hi Sorry if it might have posted before! I heard people keep saying yao is a bust. May i ask you guys, what's your expectation from a No. 1 draft pick (not necessarily yao)? Lets say the pick is in the position of centre/power forward, what's your expectation statistically in 1, 3 and 5 years? Is Olowokandi, brand or brown considered as a bust? Dragon
? brand a bust? what? olowakandi? not in my book. yao has come from china, only played ball here in the usa for a short time. everything different big change for him.
Times have changed... Sometimes 1st picks are bust: Joe Smith. Decent player, but not worth the 1st pick. Sometimes drafts are just weak. In the future younger players from HS and international players will start to be picked 1st. Thus, they become "projects." Here's a list of current HS players in the NBA... ...the list is getting long! Kawame Brown Kobe Byrant Kevin Garnett Shawn Kemp Tracy McGrady Darius Miles Jonathan Bender Jermain O'Neal Al Harriongton Rashard Lewis DeShawn Stevenson Amare Stoudemire Eddy Curry Tyson Chandler So, forget about "old" measurements of what's "worth" the 1st pick.
I'm not certain I understand your reasoning - are you suggesting that we are being too harsh on Yao by labelling him a bust? Or are you just asking for the expectation - generally speaking, there's a fairly high expectation of a number one draft pick; Kwame Brown has been written off because he played poorly last year, labelled as a wasted number one pick. If Brand's numbers are anything to expect then Yao's got a lot of work to do! He got 19 ppg, 10rpg and 1.8 bpg his rookie season, numbers he's put up every year since then too. Joe Smith was seen as a bust, and even he averaged 13ppg and 7rpg along with a block per game. those numbers increased until he was traded. I think that Yao will be labelled a 'bust' if he only averages Joe Smith numbers after 3 years; a raging success if he gets numbers like Elton Brand! I don't think this season will be an indicator for him - he's got a lot of off-court adapting to be doing. I think it's safe to give him a season to get his feet wet and then see how he goes (for stats that is - performance wise he seems ok in his limited minutes - on offense that is!)
The expectation for the #1 pick in the draft is that he will lead his team to a Championship during his career. But it usually dosent happen..There have been only four players to achieve this feat since the Rockets drafted Olajuwon first in l984... Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Shaq O'neal and Olajuwon all centers or big forwards, all rookie of the year except the Dream. Four Champs since 1984 ..thats it..... Thats the standard Yao Ming will have to meet .
