NBA games have been broadcasted in China by Cable TV pretty regularly in the past several years and I think real NBA fans in China knows NBA pretty well. I don't know how many of them are voting, but people who vote may know NBA good enough to vote guys other than Yao. Just a thought.
ok, maybe the votes might look skewed but i dont see any conspiracy, chinese voters still know shaq is the best and they might actually honestly vote that, some of them at least. besides, we all know that the league loves yao, the execs for the market potential and the coaches cause they respect his skillz. if they dont choose yao, the execs will be down their throat. everyone knows the potential he has to change the league, so forget about whos winning and just accept that he'll be playing in the all-star game without a doubt
I dont think so. Chinese fans wait the vote time for a long time. If Wang or Bateer's name on it, they will vote them.
people think that just because yao is chinese that chinese will automatically vote for him. yao's still pretty much an unknown. and even in the areas he is well known. people still prefer buying allen iverson and michael jordan posters over yao's. there was a news report about how almost nobody bought yao's posters. he's not that popular. he's not jordan or iverson. more exciting players. if yao was a high flying slam dunk champion who defied gravity or something, he might get more votes. but being a center isn't that exciting a position. david stern shouldn't expect too many jerseys to sell in china. unless their iverson and jordan's.
OMG guys. RELAX. Shaq 480,894 Yao 471,107 Not bad at all! Now, if Yao had 3 million votes right now, people are gonna whine about the Chinese, which I'm sure Yao wouldn't want. 471,107 is a realistic result, so I don't see what's wrong with that. Besides, as big a Yao fan I am, Shaq IS better than Yao right now isn't he? Now, let's assume that these numbers are final numbers. East: T-Mac Iverson Carter Grant Hill Wallace West: Francis Kobe Duncan Garnett Shaq lol West wins no question.
Thank you. I wish I could find the article, but I remember reading during the offseason that Yao isn't as big in China as people say he is. I think it also said that soccer was still more popular and people knew the national team players better than they did Yao. I still don't see what the NBA has to gain by screwing over Yao. Can someone confirm that there is a 3rd party who tallies the allstar votes. Finally, I'm no expert, but how often have 10 million people tried to access a site at the same time? It was probably more like 10,000. It just got spun to 10 million.
of course, he's largely unknown. not all of china has television. only around 15 million people out of a billion tune in to watch him play. and still damn near nobody buys his posters (as a news report recently confirmed). people buy jordan's and iverson's posters and ignore yao's. there is no freaking yaomania in china as some of the media have tried to exaggerate. he's probably more well known in the US than in china. china doesn't have sportscenter or the stupid ming dynasty headlines everywhere. there isn't that much hype over this guy in china. maybe in hong kong and shanghai which are the larger cities in china. but not elsewhere.
Well, I dont think they have counted the Chinese votes yet. The counting is probably still in progress. Anyways, look like Ming's lock in the all-star game.
I am pretty happy to see Yao Ming and Steve Francis high in the balloting. Steve is pretty much a shoe-in to make the starting lineup. The Yao Ming / Shaq battle for votes will be interesting as the season goes on. That LA vs Houston game on Jan 17th will be huge! Tell ya what though..with the way Yao Ming is playing now even if he does not beat out Shaq for the starting Center spot, I think the West All Star coaches have to put him on the team. I see the all star team taking 5 guards, 5 forwards and 2 centers (see my team below). I would pick Yao Ming over Divac or Kandi in this situation. And I think they are the ONLY serious choices to beat out Ming for that spot. But the way Ming is playing now and how dominant he is being I just can't see him being overlooked here unless they just go with "seniority" and pick a Divac. But still, if Yao Ming is "neck and neck" with Shaq when the votes are finally done and ends up losing I just don't see him not make the team AT ALL. So far Yao Ming has EARNED the All Star votes that he is getting and I think he will be rewarded! FYI, my West All Star team would be: G:Francis, Bryant, Payton, Nash, Finley F:Garnett, Duncan, Nowitzki, Webber, Brand C:Yao Ming, Shaq I think that team is pretty solid and pretty deserving. I think the only people on that list that people can argue about are Finley and Brand but I think they are having career years this year. They have to be there! The big losers would end up being Shawn Marion, Andre Miller, Stephon Marbury and Antwan Jamison. They are having great seasons but for my money can't beat out anyone else that is already on the team. Chris
I am very happy that Yao has that many votes. I mean come on folks. Yao has the sixth most votes of any Western Conference player and he's a ROOKIE. I think you have to be pretty happy with that.
Yao hates Back-to-Back games.... Rookie Game + All Star Game... What a damn SWEEEEET busy weekend!!!!!!!!
I think that the coaches might give David Robinson the sympathy vote. If Yao doesn't get voted in, I can see him getting screwed by the coaches.
Just wondering if any cc.netter has access to the data-mining software which is used to detect tax return fraud. I think those software can predict the probability that these numbers have been fudged. Not that it matters, but it will be fun to do that IMO. Shrimpie
