Can the newcomers search the board first between starting a new thread on a topic people have been talking about for over 3 years now?
I think he is underrated for a number of reasons. The biggest reason is that the opposing defense is ALWAYS keyed to try to take him out of the game to the point that he is double teamed or fronted before he ever touches the ball on nearly every play. Once he gets the ball, he is generally double or triple teamed, further reducing his opportunity to have an impact that appears in a box score. Even with all of this going on, he STILL averages 19 and 9, the best averages of any center in the league right now. To expect more seems like a bit much. Also, Yao continues to get absolutely zero respect from the officials. He fouls people's elbows with his face, gets scratched and beat up on a nightly basis, and picks up fouls that would have Shaq paying huge fines and serving suspensions for getting into the ref's faces. A big part of this problem is Yao himself, in that he has not made a point of getting into the face of a referee regularly enough to show them that he just isn't going to take it any more. But even though he gets no respect from the refs and all the respect in the world from opposing defenses, he is STILL the best center on the floor any time he steps into the lineup. He creates open shots for his teammates, shoots at a high percentage, and does many of the little things that end up translating into wins. Yao is underrated.
yao is over criticized he is what he is... he is a great support player but doesn't make his teammates better like true superstars and he can't carry a team on his back consistently.
I really want to see what happen to YAO when ROX get a good PG, if he still doesnt have a burst, then he will be whatever he is right now. every player under JVG will not have good numbers, except TMAC since JVG let him control the game. I think if YAO play in other teams, he will be 22 pts guy easily.
The Rockets DO have a good point guard. One of the best, in fact, and his name is TMac. You can tell that Yao benefits a great deal from having Tmac on the floor. I am not sure he will be better in other places other than Pheonix/Sacramento/New Jersey.
It's funny because I was thinking to myself the other day that Yao Ming is far and away the most underrated player in basketball. Far and away. Just a year ago, I considered him far and away the most overrated player in basketball. He has been basically the exact same player since he entered the league, yet his status amongst the "experts" fluctuates so greatly because of the hype machine. They build him up to such a high level that they have no choice but to tear him back down even further when he can't meet the lofty expectations. Many NBA players have had this done to them - they haven't changed a bit and have always been the same player yet media opinion of them completely shifts. Jason Williams, Vince Carter, and Steve Francis come to mind. Even as recently as the beginning of last year, Yao Ming was anointed as the next great big man after showing so many glimpses of dominance. He hasn't put it together, looks like he won't, but he hasn't regressed, yet the consensus has now become that he's a disappointment and an underacheiver. Keep in mind that when he entered the league, most thought he would be a project. One year later, he was the next Wilt. Now he's Rik Smits. All along the way, he's been the exact same player.
I don't think that he is either. If he were as massive as O'Neil, the I would say that he is over-rated, because his style is very physical. I think there should have been an option for "As expected"
It is the flashes of brillance that keeps the high expectations going: the first Dallas game in Dallas, the Orlando game (the one that made TMac a Ming fan), and so on. On average, we see about three to five of these per season. Much has to do with how he is defended, but it is like Ming can only "get really up" a few times a year. He has size and skills, but he is too slow for the NBA game. Plus, and maybe most significantly, he lacks the temperament for the NBA game. Greatness will alude him, but he will be a good player like Smits, Sabonis, etc. Frankly, I had high hopes but I have given up, he just doesn't have "it." Above average, overrated. Thought he would be an A+, but he is more of a B-.
That's why TMAC is so important to this club. When he was out, no one can feed YAO and YAO didnt have any easy shots, and we had 0-8. But also, TMAC was doing too many things and he is shooter not pure PG. Camby having monster numbers right now, but I think his numbers are very over-rated. DEN's game plan is let CAMBY get D-rebound and make fast-break points, almost 50% D-rebound belong to him. On the O-side, he got so many open-jumper and layup. 90% of his points are so so easy. A.Miller is very good PG right now
In how many of the Rockets' losses this season was Yao the leading scorer on the team? Most, if not all. Somebody else has to step up. Yao can't do everything. When you have a guy who draws as many double and triple teams, you HAVE to have guys who can hit open shots. And our guys haven't been hitting those shots. Which wouyld translate into probably 8 more wins. And if this team had won 8 more games, we probably wouldn't even be having this discussion.
He's an AVERAGE Center. Highly overrated. Could do worse, could do more. He hasn't taken over a game in how long? Like somebody said the other day, he's never REALLY ruined us, & cost us a game, but he sure as crap hasn't dominated a game 4-ever long! Personally, I'm sick of seeing his flat-footed style. Sick of seeing him get CHEESED (remember that term?) every game by dudes I've never even heard of. He has no set play to be ran through him on a consistent basis, ala Kareem, or Hakeem ... He should be dunking that ball, getting in close & drawing fouls instead of whining to the refs every effing game with that dumb look on his face. Waaaaaaa! Even I hate that look! You know the look too. Admit it. He has good games every so often, & I thought he was awesome in the playoffs last year, but what happened? Personally, I'm shocked! I thought he was turning the corner. Now he's getting cheesed by people such as that ex-Cavs scrub Doop or Doyp, or DER & the like. People he should DOMINATING, like how he dominated that scrubby Dallas center guy last year in the playoffs. I don't his name either. I only know the ROCKETS ... don't care about the name of scrubs. I STILL don't even know that ex-Cavs guy ... Doip or Diop or whatever. Those kinds of guys are ALWAYS getting the best of him. Dunking, cheesing, out-hustling ... it's horrendous to watch sometimes. Yao could be a very good Center, in time ... but he'll NEVER, do you hear me, NEVER, carry a team on his back! It's just not in him. Wake up, white people.
Average? It does seem that those who says Yao is overrated tend to underrate him. There are 30 starting C is the league, and you think Yao is average compared with those? You gotta be kidding me.
This season, overrated, because he is not standing up to the officiating against him, thus conditioning him to be an ever-softer player. Case in point, last night, a few times he gets three or four feet away from the hoop, then shies away from contact and gets blocked or blows the layup. I know there's a shotblocker in there, but an all-star center has GOT to be able to draw a foul or dunk from that close. Make shot blockers think twice about trying to go for the block. And if the refs let him get brutalized with no-call, then complain like hell. Grab the ball from the ref, get a T, the works. Also, he doesn't seem to lean in to create space for himself under the basket to use that body effectively. Maybe he's thinking the refs will target him once again. The more scratches and punishment Yao gets, the better the chances are he will take it upon himself to do what is necessary to earn respect from opponents and referees - if someone bodies up on him too much then send a dangerous elbow or hard shove their way. This will cut down on their overly aggressive behavior towards him. How many times does someone have the courage to give Shaq the Yao treatment? If he makes the highlight shows because he goes on a long tirade with an official, so much the better in the long run. Even mild-mannered guys like Duncan or Robinson have gone ballistic over trivial calls during the game, and even gotten better treatment that very same game. What will then happen is that the sports highlights shows will all replay Yao's antics, but ALSO THE BAD CALL(s) which led to the tirade, thus increasing media awareness of his plight. The image transforms from Yao, the foul-prone player, to Yao, the unfairly targeted player. Show the ref what a real offensive foul looks like, and get some technicals when the ref gives him these ridiculous ticky-tack foul calls.
And of course, were it to happen, the instant we trade him to New York or Los Angeles, watch his fouls per game drop by about two, and his free throw attempts double. The media will attribute it to how he's suddenly "learned to play more aggressively and/or intelligently".
I agree completely with everything you've said. Pre-draft, when people here were asked what their expectations were, most would've been satisfied with 14 points, 8 rebounds or so - eventually. Once he put that up his first year, everyone hyped him up unreasonably, calling him the next great center. Barkley bet Kenny Smith that Yao wouldn't score 19 points his first season. Now, Barkley bashes Yao for not putting up 30 points and 15 rebounds every game. What changed? Not Yao, at least not much. Expectations changed, and now he's considered soft because he's not Shaq, and can't tear down backboards.
He's overrated in the sense that all of this "Shaq Vs. Yao," " Yao Vs. The Wolfman," "Yao Vs. Gamera" HYPE, has been brainwashed in our heads for four years by ESPN, TNT, & the entire media. He's not a 20/10 guy, & never will be! He's no more worthy of mentioning in a headline, "VS SHAQ" sense than that bum that plays for Dallas. "Ooooh ... tonight, on TNT, it's Shaq VS Dampier!" Oooohh! It's hype. & hype never lives up. Nor has Yao. That's the poll, right? Overrated/Underrated? His name shouldn't be mentioned before T-Mac, EVER! We know who's team this is. You know it. I like the guy. I think he tries. I root for him. But he is what he is. He's not the second coming. He's a mediocre talent that's 7'5, or 6 or whatever he is, that's Chinese. Big Whoop. Still gets cheesed nightly by whatever second team scrub covers him. & I'm still waiting for him to take it outside like everyone says he can. Every 15 footer I've ever seen him take ... off the rim. I don't even care about Brad Miller, & I'm just throwing this name out ... that guy makes Yao look horrendous every time he plays him. Girl you know it's true.
trade Yao for Brad Miller? Not sure how the salaries work because of Yao's extension but I'm sure the Kings would throw in someone else. Head Bonzi Wells (?) TMac Swift Brad Miller (?) I'm pretty sure the Kings would do this trade in a heartbeat.
