That Korean guy puts up 25pts and 10rbn in high school, thats not very impressive if you ask me. He has A LOT of development to go, plus his family has a history of knee injuries, so its gonna take a big gamble for any team to pick him early. btw, Yao will definitely be more than a 14/9 guy. He averages 13.5/8.9 in his rookie season in 28.9 minutes and less than 10 scoring attempts. Besides his likely improvement and better adjustment to NBA, adding an extra 5 min per game and 2-3 shot attempts will already get him 17pts next season. -G'day-
The kid is 18 years only. I heard he's really slow. There are a lot of 7'2, 7'3 in China, not everybody can play basketball. Too much hype on a kid is not good. When Yao was his age, he wasnt getting all the hype, the hype was on Wang that time. I think it helped him to grow. He played in CBA for 5 years before come here to play NBA. I really doubt a 18 year kid without much pro-experience could do much, and there is hype ... not good at all.
I think the end of Last season will hinder him for next year. After Shaq got his “abuse a rookie who show him up revenge” on him, he seam dejected. Larry Smith taking over hurt his game with his coaching and benching him for long periods of time. At the end Yao was left doubting his game and having nightmares about Shaq. I see him making a slight improvement 16.8 ppg and 7 rpg
I agree it is too early to tell right now. But one thing we know is that Yao has good fundementals. His court vision is exellent, and shooting ability is exceptional even for a 7 footer. He's agile, can run up and down and he is 7'5. His passing ability isnt reliable at this stage I will say, because he did turn over way too many times from game to game and pass out double team too quickly, but he's got the passing skill, his passing will improve as his NBA experience grows. I also agree that Yao's lack of stamina was due to his 2-year non-stop basketball schedule and lenthy crazy schedule. I am not too worried about that if this is his only weakness, stamina can be improved. He was able to adjust to CBA's pace in a couple of year before. Yao is and will be a finess guy. He cant and wont bang like Shaq, make boom boom move to the hole. I bet you that Yao's turn around jumper will improve and become his signature move is his career. With that many moves, he has all the arsernals to be a super star. Another thing was that Yao scored 27pts, pulled down 16 boards against T.D. and Robinson. He also scored 27 pts against J.Oneal, scored all the buckets in the first quarter against NJ,and made 30 some basktes out of 40 some over one strech. he's not consitent, but this was first season, huge adjustment he had to make etc? What do we not have to believe in him?
if you ignore Yao's first month in the league when he was sitting on the bench and not even starting, his average would have been 15pts. he average 17pts a game in December before hitting the rookie wall. to say he'll be a 14pts/game guy his whole career is kinda on the low side. remember, Yao would have only been a college senior last year. next year would be a typical Rookie season. i predict Yao to average 16pts/9rebs next season and should gradually improve for next 3-4 seasons. we will know if Yao becomes the dominating player in these 3-4 seasons as he reaches his prime.
Either you or I went to the wrong math class in elementry school. I think going from 9 rpg to 7 rpg isn't "a slight improvement". I might be wrong on this one...
Yao will be a very good player, but not on a Tim Duncan level. Duncan is stronger and much quicker. He came into the league averaging 20 and 10. You doesn't have the fluid moves of quick change of direction or quick jumong ability that Duncan has. Yao will be a little bit better version of Rik Smits IMO. Which is pretty damned good player.
Um yeah, Rik Smits had a 14-8 career average. Yao Ming had 14-8 as a ROOKIE. I suppose Yao will only improve a "little" during his career.
Duncan led his team to a championship in his 2nd season. He's already working on another. The odds of winning a championship, for any team, are not good. Ming should be great. But Charles Barkley was also great, and he never won a championship. There are many young guys out there who will be competing with Ming for championships -- Garnett, Nowitzki, Bryant, Duncan, L. James, Stoudemire, McGrady, etc, etc. What I do know is that coaches never prevent a player from becoming great (nor do other players on his team). If you are a great player, you will be great regardless of who is coaching you. What coach doesn't want to put the ball in the hands of his best player? The coach wants to win, for crying out loud. What great player has ever been held back by a coach? Shaq's coach was Brian Hill, for pete's sake. What has he ever done? The guy isn't in the league anymore. Shaq was great with Hill. All those who think Rudy or "the system" will hold Ming back need to re-think that one.
Freak, We've been through this argument many times before. I dont think by repeating it over and over again your going to get people to believe what your saying. If you want to believe that in the new era of zones that a big man's teammates dont matter then you can believe that. Just watch the action away from the ball when Duncan catches and compare that to the action away from the ball when Yao catches. If you think it doesnt matter that by and large teammates stand around and watch Yao I really have nothing more to say. An occassional James Posey cut through the lane does not constitute movement away from the ball.
Watch the Lakers...Spurs...Kings...Mavericks...and learn. Watch and learn and follow. It does matter..and they have to be the right players. Duncan has one inside player with him. He has 3 shooters...and very good bench players. Shaq has four shooters with him. Kings have just everything. Ball movement. Movement. All types of movements. Screens. Cuts. Anything...just simple stuff. Mobley makes everything look so hard. He could be shooting open jumpers instead of forcing stuff and getting turnovers.
Even in the pre-zone era, great players needed the right system and teammates to shine. One example, if Karl Malone only got or set half-ass picks throughout his career, I wouldn't be surprised to know that he only turned out to be an all star level but not great type of player. God knows Malone scored thousands of points off quality picks throughout his career.
1) Lets have a little realism here, please. It's no accident Shaq, KG, and Duncan are on the first or second all defense teams, and Yao isn't. 2) He can also throw a good percentage of them to the opposing team. Yao has good passing instincts and has the potential to be a great passer, but at this point in time, he is not as effective as KG, Shaq, or Duncan. That being said, how good Yao becomes depends on how physically strong he becomes. If he stays on the weak side, I see him becoming a player of Steve's caliber. An all star, but not a top 5 player. If he becomes stronger, he has a chance to be dominant, especially offensively.
Okay, I'll agree somewhat on the passing, might have something to do with no off ball movement, but you can not deny his defensive skills. There were countless times I saw guards dribble the ball up the court into the paint only to dribble back out or dish it out. Listen, due to Yao's height and mobility he simply changes what the opposing team can implement. Yes, players dunked on Yao and yes Yao fell down while Starbury took it to the hole, but mind you, other teams had to settle for more outside shots leading to lower field goal percentage which was clearly shown because the opponents field goal percentage and total point total per game was less then it was last year.
Yao Ming is a "what if" guy at this point in his career and his career could go down many a path from where he is today: 1. Can he establish consistency?: Right now a combination of Yao getting used to the game and the Rockets' failure to incorporate him into their offense has lead to Yao looking very good every 5 games, and fairly average the rest of the time. To justify his current status as "the next big thing" Yao will have to put up 20 and 10 night after night. 2. Can he stay healthy?: This guy really is playing organized basektball year round. The guy must be in incredible shape because a lot of American born rookies can't make it through an entire 82-game NBA schedule and Yao's playing the 82-game schedule and tournament after tournament for the Chinese National Team. It has been reported on this message board just how brutal some of those Chinese workout sessions are so Yao is putting a lot of wear and tear on his body right now and at this rate, even Super Man would end his playing career by 30. 3. Can he bulk up?: I thought this was going to be his biggest problem, but Yao is actually pretty built for a 7'6" guy. Unfortunately, he's still a little too flimsy for the NBA and to become a true top center in the league, Yao is going to have to be able to bang with the biggest, ugliest, meanest power forwards in the NBA. 4. Can he develop agressiveness and a killer instinct?: The kid is too damn polite. I saw many a time this season when he would actually let the rebound hit the floor before taking possession of the ball. Yao needs to take advantage of his height and catch the ball off the rim where no one but he can get it. That requires him learning how to anticipate the rebound like Rodman and Barkley did and then going after it like a bat out of hell. In addition to rebounding, to quote Mr. Walton "Throw it down big man!!!!" If this guy develops a more aggressive attitude and a stronger physique, he very well could be the next Shaq. Where Shaq uses his enormous weight to overwhelm defenders, Yao would be using his height. Both Shaq and Yao have the footwork and the athleticism. Yao just needs to develop the attitude and a little more bulk (not Shaq bulk, but more bulk than he has now).
You can't teach smarts or determination any more than you can teach height or speed. Great players have great drive, determination and inner strength. Yao's greatest strengths are exactly those. He got beat up like hell, never cried about it, and played great. Yup, great for a rookie. Next to pg, center is the hardest position to play as a rook, and he was awesome. Based on that, it's literally insane to think that Yao won't improve. He improved from minute to minute, game to game, anyone can see that. Mark my words. He knows that the dunk he threw down on Theo Ratliff changed his life. He knows that the 19 and 30 he dropped on LA and Dallas showed that he belongs. We will see more dunks and aggressive play. We will see more reverse pivots with the ball held high (ala shaq) with a tim duncan, not shaq, finish. We will see him be more assertive as he understands that he is option 1 or 1a on offense. He won't be perfect or a finished product next year. But, there will be a marked improvement. Book him for 17ppg/9rpg/2.2bpg.
I'm still not (nor will I probably ever be) convinced Kobe plays any smarter than Francis. The only thing I'm convinced of is that he's taller and just the slightest bit more athletic.
17.664264 PPG 9.18844 RPG 4.89125 APG 2.18588 BPG 1.35872 TPG .774511 SPG Sign it, stamp it, seal it, and book it.
