To all the people that point out 06/07 as his best season because of his 25 PPG average, riddle me this: 06/07 Yao took 819 FGA / 48 games = 17 FGA per game 08/09 Yao took 709 FGA / 54 games = 13 FGA per game 06/07 Yao had a FG% of 0.519 08/09 Yao has a FG% of 0.543 06/07 Yao averaged 3.48 TOs per game 08/09 Yao is averaging 3.19 TO per game You can't get more PPG if you're taking 4 less FGA per game! As I said, he is still as dominant as ever, but things have changed a bit with RA's offense. While Yao has a lower FGA and lower PPG, his FG% has improved. As I said before, you don't set a team record of 12/12 FGs (2 more FGs over the previous record) if you're not playing some of the best basketball of your career.
He was never athletic. He has always stumbled all over the court and he has always fumbled easy passes from his teammates but he always over comes his lack of athleticism to score and grab boards.
That was against Curry. It's not about his athleticism, it's about his mid range shooting. While his hook shots look better, he lost his turnaround and mid range jump shooting. Yao used to use mid range jumpers and turn around jumpers against slow but strong opponents like Shaq, Curry etc, and it worked very well. And it worked well when he doesn't get calls.
I have no idea what you Einsteins are ranting about. Yao still possess the same skill set as he did circa 2007. He just doesn't use those moves as often as he did back then due to matchups and defense.
I've noticed that Yao uses his body more so. For example, he might muscle himself towards the basket, or lunge across the basket for a layup. I do miss Yao's relatively quick spin move.
The consecutive leg/foot injuries do have an effect on Yao's game. He may have lost one step. His fake and spin moves are not as effective as they were a couple of years before. It doesn't hurt him as much as it would do to most other players since he was not that athletic to begin with and he will always be able to shoot over the top of someone. Yao can still put up 20/10 while shooting a high percentage. This is the good thing about a player like Yao whose game does not depend on his athleticism.
