That's what I thought. I know Yao gave his all so I have no complain, since he's no Shawn Kemp or some other people that are just lazy ass that's collecting max money and don't want to put in the work. However, I also think he can carry this team, he's just not used to play so many minutes several games in a row. Plus his teammates are not healthy and the psyche of the team is down, as soon as we get healthier, we can make a huge surge to become the best team in the west.
Shawn Marion is a 20/13/3/2/2 player shooting 51%. that's KG numbers without the passing or very similar to Duncan's numbers. he also gets only a little more than one turnover a game. he is by far the best player on the team right now, and is probably the biggest reason that the Suns have a winning record. he also surprisingly durable for such an athletic player.
Yao has exceeded my expectations. When he was drafted, I thought he would be a Sabonis at best and a Bradley at worst. He's a Sabonis - that's great.
I meant that I'm satisfied with his progress the past 3+ years. Besides, why can't you be what you are and still be making progress? I don't find that contradictory at all. I never said "Yao will stay what he is." Good Lord, it's just a figure of speech. I was just trying to emphasize that Yao is Yao, a possibly peaked borderline all-star player as opposed to something more Shaq-esque. Fine he's a good player, but he's never shown the ability to "carry a team" (granted I suppose he's never had a chance). Regardless, when you play a team with Shawn Marion on it, you don't automatically think to yourself, "Oh, if we shut Marion down, then we're sure to win." If it really bothers you that much, take him off the damn list then. You're just nitpicking
Wether or not the team wins, I think yao should concentrate on his stat now, just like what T-mac did when he was in orlando. Rocket probably will not go far this year ( Sura not coming back, T-mac still inured). So Yao should think more for himself, increase his own stat, keep his market value high, in that way he might be able to go to a team that has better teammates/coaching staff someday.
Exactly, we already know T-mac is a loser, any team T-mac has been on is a disaster. The Magic team with T-mac on it can't win anything, a >18 game losing streak. It's been proven T-mac can not carry a team. Now it's been proven Yao can not carry a team. The day when Houston traded for T-mac, the team is doomed as the team traded away the heart and soul of the team. I would say trade both T-mac and Yao for somebody else. Anybody is better than the two losers.
You have to joking? Sabonis?.. Sabonis in his prime was a freak. only reason the NBA fans were not able to see him in his prime was the because of the evil communist stae( soviet union) blocked his every move. in his prime he could play, SF, PF, and center. yes a 7'4 small forward. he was that good.
Yes, Sabonis in his prime was probably the best center in the world. But I think NewYorker was talking about the Sabonis who played in the US.
I'm not satisfied with Yao's progress but I'm not all that dissapointed. Yao has shown flashes of brilliance and is playing better in general than he was but he still hasn't found consistency. I agree though all the get rid of Yao talk is premature.
Who cares that other idiotic GMs have given unworthy players max money? What kind of low expectations-type rationalization is that? Never define yourself by examining other screw ups. The fact is Yao makes max dollars and cannot even play at full speed for 40 minutes a game. Name one other max player that operates that way. You can't. I like Yao, I want him to succeed. But he is not a young player anymore. I say that the best move for the Rox is to trade him. (For who is another story.) CD needs to look for depth to build around T-mac rather than fielding a team with a borderline star like Yao and a bunch of scrubs.
The problem with that is what kind of player would you like in return for Yao? I can understand the argument that Yao might be overpaid. However, do you have any idea what big men like Yao are making these days? Yao-like players are averaging 12 million a year. If we're not willing to shell out that type of money, someone else will. These theoretical big men won't come to Houston if we're lowballing them. It's highly unlikely that we'll get another Yao-like big man for significantly less than what Yao's making.
