Charles Barkley mentioned a language barrier last night concerning Ming. I thought Ming spoke English, and that was one of the reasons Rudy and CD coveted him so much??? I could have sworn I heard reports that Ming spoke good English, and that the language problem wouldn't be an issue.
I wondered about that, too. Especially after they had the interpreter on hand right after he was picked. Felt like we were in a Stop-N-Go.
He does speak English...kinda... He speaks good enuff for on the court action... reports are that he's been studying English for about 3 yrs or so.. As usual last night, Barkley was mis-informed.
I knew I saw it somewhere. He should at least be able to learn "basketball-speak." <b>Yao, Rockets Meet Face-To-Face </b> By Clutch Rudy Tomjanovich, Carroll Dawson watch Chinese National Team practice, meet and talk with Yao afterwards According to Carroll Dawson this morning, the Rockets group did meet with Yao Ming Wednesday in China. Both CD and Rudy Tomjanovich watched about 3 hours worth of the China National Team practice, and both Rockets execs were thrilled with Ming. According to CD, Yao spent most of his time in the high post at practice, and he was defended constantly with double and triple teams. The most impressive thing? Yao's passing. He didn't turn it over once. Steve Francis has to like the sound of that. As well, both CD and Rudy spoke to Yao after the practice for some time, and that too went extremely well. CD said they handed Yao a Rockets 2001-2002 media guide and the first question Yao asked? "How's Maurice Taylor?" Somehow I doubt Rudy and CD answered with "overweight and smokin' doobies", but I digress. Yao didn't stop at Taylor either as he inquired of other players on the team, which means it's obvious he's been reading up on the Rockets. Good signs. Overall, CD raved about the experience, <b>saying Yao's english was better than he thought. </b> There was no mention as of yet on how things have gone or will go with the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
There was a story I read about foreign-born players who were still not completely comfortable with English. The article was specifically about Hilario and how his brother was his interpreter. The concensus was that a player who had fairly rough English skills would have an interpreter for dealing with the media. Their biggest fear is being mis-quoted and they are worried the language could create some of those barriers. I can understand that. Yao, contrary to Troy's jabs, DOES know about some of the Rockets' players (his line about Francis was a joke - he was laughing at the time) and DOES have language skills that will be enough to handle himself on the floor. It's not like he's the first guy to face this challenge and he won't be the last.
I figgered he used an interpreter cause he was nervous or didn't want to be misunderstood. I don't think communication will be a problem. btw....2 to go at this time till 10K.....go Jeff.
Was it me or was Hilarios interpreter too funny. First he shows up late, then he isn't listening, and then its looks like he just made some stuff up. The whole time just looking like one of the guys. Hilario, on the other hand, looks like a winner.
Was it Tskitishvilli that jokingly said he didn't do ballet and only women do ballet. That was a hysterical-but-awkward moment. lol.
If you noticed, during Ming's interview on TNT, the reporter was asking Ming the question and he was nodding along as if he understood but waited for the interpreter before he responded. I think he understands more than he can speak.
Yao has a good sense of humor(as we've found out previously) and I think that's great.He appears to have a laid back outlook on life and any communication problems that might crop up should fall away over time. ALL SYSTEMS GO!
He knows English to the extend that he says " Houston, I am come (in stead of coming)" to the camera. Seriously, Chinese college kids(Ming one of them) mix grammar in spoken English, but they do fine in understanding English. BTW, that interpretor (a journalist) does mis-interpret at one time. Dee (To the NT coach): Does Yao Ming ever meet a physical player like Shaq before in games? Interpretor: Can you compare Yao Ming to Shaq in phycal and games? (in Chinese)?
Today's news from Chinese Media Ming told reporters that he phoned Coach RT immediately after he was announced the No.1 pick by the Rockets. Ming said that he was able to communicate with RT using some simple English, but could only understand 50 to 60 % of what RT said. Ming on his NBA career: "Maybe it (the NBA) is a paradise. But at the same time it is an unknown and unfamiliar world. I have to be prepared for the toughest competition. I'll have to compete with centers from other teams, including Shaq from LA, to gain experience." Ming on the huge amount of money he has to pay to both the CBA and the Shanghai Sharks: "These are trivial matters. I join the NBA to play basketball, not to make big bucks."
"Ming on the huge amount of money he has to pay to both the CBA and the Shanghai Sharks: "These are trivial matters. I join the NBA to play basketball, not to make big bucks." I think this quote alone makes Ming even more of a special player. Does he mean he wants to come to the NBA for the love of the game and not just the money! What a novel concept. Hopefully hanging out with the players in this locker room won't change him too much.
Exactly. These guys are afraid that if they try to do the whole interview in English, they'll say something clumsy like "it remains to be seen how he'll help my game." Especially the Canadians.
Pretending you don't know english is a defense mechanism. I have friends that do it all the time. If they don't want to answer something they pretend like they don't understand or the answer a different question than the one asked. It works great. I dated a chinese girl in High School, and she told me her dad was busted for going 55 down the feeder road of 59. When he got pulled over he pretended like he didn't speak english and pointed to the 55 mph sign on the freeway. The cop let him off. I wish I had the balls to pull something like that off.
Heck, with RT's gravelly voice, *I* only understand 50-60% of what he says . Compound that with the vagaries of international phone calls (and from the pictures I saw, a cell phone call!), and its amazing he got anything... Seriously, Ming's English is probably better than Oscar Torres', and there weren't any problems there last year.
a) he is the intepreter for english players on shanghai b) he does speak broken english....like......"Pick" and "shoot" and "handsup" and "shuffle" and "roll" and "drop down" and "free throws" and "block" and "rebound" and "you go here" and "pass the freakin ball" and "outlet pass" and other wonderful basketball terms c) I played ball with spanish speaking only folks in mexico and broken english kept us communicating very well with clip boards! d) as usual...kenny smith and barkley sounded like idiots....more Kenny because is kept harping on it.... Broken english and a clip board will work...no one could ever understand Sam Cassell...
Kenny Smith kept harping about the English matter. My god, half of the NBA doesn't speak proper English anyway!! (or at least an English that I can understand). I remember when Hakeem's only English word was "unbeatable" and look how he turned out.
