WOW. It's the best piece of sports journalism I have EVER seen! Speechless! I feel better already today, even if we lose to the Lakers. But we won't anyway!
I like Yao a lot, but this is some crazy Yao-love. Can't we wait until he's a 20/10 player before we start thinking of him as the next 'greatest player ever to play'. I swear the standards some people put on the dude are impossible to live up to.
OMFG!!!!!!! Give him a PulitZ0r!!! Seriously, what makes you think Eric Neel reads this board? Is impossible to believe he came to these conclusions on his own?
"You don't fit and mold a guy like this to a system. You sit up nights scheming and dreaming some wild, beautiful new thing." i agree
On the other hand is there any doubt that he would be 20/10 if he were the focal point of the offense? I think that's the point of the article. I usually look at how many shots a player takes relative to the amt of points he scores. The mans averaging almost 17 pts off of 11 shots. That's efficiency. That's what we've been b****ing about all year, so why is it a problem that he gets more shots. I'm all for playing devils advocate but this is pretty clear cut as to what we should be doing. And it's not just the YOF's, its pretty much all media types who make this observation time and time again.
This is getting old. I am getting exhausted at dreaming of Yao averaging 17-20/game. Maybe the Rockets fans are born to suffer, and in 3 years YOFs will be happy to witness Yao being the man of his new team and going 25-10. Meanwhile, let's all enjoy SF and CM show for the next 8 years.
page 2 in general likes yao one guy once wrote something like "there's a new force in the league and his name is yao ming yao ming game's so nice had to say it twice."
Not really trying to defend JVG's system, but it is what Yao needs right now. Unless he gets better in the low post, teams are gonna push him out, and force him to make jumpshots. Then he will forever be know as the second coming of Smits. However, if he becomes a dominant post player first, then he can move his game outside. At that point, they will have to respect his inside moves, cut off his lane, and be forced to double team. This is when his smooth outside shot will start to work and pay off. you play big men inside-out...outside-in is for gaurds.....
Duncan, Dirk, Garnett likes made living out of outside-in. I guess if you are 7'6, you have to be glued on the low post. I really think Yao can shoot better at least than Duncan. If Dirk creates mismatch at 3 spot. Yao is going to create mismatch on every spot. We got cato, he can park there to grab the rock. I dont think Shaq can do much if he is double teamed before the ball is passed to him. But most of people dont mess aroud with Shaq like they mess with Yao. That Patchevko guy of seattle is going to be smacked if he play wrestle-mania on Shaq. Well, just an thought. The article stated clearly, the system needs to be creative.
this is very funny, but a very good analysis on the Great Wall ... and Walton (who would have ever thought he could be equally as annoying when he is speaking FAVORABLY about a player) but I have Yao and Francis in a fantasy league, so I follow their shooting stats closely - and on nights when Yao starts 2 for 9, he still ends up 7 for 14 (While Francis will end up 5-20 after starting 2-9). So, even if Yao is shoting like Francis (i.e 2 for 11) a review of the stats says that he is more likely to turn it around. Therefore - unless Cat or Francis is hot - statistacally speaking, Yao should still shoot the ball
As a Yao fan, I like what he wrote, but please don't put that much pressure on the guy. The expectation is set so high, there is no way for Yao not to disappoint everyone based on that standard. Yao's stamina is his biggest problem throughout his career, he had this problem when he was with the Sharks. JVG's system might be a problem down the road, but it's the right one for Yao right now. Yao's condition won't allow him to play a fast paced game, even with current slow-down pace, he averages only ~30mins. Can Yao become a dominating player to lead the Rockets to promise land? Sure it's possible, but he has to overcome his stamina problem and improve his rebound ability. Less than 9rb/game just doesn't cut it for a guy that tall. Better conditioning might help that, though. BTW, Yao had a let-down in the 2nd half of last season due to his physical condition. Do you guy think it will happen again this year? --daoshi
