Yao will be fine! Ben Wallce and J Oneil will defend him better than the Canadians, but pushing him out the paint won't stop him. HE CAN SHOOT! He has range and will score if they can get him the rock.
I feel sorry for Ming. He is only 21 years old. He has played in a league which people said is comparable to the some NCAA Division I weaker conferences. He has never been really exposed to decent coaching and weight training program. He is mostly playing his game with his tremendous raw abilities and talent. And now he's going to face the Team USA and he can almost expect no help from his teammates. (Can we call this match a Ming Vs Team USA?) I also heard the Team USA players are all fired up and planning to give him a rough welcome to the NBA. And we are expecting him to put up numbers like 25 pts, 15 rbs, 5 blks, 5 assists in this game. Remember Ming needs time to develop. He will be great, but not tomorrow.
The NBA big boys love to give rookie stars rough treatment, sort of like how college fraternity treat freshman members. Both Shaq and Kobe got "special treatment" by both his teammates and opponents in their first all-star games. Thursday's game is kind of like an all-star game for these players.
FRONT ROW (from left): Michael Finley, Andre Miller, Baron Davis, Reggie Miller, Jay Williams, Shawn Marion, Paul Pierce TOP ROW: Antonio Davis. Nick Collison, Jermaine O'Neal, Raef LaFrentz, Elton Brand, Ben Wallace Yao's like ONE foot taller than Wallace!
I don't want to get my expectation up too high on this game. Yao's a rookie and will be thrown in fire against an all star team. It's unprecedented that a No.1 pick, who's never played a single NBA game, becomes the main focus of a bunch of all stars in an important game. With that being said, I'm still optimistic that Yao'll put up good numbers, after all, he's much better than two years ago.
I think Rockets should feel lucky that Yao Ming has the chance to play NBA all star caliber players TWICE before his rookie season. Not many rookies have opportunity for such valuable preparation. After these two games, Yao Ming and Rockets have two full months to analyze his game against NBA players and prepare for next season. He will probably get 17 pt, 6 rb, 2 blocks.
I personally don't think it matters how he does, it will prove nothing. This guy is a longterm project. Put him in a time machine, give me the Ming three years from today, surround him with the current Rocket's players and I guarantee he will seriously kick their butts. I really don't expect the current Ming surrounded by a weak supporting cast to do much against the USA team. The USA is going to seriously kick China's butt.
Chinese guards won't pass Yao the ball, but he will stay in game as well, cuz fans want to watch him play, so officating will be lose on him.
man it looks like brand is taller than wallace. wallace wasn't lieing when he said he was 6'8 to 6'9. There C, and Pf have huge arms.
i think ming will not score alot, hhe will not get much touches, how will the chineese guards be able to give Ming athe ball, they didn't pass alot when they played non-nba caliber guards,so they will not get the ball by Ming, because they lost the ball already. And Ming will be double teamed, by the best nba defender and another allstar so it won't be easy when he does get a ball. 8point 5 rebounds 3blocks. he will do better with normal guards. and will do excelent with Francis and Mobley
Brand is 6'8" so looks like Wallace is about 6'6" which makes his stats even more impressive. Furthermore, he doesn't have Brand's wingspan. Brand's no slouch either as he led the league in OR's.
Panda and Solid have said it dont expect too much in this game from our Rookie. His touches will be limited. I expect 8pts 8rbs. 5 blocks. He is a 2 year project but will be just fine with Francis and Mobley, when he gets here!
