But then there are lot of other things you could do to make up for your lack of size. For example, you could hit the outside shot, have a patented jump-hook or turn around, and play smart team defense. What I want Ming to do is bulk up sufficiently enough that he can play the NBA game and not get shoved around. Hey may never be able to gaurd Shaq, but he could block other people's shots and play defense on taller 3s or 4s assuming he has the good movement with his feet, which I hear he does. People like Shawn Bradley become a liability when they can't do anything except stand in the middle. The NBA has been full of undersized players who have made it big by improving their overall game. Charles Barkley is the first that comes to my mind. Can anyone imagine that a 6-4 could rebound so well? Stockton and Hornacek are other two people who don't have the bulk but have the guts, shooting skills, and move very well without the ball. I could go on with such examples.
why is everyone so concerned with ming not being able to guard shaq? noone in this league can guard shaq. so get over it people. shaq will only be in the league for another 5 years max. ming is only 21 years old. so does that mean he will only play for 5 more years? i dont think so. lets say he plays for 10 years, injury-free, and lets say that these years are with good production that means he will be in the league for 5 years post-shaq. then it could be ming who would be the most dominant center in the league. as far i know the current state of centers, excluding shaq of course, is pretty weak. its not like the days when olajuwon, robinson, mourning, ewing etc were in prime and were the dominant players in the league.
With all due respect to your <400 posts...... My comparison had nothing to do with the country of China. Read tariq's post above. He explained it for me.
I don't think Ming needs to bulk up much. He is 280lb for goodness sake. When you add too much weight, thats when the injuries come. Look at Collier, He added weight and busted out his knees. Ming will not get pushed around. Bradley doesn't get push around too much, except maybe by shaq. Bradley's problem is he is just plain slow with little coordination. Ming is different, he is reasonably fast, has good hands like Dream (this guy steals the ball), great range, and has court vision. Ming will just need time to adjust to the fast and physical nature of the NBA. I see him in three years as a 20 pt, 12 rb, 3 blk kinda guy which will be fine by me and the rest of the NBA. That and the fact that he will change alot of shots just by standing around.
That single statement tells me you have not once seen Shawn Bradley play basketball, or that you drank on your lunch hour. No one gets knocked around and pushed around under the basket more than Bradley. He is soooo frustrating to watch. He gets knocked off his feet by opposing players when HE tries to back them down. Ming will get that too, initially.
You can't be serious. Please no Dream, Wilt, Kareem, Russell comparisons just yet. It's funny how a lot of people say all Ming has to do is get used to the speed and power of the NBA game and then he will be fine. Do you know how many top players NEVER get used to the NBA style? That NEVER get used to how fast and physical the NBA game is and end up being scrubs or overseas? Come on. Give the league a little credit!
If you try to stereotype, you'll get it wrong...bet me on that. Sure, China plays a different style of play. But every single individual has their own style. Every individual is an exception to the rule of "style of play." You'll be unsuccessful if you try predict Ming's success by watching ZhiZhi. I understand your point about wanting to see ZhiZhi more...but I disagree with your premise that you can use him as a predictor.
I dont think HoopT is stereotyping...all he is saying (i think ) is that ANY foriegn player takes time to adjust to the NBA and the competition it brings. Ming, as good as he is, will still have an adjustment period. Hopefully, if we end up with him, it wont be a long one. Secondly, never (at least in my memory) has a Chinese player come over to the NBA and come close to becoming a star. Not Zhi Zhi , not Bateer, and being that those are the only 2 comparisins we have, why should we expect anything different? Lastly, have you watched an Olympic game in the last 10 years? There is a reason we dominate the competition. We are better...a LOT better. Granted, the players we send are our cream of the crop...but the Chinese, Lithuanian etc all send their cream of the crop as well....and there is NO comparison.
Who knows? That is the scouts job, and there seems to be a pretty strong consensus among NBA coaches and GMs that this guy is the real deal. Compare and contrast the situation to a certain Nigerian we all know and love. Perhaps we "shouldn't have expected anything different" back then, but thankfully a towel-wrangler over at the University of Houston did.
Not nearly the same thing...Akeem came into the NCAA and played against stiffs like Joe Kleine and John Koncak...there's a slight difference in coming here and playing against other teenagers and guys who would never amount to anything more than a garbage time player in the NBA and coming to play in the NBA against the best players on earth
There's also a slight difference to being (more or less) new to the game, and having played organized ball (at any level) for 7-8 years. I don't think anybody thinks this season or next will be overly pretty for Ming (again, remember Olajuwon's first year at UH!), but the upside is possibly unlimited.
You have made my point. You are sterotyping and just admitted it. You just refuse to call it that. It is human nature to stereotype. Just be aware that you are doing it...knowing is half the battle. Look, if Ming has some fundamentals, is athletic enough, is court smart enough and has the desire then he'll be successful. It doesn't matter if 8000 Chinese players failed before him. If he's "the one" then he'll do well. Since we only have 2 comparisons, any person w/ statistics 101 would tell you that we don't have enough data to say "Chinese players can't be successful in the NBA." It leaves too much for inidividual variances between players. P.S. Sorry it took so long to reply, I'm out of pocket while my mom's in the hospital.
I, personally compared him to Wang Zhi Zhi because they both played against the same competition and that is all I have to judge it by. Conversely, when Dino Radja, Peja, Hedu, (im sure im leaving oout a few lithuanians/russians) came over, we based our outlook on them given the fact that they played against better competition. Its not a chinese thing...its more of a 'level of competition' thing. I hope mom is feeling better
Put Shaq in Chinese team, what do you want from him? A single talent can never save your life. plain and simple.
I can tell you didn't actually watch that game. I did. He did not get dominated. I anything, he was dominating them by changing their shots, and China was leading until he had to leave the game with foul trouble. Then China got destroyed. Oh, and did I mention this is when he was 19 years old? Why has it gotten so trendy to trash our franchise big man?
I can not believe, after almost one season, day in and day out Ming proved himself he can play in NBA, someone still question his capability. I can not believe that I am still pissed off by missing playoff, No Ming on TV? too bad.
How little most of you know about Yao Ming. Yao Ming is a finesse player not a banger! It will take a couple of more seasons for him to make the mind set! In China they didnt play the push and grind game we play ,they consider things like sportsmanship, forms and grace as important as we think of strength and bulk. So Yao Ming has come a long way in one season and hopefully with the help of Moses Malone that he might turn into a regular NBA Player!
