Yao needs to learn how to pass the ball from Tmac, those bullet passes. His pass is somewhat slow, those quick NBA players are able to recover from double team.
Hakeem > Yao > Smits. Nothing wrong with the Rik Smits comparisons - but let's all agree that Yao is at least a very rich man's version of the Dutchman - who was a good player in his own right. I don't think the orignal poster mentioned anything about Yao > Hakeem. He was just making a point that a Yao isn't the underachieving wuss half you guys make him out to be. Basketball is a team game. When the Rockets go 0-8 w/o TMac - that means the TEAM sucks w/o him. I don't think it's fair to pin it all on Yao. I'd wager that the Rockets would have gotten completely blown out of those 8 games if Yao was not playing either. Heck - after TMac and Yao - the Rockets may have the worst roster in the league. All this crap about HIS team or being the MAN makes no sense to me. Tmac once went 0-19 when he was the MAN. Does that mean he sucked that year? NO. In Los Angeles, all Shaq seemed to care about sometimes was being the "MAN" on the team. As if - Kobe was only a complimentary roleplayer.
I think we can all agree that Yao has a LONG way to go before being compared to Hakeem, one of the all-time greats, BUT those of you that think Hakeem could dominate under any circumstance need to be reminded of the Seattle series in which a swarming defense...typical of what Yao faced without Tmac in the lineup...basically shut down Hakeem. NO CENTER can be effective without perimeter threats PERIOD. Even less-than-athletic Utah team used to cause a Shaq in his prime problems (forcing fumbles, strips, charges, etc)...and that was before the rule changes. Yao will be fine when this team can find some decent outside threats and a healthy TMac...we could very well be looking at a 22-24pt / 9-10 rebound center.
If Yao is allowed to do catch and shoot, as well as pick and pop, I guarentee he'd have averaged 25 points a game. Somehow JVG wants to let the guards brick it instead of Yao taking it. I'm not afraid of the Rik Smits comparison. Yao is too much Shaq and too little Rick Smits right now. Probably the avoidance to the Rik Smits comparison is one of the reasons Yao is Shaqnized. Yao should be 65% Shaq and 35% Rik Smits. He's a hybrid between both. It doesn't matter what style Yao plays, he's always better than the Dutchman.
Well as a loyal die-hard Yao Ming fan, I felt obliged to post something in defense of him. This was an interview of Layayette (Fat) Lever by a basketball magazine in China. Just read what he had to say about the Rockets, Yao Ming and the underlying reason of their current slump.
Yao responsible for the Rocket's 0-8 stretch is such overratted and uncalled for. You could say whatever you want about how he suck or whatver but don't have him accounted for the losing streaks, otherwise you're leaving out other star that goes on long losing streak as well, such as Wade 0-9 start in Miami 2 yrs ago and T-Mac's 0-20 stretch. All stars goes into these type of stretches no matter how good they are and the experience probally made them better overall players.
The problem is that Yao has not prove that he can lead a team so far, thus providing all the room for guys like Clutch et al to question his ability as a baller and leader. Unfortunately, Clutch is right until proven otherwise, and I am not sure whether Yao will get the chance to prove it as a Rockets.
That's so true. A 7'6" guy is assigned to guard perimeter night out and in, and at the same time, he needs to run back to defend board. I never saw Shark did it. How stupid it is, considering yao's physical limitation, Even elemetry school student can figure out it.
It's not time to argue or defend anyone, it's time to win more games and win all of them! I have not lost confidence on Rockets. Anderson and Swift are not that bad player, Just need sometime to fit in.
JVG create HIS own players. Never let players do what they do best. I remember last season, He and T-Mac had some talk and he freed T-Mac. I think Yao should tell his coach to free him. JVG should mold role players, not the nuclei of the team
Did any of you still remember those old days (before Barkley joined our team) when Seattle owned our numbers? Those Sonic under George Carl took a defense strategy against Dream that was borderline to illegal defense and made Dream completely inefficient from time to time. They got a center hold the Dream up from behind, Kemp was always ready to double team from forward position, and Payton constantly migrated in between Dream and our guard who intended to feed the Dream. And this is exactly what teams are doing to Yao on almost every game. Centers are in a totally different environment nowadays. Opposing team constantly double or triple team centers like Yao or Shaq without worrying about illegal defense. Teams can easily take a center out of his game no matter how dominate this center is. Do you really think that Shaq a lot of times is not efficient in the forth quarter simply because he is tired or his team mates ignore him? As much as I love Dream, I honestly don't think his stats, especially scoring and turn-overs, would be close to what they are if he were playing under the current rules. We all know that the only way to beat this double and triple team defense is to have the opposing team pay for leaving their men open. Unfortunately, the performance of our guards and forwards sucks right now. When Rockets get around their slumps, Yao's numbers will be better. But, keep in mind that the opposing teams still can take him out in clutch times if they want to. Go Rockets!
It does not matter whether Dream would be taken out the game by the current defense that the league allows. Dream played in the 90s and won two titles for the Rockets. On the other hand, Yao never played under the old rules and he has never led the Rockets to any glory. As such, he is exposed to criticism unless his play shuts people up.
Yao is a good center, not great, no matter how you want to spin it. He is good because his height and relatively good basketball skills. He is not great because he is slow. Not only his speed, so is his reaction time. IMO, it is very hard for a player to be dominant if his is slower than most of people, especially in NBA.
Hakeem was also frequently double and triple teamed the difference is with zones that they can do that now before he has the ball to make it difficult to get the ball. Hakeem would beat doubles and triples through both his amazing moves but also by passing to reliable perimeter shooters. If Yao gets position and can hang onto the ball he can beat double teams if the Rox perimeter shooters were on then he could kick it out and get an assists. While zones are hard on centers its not impossible to succeed against them. Its true the Sonics played essentially illegal D but they also had some of the games greatest defenders playing for them in the 90's. Other teams tried the Sonics strategy against Hakeem and the Rox and it didn't work as well because Hakeem was skilled enough and Rox outside shooters were good enough to beat them.
I don't think we need to defend Yao, since he could do it himself. As a Y(O)F, I will support him no matter what.
