I wonder how long it will take for people on here to hate Yao

"Hating" and constructive complaint are two different issues. Hating, almost by definition, is not based on any logically/factually reason but an emotional, non-sensical one. The question should be when can you start constructively complaining about something? If in 3+ years time Yao is averaging 10 points, 5 boards, I'm pretty sure you'll see a lot of both going on, though.

As a sidebar - I don't think being a sports analyst, in general, requires that much more expertise than being a sports junkie. It's not like the difference between a doctor and someone who likes to watch trauma shows on TLC.

 

Sadly, I will watch every game regardless, until that happens.

But, yes winning cures all.

 

Hops apologists just love bringing this up. And while true in theory, it doesn't seem to happen all that often. For every player that I hear "he lacks fundamentals, but you can't teach athleticism..." perhaps only 1 in 10 actually ever deveops fundamentally. The comment is way too glib.

Moreover, it's harder than you think. First, it requires very hard work. Secondly, it's just not always even possible. Skills can be developed... but some certainly have more potential there than others, that can't always be traced to athleticism.

If Francis practices 24 hours per day, he'd still probably never have Stockton's technical profficency. If Ricky Davis shoots 10,000 jumpers per day, he'll still never shoot like Reggie Miller.

Sometimes, raw athletic players develop. But more often, they're out of the league in 5 years, or are relegated to minor roles on bad teams.

 

I thought this thread was about when we should start bashing Ming again...nevermind

 

Agreed, and very well put I might add. But the fact still remains that coaches and GM's still take a chance on players that show potential that is based largely on their athletic abilities. Hence the term "project" that is used to describe players. They may excel in one area of the game, but lack or need time to develp in many others. Hence the Amarie Stoudamires, the Chris Wilcoxs, and the Hilario Maybyners to name a few.

The context I used it in was in the extreme to prove the point that coaches and GMs would take a player with who was a great physical specimen or had athletic abilites and try to work on the other aspects of his game, before they would take a player with neither, but was fundamentally sound.

 

Somehow, I get the feeling that people would start bashing Yao Ming sooner than one would think. His performance has dramatically raised the expectations(perhaps realistically so) from fans.

I hope people don't get on Yao if he ever hits the rookie wall or has a sophmore slump. But hopefully he won't.

 

Is it fair to blame Elton Brand for not reaching the playoffs in his first 3 years as well?