Is Yao.. dare I say.. ripped?

don't you EVER in my presence say the words "Eddie Griffin" But hell yeah, he looks buff!

 

He sure as hell made his defender look like a small child. After he fell down and got dunked on, i almost pitied him.

 

For a guy brought up not to embarrass anybody, Yao sure fecked some dudes up last night. Is Yao... dare I say... "Getting It?!"

I think Yao is starting to realize what his added strength can do for his game. The Magic game was fun to watch because Yao needs to feel *disappointed* with himself when he doesn't crush teams trying to single-cover him. The more games he has like that one, the more I feel like he'll try to test the limits of what he can do...

 

I have from good sources that with the new contacts Yao is wearing, everyone looks Korean.

 

I just hope him lifting too much wont affect his mobility, and his quickness.

 

Yao is getting bigger

I know alot of people in here may notn think so. But I see a large diffence in Yao's arm size compared to last year. I can tell he has been in the gym. It's hard to see when his arms are soo long. But there is a diff. It will take a couple of more years for him to max out. Right now he is still being pushed around alot but he will get better in ther low post as did Hakeem. Hakeem was not that big when he came into the league. It's just nice see Yao blossuming into a young version of Hakeem.

 

I think a lot of people notice that as well. What Yao develop during the CBA was his shooting and skill. It was unfortunate that they don't stress on strengh as much as NBA. Largely because it was not that physical, also he is bigger and taller than anybody else in CBA. It would have been a big difference if NBA had spotted him a few years earlier. But then, Rocket may not be so lucky to draft him.

 

Merged kickingback's thread into this one

 

Yao is farther ahead of Hakeem, or should I say Akeem, was after 1 1/2 years. Akeem wasn't a good free throw shooter and had very little range on his jump shot. He couldn't dribble or pass and was in foul trouble all the time. But he worked on everything and got great at everything. Let's hope Yao does the same thing.

 

I'd say he's more chiseled than ripped...Lots of definition, but still not the biggest bulk...not that it's a bad thing...

 

Why the hell is Yao looking up? Isn't the basketball goal below his eye level?

 

Can someone post a before and after picture??

The before pic can be last season and the after pic can be this years.

 

Akeem, indiviually, had not developed his game after 1 1/2 years to the point where Yao is right now. He finished his career 100 times better than where Yao is now. I lived in Houston in Akeem's second year, (and first year too) and I can tell you he couldn't do the things Yao does now.

 

Before:



After:

 

buzz1701



I watched him back then also. I also watched him with the Cougars.

I just don't see Yao as that far ahead if at all. Hakeem/Akeem's stats were better over the same period. Breaking it down, I'd put Yao ahead of early Dream in range, variety of moves and passing, but Dream takes Yao in PPG, RPG, Blks, and steals as well as consistency of perfomance.

That said, it'd be fine by me if Yao played well enough to change my opinion before the end of the year. A few more Orlando type performances and I would.

 

if you look at just stats, then Lebron is better than Yao, as the idiot miami writer claims. I get sick of people just looking at stats all the time. For example, Brad Miller puts up big numbers on a great offensive team that plays a fast pace. Because of these numbers, many claim that Miller should be in the all star game ahead of Yao. You could also say the same thing about Caron Butler getting some ROY votes ahead of Yao last year.

 

Let's not forget Akeem nailed his early stats sharing responsibilities with the other Twin Tower. No question about it, he was better... but also far more prepared.

Personally, I don't care to compare the two. Why bother? Yao Ming is who he is and he doesn't have to be Hakeem 2. Like you mentioned, his court vision and passing are already pretty stellar, and barring injury the sky's pretty much the limit for is growth as an NBA player.

 

At this point, Akeem was far superior in regards to stats and the ferocity in which he approached the game... watching Yao develop before our eys these last 6-7 games has been amazing though... I hope that he can keep it up.

Stuart