Seriously, Yao has added considerable muscle since last year. Of course, if he gets stronger still, he'll be all the better. I'd like to see him swing a player off the ball when they grab it, rather than having it stripped.
Here you go. The kid has been addicted to Starbuck. his lack of aggressiveness must be due to lack of Starbuck during the game time.
Does he drink caffeine drinks during the game and right before? It's not ephedrine which is illegal in the NBA. http://www.nba.com/hornets/news/licht_031029.html " Armstrong, who devours caffeine like most of us chug Abita Springs water, is like a Tasmanian Devil when he enters a game. His energy, speed and scoring ability allow the Hornets to maintain tempo when Davis goes to the bench; plus, he can team with Baron in the backcourt to provide additional offensive options."
Yao's second half disappearing act is getting old. A game is 48 minutes, not 24 minutes. Maybe cutting the summer extracurricular activities will help.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/63764/1/.html Yao's 7-foot-5 frame includes much more muscle thanks to workout sessions and some help from Anthony Falsone, the Rockets' strength and conditioning coach. "Yao is much stonger this season," Falsone said. "Last year, he played at about 290 pounds. This season, he came to training camp at 304 and he had added some solid muscle. "We have him on a maintenance schedule during the season, and he lifts weights two or three times a week. He's at about 318 now and he's very strong." I remember reading elsewhere that Yao did workout 4 to 5 times a week while he was in China this past summer. I also remember reading that Falsone flew to China to check on his workout.
I think Yao has enough size and strength to hold off almost every body in this league. It's his attiude that does not match up w/ his body and strength. Yao heart right now is smaller than Mr. Boykin's left pinky. I'm tired of his sissy, wimpy, victimized attitude.
Intense weight training sessions that promote muscle growth need recuperating time. If Yao is working out to actually build muscle and then going to practice the next day to run sprints, he's going to be dead tired. His muscles won't grow in that kind of environment. He needs to eat well and sleep a lot in between workout sessions. Maybe if he just tagged along with the Chinese basketball team but didn't practice, that may be alright. He'll just play in the games.
Do you equate height with strength? I thought this notion was already dispelled with logical arguments a long time ago. If height equals strength, Shawn Bradley is one of the strongest men in the world. Yao is Chinese. He's battling against black guys who could put the wood to him even if they were a foot shorter than him. Like I said before, take a 6 foot skinny Asian kid to the local basketball park. Have him try to post up against the 5 foot 6 inch muscular black kid. It's game over for the Asian kid. He won't get any position at all in the post. Yao needs to put on muscles. Look at Nene. Is Yao stronger than Nene? No way. Yao guarded Nene, and Nene did squat. Does Yao have to be as muscular as Nene to play well? No, but he does have to put on more muscles. If Yao puts on more muscles, he'll get more confidence to bang in the paint. If he doesn't, he'll stay soft. I doubt I'm wrong about this.
Wow, now you're saying that even though Yao is 320 pounds and quite strong, he needs to get stronger just because of his race? Come on, man. Look at Bradley and Yao standing side by side. Yao is a thick dude. Regardless of his race, he should be playing stronger and with more intensity. His problem is his mindset and his stamina. Strength is not the real issue here, in my opinion.
Nowhere in my post did I associate height with strength. My point is Yao already has the physical tool and fundamental skills, enough to play against almost everyone in this league. I keep on hearing some people say that Yao's priority is to get stronger, I agree, but right now I feel Yao needs to improve on his attitude more than his strength. What good is it for him if he gets stronger but still have the same passive mentality? If Yao just show a little more agressiveness and assertiveness, his game would easily go up another level without even have to add another pound of muscle. You equate race w/ strength is such a typical post from a stereotypical peoples. So you'll telling me that even if a 6 foot skinny nerdy black kid post up against a 5 foot 6 inch athletic muscular asian kid it's still game over for the asian kid right Mr Charvo? You telling me that Yao will never get stronger and will never match his strength against his black Brethrens because he is Chinese? So you are the one who believe that black is only good at sports and nothing else? And you believe asian are good at everything else but sports? Someone mentioned on this board somewhere that China is currently have the most gold metals in olympic weigh lifting competition. How do you explain that Mr. Charvo?
charvo man.. sometimes you make some good posts and then soemtimes your ignorant as hell, that may have been the stupidest thing i've heard on this board, did you even read what you said? you basicly said take someone that is 6 foot and very skinny and have him post up against someone thats very muscular?? no matter what race they would have problems getting post up position. If you are trying to say asians are not muscular then well, you need to get out more. The chinese dominate weightlifting in the olympics and plz look at mengkte bateer on the raptors
My intent is purely to illustrate that Yao has more skills than almost any other center in the league and most power forwards. However, he won't be able to fully reach his potential as a player in the NBA until he fills himself out. Yao is a milestone. How many other Asians in the world can actually play better than most of the big men in the NBA? The last thing Yao should be doing is depending on his skills solely to survive. He should at least try to bridge the gap between his physical attributes and that of other NBA big men. If this is the total extent of his physical maturation, I don't think Yao will be a great player. After a quarter of banging in the paint, he's already sucking wind. Upper body strength greatly affects how long a player can withstand the punishment in the paint.
i agree with most of your post except singeling out asians specifically to prove a point. There is alot of upcoming talent coming from asia and they will have an impact soon enough. Not many people in the world can play better than most big men in the NBA regardless of race. Thats why their in the NBA.
I completely disagree that Yao needs more muscle. Could he be stronger - sure, but he absolutley doesn't need more muscle. Adding mass for basketball, just isn't needed. I also question how important upper body strength is for B-ball. The only time you need upper body strength is to finish a play when fouled. If you are fouled, you are going to the line anyway. This guy isn't going to be Shaq no matter how much he lifts. Garnett is extremely effective inside and he is not a muslced up guy. He IS quick and explosive. To me Yao's example should be Jabar. If Yao learned a sky hook, he'd be unstoppable and he'd quit getting his shot blocked. He likes that fadeaway, but when you fade you don't get maximum height on your jump. He should use the fadeaway to complement the hook. Hakeem was better with the fadeway because he was MUCH quicker than Yao. He also used a jump hook to keep guys from over playing the fade. Yao should do the opposite. I would like to see Yao improve his quickness, foot work, and jumping ability (not height but quickness off the floor).
Kevin Garnett doesn't look muscular, but I think he has almost zero percent body fat. His body is basically bone and muscle. Upper body strength includes the back muscle which is very important when posting up and rebounding. Other big men are elbowing Yao in the back to keep him off balance. Yao is having to expend a ton of energy to keep himself steady. Get someone to push you in the back while you are standing up. It takes strength to maintain position. This is why I think Van Gundy needs to minimize Yao in the low post until he gets gets more muscles up top. Yao is basically almost a zero in the 2nd half due to all these guys busting him up in the 1st half with elbows and shoves. This is the NBA. When Yao flops, it's just an embarrassment. Get the muscles, so he doesn't have to flop. He doesn't have to be Shaq or Karl Malone to not get crushed in the paint.
Growing to be 7'6 is a feast that Amare will never achieve. BTW, his turn around spin often spins so much that he cant even find the rim.
I can't believe anyone mentions Amare's 'turnaround J', LOL. He shoots that maybe once every 2 or 3 games. He usually shoots a wide open 15 footer and makes it half the time. That's his 'new' J.
