Yao has some elite skills. Passing is not one of them. I cringe when he gets the ball at the top of the key. A good passing big man can play from there. The fact that Yao hasn't shot well from 18 feet out isn't the only reason Adelman doesn't want him playing out there. You need to be a good passer from those spots.
This is an interesting topic. I think he has good passing instincts and he' no ball hog by any means. However - his slow reflexes really hurt him here. So I think he comes out to slightly above average. If he had just a little bit better reaction time, then I think he could rank up there with the best big man. However, that is not the case.
I compare him to probably the 5th best big man passer in the game, right behind these 5 guys Duncan, Shaq, Dirk, Brad Miller and KG.
His court vision has improved a lot over the years, and he has basically become a weaker version of Hakeem in that department. His passes aren't as fast as Hakeem's and sometimes they take too long and are thrown at too much of a lob to catch the rotating the defense off-guard, but still, it's better than the average center who becomes a terminal destination for the ball once he catches it in the low post, with the exception of the backdoor dump-off to the open forward if he gets doubled up. Yao probably won't ever be as good as Miller or Divac in that he just can't find the cutting man across the paint. But that's such a small part of our offense now, it doesn't really matter.
If you took the top 5 worst passes from our season so far, I think Yao would have every one of them (well, McGrady earned a spot for that lazy, behind the back pass to the Hornets fans). Sometimes he throws the ball into an opponents hands. Other times he throws it out of bounds. His predictability on passes is off the charts. His slow reaction time is off the charts. His inability to deceive defenders in passing lanes hurts him. He telegraphs almost all his passes with the very, very occasional very good pass. I just don't see how he is even average for his position, not to mention compared to all players.
I have seen Yao make that pass in the past, where the cutter slashes in the middle and he passes it to him. However, looking at the games it doesn't seem to happen anymore like you said. Yao Ming is a good passer for the guy to shoot the 3 ball, which is what the Rockets need. But I do agree with everything you said in your post.
I'm guessing you are one of those YouTube people that bash on Yao for being rejected by Nate Robinson. Seriously, Stop looking at the big amazing flashy plays and look at every single one of the plays.
That is outrageous and intensely flawed. Spencer Hawes, Miller's backup, is a better passer than Yao. Far better. There are tons of other better passing big men than Yao. Every big that came from Europe or South America is probably automatically a better passer than Yao. The list goes on and on.
By the way, if the results of this poll are even close to "average", once you remove the Chinese bias due to Yao Ming mania, I think you will get the true results.
He's good, but he's a lot less creative than I expected him to be. In his first few seasons, it looked as if passing was going to be one of his strengths. Now I'd say he's reliable if a bit predictable.
Yao is a WILLING passer, he's UNSELFISH. He's a great guy who wants to see other succeed. But it doesnt add up to Yao being a talented passer. Arvydas Sabonis was the true super-size passer extraordinaire, THAT GUY could zip passes. Yao is not on his level, Yao is average.
gotta remember most of yao's passes (minus those meaningless ones in the high post) are under pressure. i doubt how well many other bigs can pass the ball under the same pressure yao faces constantly in the low post. remember yao's rookie season? his passing skills seemed a lot better back then.
My goodness. UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR When Yao becomes a passer, the name on the back of his jersey changes to Mr. Predictable.
Now, that I agree with. I did think he was going to be a good passer back then. I don't think it's just the attention that changed that though. Some of the passes he has made when he is wide open at the top of the key have been beyond horrible. He's tentative, predictable and far too often the result is a TO.
Yeah, Sabonis. He was fun to watch. Predictable yes, but he usually makes the "right" passes. Which is basically how I've come to feel about his game in general.
Before Yao developed his dominant trait to be of a scoring variety he had a well rounded offensive game. He would look for his teammates alot more, as a result his most efficient passing season came under Rudy. If he would have continued along that path he couldve easily been in the Brad Miller mold of passing but he wouldnt be Yao. Out of players with Yao's scoring responsibilities hes an average passer, poor playmaker due to his lack of footspeed, not overly aware of defenders body positioning or his teammates when really pressured, which leads to alot of his T.O./Rejected Shot attempts. If you consider every turnover is either a bad pass or a play that shouldve been passed off, then Yao becomes a below average passer. He has his moments but only if the defense is repetitive and recognizable.
