I don't think its unreasonable to say 15pts 8 rebs and 2blks. Comparing players and skill, Gasol avg 10ppg on his spainish league team and most nights in the nba guys were stronger than him,but his overrall basketball skill is what madehim a pretty good player. Think about this , he has Shaq 4 times,Dike,2 times,zo 2 times,Divac 4 times,Robinson 4 times, and thats pretty much it. All the other games he wll have Jake T, Lorenzen Wright, J. Collins, and guys like that. I don't see why he shouldn't or won't unseat Cato, like Francis did Cat, andput up nar double-double type numbers. I also don't think he'll hit the wall like a lot of the college players do since his seasons are longer than the college season and the nba nightlife he really wnt experience.
If he makes 30 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks a game, He shall be realizing his potential and having a very good time with Rockets.
Kim, this was one of the concerns I read in the media. That when Ming played the US (real competition), he was going for every pump fake thrown at him and stayed in foul trouble. It will take him a couple of years to learn the NBA game. Some of these high predictions, in this thread, are laughable. People are making him out to be a sure thing, when most scouting reports are stating he could be a great player or a total bust.
Does anybody really think are guards will stop shooting 20+ shots a night, to give Ming a chance for 20-30 ppg? They barely included Griffin in the offense. If KT is not traded, you know he demands the ball alot. Ming would be lucky to get 8-10 shots a game. Regardless, when Ming receives his welcome party from Shaq (and every other team), I expect him to do the same thing as Wang (and Griffin-last year) and wait at the 3 point line, where it is safe.
the short answer the the question is: MORE THAN CATO OR COLLIER ARE GIVING US!!! 10 pts 7~8 rbs 1 blk 3 assts 15 minutes Rocket RIver
Yeah, but Griffin is 6'9 220, this guy is 7'5 almost 300lbs. On most nights eve now, he will be bigger than most of the guys he's playing against. Why would Rudy even have him past the ft line when you can start th offense quickly with him at the mid post. I feel if Rudy doesn't think he can come and produce better than Cato and start, then they sholdn't even draft him. We're wasting our time with Cato and he's bes suited to come off the bench with"energy" instead of conserving like he did last yr. 15pts 8rebs and 2blks along with a good fg% and this team wil certainly be playoff bound.
If Yao is way better than Gasol, I'll be surprised... From the video footage posted on the board I watched a couple of days ago, I wasn't impressed with his so called athleticism, particularly against what appeared to be fairly weak competition. Gasol had spent several years playing pro basketball here in Europe, which is a reasonable level of competition. Pau displayed great aggression in his first year in the NBA, and some fairly polished inside game. How has Yao even had the chance to develop this? Potential picks are always a bit too much of a risk for me, as well as the "you can't coach height" argument. Gasol is a young guy, who put up very impressive numbers in his first NBA season. With hindsight, he should have been a no. 1 pick. Yao Ming has been very, very hyped, based on the fact he is 7' 5", and not totally unskilled.
It is interesting to note that Shawn Bradley has the following averages in his first year. 10 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 40% FG, 60% FT, 28 MPG while starting 45 out of 49 games. Everyone thought that Bradley is a bust. So our expectation for Ming has to be higher if we think he is worthy of 1st pick. Although I think Ming might struggle in the first year, he should flourish in second year and beyond.
Pau Gasol...is the man. I mean this guy is like my fav player now. Everybody was talking about he would be a tweener as a 7 foot SF...but he has turned out to be a physical 4 with loads of potential on the block in the post. I can only hope Ming turns out to be at least 75% of what P-P-Pau is...Pau will average prolly 23, 12 this year and will only get better. The Griz have a great roster...they're definite at the 4, battier at the 3, michael dickerson at the 2...lorenzen wright. Too bad they can't get Jay Williams so he can replace White Chocolate.
1) Cato will be the starter. That's just how Rudy does things. Vets are higher on the depth chart. 2) Yao Ming will not put up better rookie year numbers than Gasol. This is not a criticism of Yao. It just means Pau was more NBA ready at the start. Because the pivot is more demanding to learn, Yao may lag slightly but eventually will surpass Gasol. 3) My favorite Yao Ming comparison is Rik Smits. Smits' rookie year numbers were not that much better than Bradley's. That's where the similarities end. Yao will be statistically comparable in year one, but have a bigger gain in productivity than Smits and Bradley in year two and beyond. 24 mpg / 12 ppg / 6.5 rpg / 2 bpg / 2 apg If you focus totally on numerical production, you will lose sight of the fact that Yao will be opening up the driving lanes for Steve and Cat. Look for his presence to make them better.
