yes if you were comparing the present yao with the 'MVP candidate yao' in 2006, he is much less athletic now. At that time his spin move was soooooo smooth.
seriously? do i just not remember those days? he seems to be the same slow yao. he is about as nonathletic as it gets in the nba...
I think he is still not fully recovered from last year's foot injury. You rarely see he can put that spin move on anyone this season, which was a main weapon he had...
You're thinking of Manute Ming. Yao Ming came into the league around 295 probably. He's always had a large base/huge legs. His upper body has bulked up while in the NBA which moved him up to around 310-315 probably.
I agree with that. Right now it seems pretty easy for opponents to slow him down. I feel like he is slower and ne isn't as dominat as he was. I still can't forget that game. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZsceCIzh6po&hl=pl&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZsceCIzh6po&hl=pl&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Those big men usually have injuries with their feet/knees due to stress of their body weight. Sometimes you have to choose one between strength and dexterity on the weight solution. It is a dilemma.
I don't think it has anything to do with Yao... Just that the league has figured him out. Yao still surprises a ton of people with his spin move, it's just that now the help comes a lot quicker (ex: Batum yesterday cutting off baseline). Overall, I still think today Yao is the same as 2006 Yao or perhaps even better, it's just that 2006 Yao was very seldom fronted (almost everyone played behind Yao and threw slow doubles at him, which was just probably the most terrible way to defend Yao). When teams made a concentrated effort to stop 2006 Yao (ex: Minny swarming him, the Suns pinning him with Marion up front and someone behind), he'd have terrible games.
BINGO! I don't see any difference. He has always been slower and less agile then most of the guys he plays against. He is just being defended differently now due to all the scouting. What ever the reason Przybilla always seems to play him tough...
exactly, yao's the same the last few years, he still does the same moves and sometimes does them as smooth and quickly as he ever has, other times the defender is expecting it and they bump yao, therefore slowing him down. So i dont think he's lost any athletic ability due to his NBA injuries, BUT he broke his leg i believe when playing in the chinese league before he came here, i rememeber reading he lost a couple inches off his vertical because of that.
His last injury really seemed to take a toll on him. He was never a Travis Outlaw, but he did seem a bit quicker. I don't expect him to have a long tenure in the league, maybe another couple of years. I would not be surprised if he retired when his contract is up.
I can't personally tell, but I know he's become more robotic, and is not nearly as creative with his play as when he was younger. I wonder if the bulk he's added plays into that. I would guess it does.
That game was just phenomenal, for me his best as a Rocket EVER. He was phenomenal. He was dunking rebounding, hitting jumpers and damn, he even had 8 blocks. It was his prime, a start of 2006/07 season.
Agreed. I don't see any loss in athleticism. Not to bring up McGrady but I think a lot of us look at him and forget that most NBA players don't age like he did. You don't see too many players lose a noticeable amount of athleticism before the age of 30. Hell, up until a few years ago players were considered in their prime during their late 20s and early 30s. Ron is another guy that I keep hearing has lost his athleticism. I think Ron's loss of quickness has to do with an bum ankle and the extra 25lbs of muscle he put on since he came into the league. If he gets that ankle fixed and decided to drop down to 235lb (I hope he doesn't) he would move like he did at 24-25.
Yao "Blocks" jordan, sure he was lighter in his rookie year but in six years losing this type of athleticism is saddening for a yao man like me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VZsNAkVRG4
maybe his vertical hasn't been affected, but i feel his lateral movement has been affected quite dramatically. he seems clumsier and more awkward than usual against double teams. some of the double teams that they forced at him last night were right in his field of vision, yet he still dribbled right into it. the yao of past would've spun baseline to avoid the double team. he rarely does the turnaround shot from the right block anymore. he's becoming less creative with the basketball, what happened to all those up fakes and spins we all used to love, and more repetitive, all he has now is the hook shot.
Are you kidding me? Yao looks the same speed and same athleticism in this clip as he does now. It's the Knicks in this clip that make Yao look slower, not Yao's degradation from a few years ago. Find a clip of Yao vs. the Suns from a few years ago, and all of a sudden, you will think he looks slow from a few years ago! IMO, Yao is playing some of his best basketball this year but is taking fewer shot attempts than he did during his so called "prime" season a few years ago when he averaged 25 pts per game, under JVG. Adelman is less focused on Yao than JVG is. The key is his FG% and which is higher than several years back. How is he not playing some of his best basketball when he shoots 12/12 and sets an all time Rockets record?
