Just heard Donnie on Fox Sports 1190 in Dallas and here is what he had to say. Donnie is the assistant coach of the Dallas Mavericks and is the honorary chairman of the Global Games that are coming up. Donnie also coached the Lithuania basketball team in the last Olympics. Many people in the NBA consider Donnie the foremost expert on foreign talent. Yao Ming was the real deal. He would be a very productive player in the league for a long time. He said Ming had very good hands and nice footwork. He went on to say that the Wang Zhi Zhi situation was having a major effect on Yao’s draft status. He never talked about Houston directly and did not mention if he thought Yao would be drafted #1 or if Houston would or would not have any success getting him to the US. He also mention Bostjon Nachbar and said that he was not nearly the caliber player of Tsika. Some other players in the draft that he talked about: Tsika: He said that he is referred to as Skita in Europe and that he had Dirk like skills. Hallario: Said that Nene was 6’11” with great hands and could run like a gazelle. He said that he would have a great career for who ever picked him. Lee Benson: He said Lee was a high risk and did not elaborate. He said that the Wizards were looking at trading the #17 pick that they got from New Orleans to Denver for James Posey. The Nuggets were then looking at using that pick on a point guard like Dan Dickua or Frank Williams.
Holy crap, somebody in Dallas actually PRAISED Ming! Hey Clutch, you better use a sticky on this post!
His father and Cuban are supposedly not too fond of Ming. However, I think they were just saying that to improve their trade status.
Donnie is more of a straight shooter than his dad and he has never said anything bad about Ming. You have to remember though that the Mavs have had a tough time with the Chinese government so their point of veiw is a little skewed. Also see how Donnie already new that Wang was causing major problems for Yao.
