NY TIMES ARTICLE ON YAO..... INSIDE THE N.B.A. Yao Standing Tall Against O'Neal By CHRIS BROUSSARD Published: March 7, 2004 n the two games before his matchup against Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming was outplayed by Seattle's Vitaly Potapenko and produced only 13 points and 4 rebounds against Portland's Theo Ratliff. Yet against O'Neal, the game's most dominant player, Yao looked like Wilt Chamberlain. Lofting soft jumpers over O'Neal and uncharacteristically banging with him inside, Yao outplayed O'Neal for the second straight time. O'Neal's Lakers won, 96-93, thanks to Kobe Bryant's last-minute heroics, but the 33 points and 8 rebounds Yao produced left people stunned. "I have not seen anybody play anywhere near that successfully against Shaq since Hakeem Olajuwon nine years ago," said the analyst Bill Walton, who called the game for ESPN. "I am staggered by his level of achievement against Shaq. Shaq is such a force, such a power, that he intimidates everyone else and basically just makes them quit. Shaq literally scares everybody away, yet he inspires Yao Ming to unparalleled heights. "If Yao Ming played against everybody the way he plays against Shaq, the Houston Rockets would be in first place and Yao Ming would be the most valuable player in the N.B.A." It is not as if the 7-foot-6 Yao shut O'Neal down. First, they were not always matched against each other. Second, O'Neal had 28 points and 7 rebounds. But it has been nearly a decade since a center came close to equaling O'Neal one on one, let alone outscoring and outrebounding him. On Feb. 11, Yao outscored O'Neal, 29-24, and outrebounded him, 11-9, to lead the Rockets to a 102-87 rout of the Lakers. In their three games this season, Yao is averaging 26.7 points and 9 rebounds compared with O'Neal's 24.7 points and 8.7 rebounds. Most important, the Rockets have won two of the three meetings. Perhaps wisely, Yao is humble about his success against O'Neal. "I think every other player is in Shaq's shadow," said Yao, whose Rockets have won three of the five career games in which he has faced O'Neal. "For me, I think the most important thing is experience. Having accumulated experience playing against him has helped." Wally Walker, Seattle's president, is amazed at Yao, especially considering that Yao has averaged only 16 points and 6.7 rebounds against the Sonics' pedestrian duo of Potapenko and Jerome James. "He plays with great confidence against Shaq," Walker said. "Clearly his focus is great, because when I watch him against Shaq, all he does is make all of his shots. I don't know him, but you wonder where he gets it from." It is not yet time, though, to put Yao, who is averaging 17.1 points and 8.8 rebounds, ahead of O'Neal, or even in his class. Yao does not always bring the same tenacity against lesser opponents. Until he can dominate the way O'Neal does every time he takes the floor, he will still be eating the Diesel's dust. ---I have to agree with this guy-although it seems Yao is coming around now- I still feel he saves his best game for Shaq. "If Yao Ming played against everybody the way he plays against Shaq, the Houston Rockets would be in first place and Yao Ming would be the most valuable player in the N.B.A."
By the way, here's the link to the article... http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/07/s...00&en=5f9a44cef1cd5ac1&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
"If Yao Ming played against everybody the way he plays against Shaq, the Houston Rockets would be in first place and Yao Ming would be the most valuable player in the N.B.A." ANYBODY, ANYBODY ... who scores 30 points against everybody, his team would be in first place and he would be the MVP in the NBA. I like NY times. They got a guy who was convicted for making up false stories about Iraq and 911 events.
I really get annoyed when writers make it look as if Yao can't do well against mediocre players. I mean, if the Sonics had played Yao one-on-one, Yao would've easily had a 30 pt game. Shaq is good, but he's not anywhere close to the defensive ablities of two or three players.
I also hate how some people try to put down Yao's accomplishments by having to add things like " oh Shaq was tired" or "they were not even matched up most of the game". The point is that Yao is improving greatly and he will oneday be MVP. its ironic, a year ago in his first game against the Lakers where he scored like 20 points and made Barkely kiss the donkeys ass, sports commentators always added "oh but Shaq wasnt there". Now in his last two games he scored 28 and 33.
Originally posted by Gatorfan76 Yao does not always bring the same tenacity against lesser opponents. Until he can dominate the way O'Neal does every time he takes the floor, he will still be eating the Diesel's dust. I hate to read this crap! You have to understand those puppies manhandled Yao in a brutal, dirty, unsportsmanlike way under the shelter of the blind refs! If they match Yao in sklls, they are trash!
