I put 331-345 because with his height, he can afford to add another 15-20lb or muslce. Since Yao is not that incredibly quick anyway, I think he stands to gain more from the extra strength than any loss of speed or movement. Think about it like this, if Yao weighs more and is stronger, then he will probably get tired less quickly and he will be a lot harder to push out of the paint from the smaller centers who seem to not have such a hard time bullying Yao around still..
You're missing the 306-314 range I honestly don't think it's how much he weighs that affects how well he plays, assuming he's around where he is now. It's more how he uses that weight to assert himself that matters more. 315 is more than enough weight for a center to throw around in this league.
I think we should just keep him where he's at and simply GROTESQUELY EXAGERRATE his dimensions, kinda like they do in pro wrestling. Andre the Giant was a 6'11" fat guy who could barely move, but with a little tweaking, he became 7'4", 600 pounds, and the 8th Wonder of the World. Wrestling promoters made truckloads more cash off of him after that. With that kind of logic, Yao Ming could be 8 feet tall, 500 pounds of solid muscle, and have, oh, let's say 11 toes and an extra gallbladder. And we'll say he came to America to escape the authorities after brutally killing a man who raped his sister in China. The Rockets will make billion$!
If he gains weight, it'd better be in muscles and not in fat. But do you know how hard it actually is to put on 20-30 lbs of muscles? Even for a guy Yao's size, it'd take countless hours of hitting the gym. Even then, you'd not gain as much muscles as if you use anabolic steroids. It's a little too late to hook Yao up with BALCO now. I'd also be very concerned about him losing mobility as well as vertical leap if he gains any more weight.
I probably should have qualified my original post to include gaining MUSCLE WEIGHT not fat. However, at this point Yao could use ANY weight. Shaq's probably 10+% body fat but that's not hurting his game any. People always say every day when Yao wakes up he's still 7'6" you could say the same thing about him being 350lb or something.
I would say 10 more pounds should be enough for his body. 320 should be good for his size but any heavier, he's going to slow down. Strenght isn't my main concern, it's endurance and speed that he must work on more.
I like your thinking on this. However, I think Yao could still use another 15 pounds of muscle or so.
By the way. What is EXACTLY Yao true height? I'm keep getting he's either 7'5 and 7'6 with shoe or but said he grew to 7'5 1/2 this summer and they decide to make him 7'6 so that it sound more intimidating. But if he is 7'6 he shuld be 7'7 with shoes on?
He should gain about 10 to 15 lbs more, but the more he gains the slower he gets, remember that. Unless he conditions right which i dont think they care to much in china or they dont know how. Seeing how no1 over there really Hits the weights much
