Urban legend? How would you know that? It might be true that Yao is the hardest working player, or he isn't, but until you log the number of minutes every player in the league practices, you wouldn't know. And Amare being able to transform himself into a more finesse player doesn't demonstrate HOW hard he worked, only that he did work. The result of one's hard work can't be fully attributed to the amount of time spent training. Just like how a student's test scores isn't the sole indicator of amount of studying. The only thing we can base any of this on is that over the years, we have had many Rockets personnel and coaches who have made the claim that Yao is one of the hardest workers they've ever seen. Unless the Rockets are somehow an anomaly in that the rest of the team slack off, I'd say that while it doesn't prove Yao's diligence, it certainly makes a good case for it.
Classic leebigez. Take the extreme opinions of a few fringe posters, somehow extrapolate that to be the general consensus (or in his words "an urban legend"), then proceed to debunk these "misconceptions" in an effort to sound insightful. In reality, your claim that Yao isn't the hardest working player in the league is just about as valid as the claim that he is.
Really what i'm saying is you cant say someone is the hardest working player. I think hes a hard worker, no doubt, but guys like lebron,carmello,kobe and such works very hard also. When moses played, people would say there isn't a harder worker. Now there may have been guys that worked as hard, but not harder. I guess we can say the same about yao, but people always say he's the hardest worker which i don't buy.
Are you sure you don't have any personal feelings toward Yao? It's okay if you do deep down inside. I fully understand.
When people say he's ONE of the hardest workers in the league, they're just echoing what some of the Rockets staff and personnel have said. Maybe they're saying it for PR reasons - that we'll never know, but I honestly don't think a guy like JVG would need to put that put that kind of label on Yao if it didn't hold any truth.
I didn't say it was done or is done for pr reasons, but its one of those things that gets thrown around alot on theis board like "cancer". I know just from muy experiences of d-1 that guys don't really care about what a guy is doing when he's not playing. Its kinda like out of sight,out of mind. Just like people think these pro's hang with each other and go out together or that guys need to like each other to play well together. I can tell you guys never went out with dream or clyde. I can also tell you ray allen cant stand garnett because of all the cussing and stuff, but they play for each other. I guess its one of those overused phrases that i always just shake my head at. Its thrown around loosely to the point everyone starts saying the same thing.
Why is basketball "IQ" a skill or impactful but "playing hard" consistently isnt? I think it absolutely is impactful especially when done consistently. Just like bb "IQ" is. Can either independently win a game, no. Or does either trump athletic ability, no. But they are both impact winning and losing, how ever you quantify it. IMO
you can't just play hard, you have to play hard and smart. ie. chuck hayes doubling bibby and leaving smith open. he played hard not smart. BB IQ
so had he blocked the shot or forced an airball would that have been smart? or if he left him open to drain an open J for the win, would that have been dumb? the ball bounced right to Smith and he made a great athletic play, I wouldnt necessarily it was Hayes fault. Of course doing both is important (playing hard and smart) but it doesnt mean one is more important than the other or "playing hard" is not a skill, impactful to winning and losing, and important.
yeah hayes made the double to stop bibby's pentration. brooks who was beat has to either recover and allow hayes to get back to smith. or switch over to smith not leaving him uncontested for a rebound.
so was the breakdown due to lack of athletic ability, poor bb iq, or not playing hard enough, in your opinion?
JVG has said that Yao is the hardest worker he has ever coached. Mark Jackson and Ron Artest have said the same...
This may all be true, but are the Hawks contenders? I love our guys and this team, and I think they will win 50 games. But do I think they could hang with the Celtics in a serious competitive game? Do I think they could dethrone the Lakers? No. I think our guys overacheive and a team like the Hawks, as nice as their record is now, still will come out the end as underacheiving.
The "hard work" stuff is a carry over from last season's accomplishments in the playoffs, the 22-game winning streak, and so on. Solomon would say that streak was cool, but it didn't add up to much in the end. Basically, he is the kind of fan who figures things out by looking to see who has a ring on his finger at the end of the season. It's so freaking easy just to say "The teams that win it all are the best ones." Can't a writer think of anything more than that to say? Check Solomon's assessment of last season, May 17, 2009: http://blogs.chron.com/jeromesolomon/2009/05/live_game_7_chat_rockets_at_la.html
Have u ever read what jeff has said about tracy? Ron said Roy was the best wing including kobe. I'm not discounting that he's a hard worker, but artest played with a guy like reggie miller who turned himself into a hall of famer. Jackson played with oakley and ewing. Oakley couldn't get a card under his feet and ewing was very raw and turned into a hall of famer. I have a very difficult time believing yao or any other player works harder. Now maybe just as hard, but not harder considering the progress he's made in his game .. That's all i'm saying
Ewing was raw? How many raw players average 20 pts, 9 rbs, 2 asts, 2 blks, and 1 stl a game as rookies?
