatively untapped market. The Rockets were at the forefront of the Africa explosion with Hakeem Olajuwon. Will Yao Ming start a new era in the NBA?"