If you had asked me about Yao Ming before the preseason started, I would have whispered that he was vastly overrated. I wouldn't dare post it on the BBS. They talked about needing to run the offense through him, talked about him like he was a premiere big man. I thought he had the potential but just wasn't quite there yet. I'll tell you now that after watching tonite's game and the preseason, this guy IMHO is going to be considered one of the top 5 players in the game this year. Some of you will say this is a bit premature, but I ask you to just watch this guy play. With where they are getting the ball to him, he is virtually UNGUARDABLE. Like Steve Kerr said, I find myself in shock when he misses a shot. They're running the offense through this 2nd year player, and he's finding the open man, something Akeem couldn't efficiently do until he became Hakeem. This guy is no longer a rising star, he has arrived. He scored 19 tonite in under 20 minutes, isn't that enough evidence to suggest that he should average 20+ with ease? Do Rockets fans agree with me? Will Yao Ming just be considered a star along the likes of Steve Francis, Jermaine O'Neal, and Elton Brand or will he join the ranks of Shaq, Garnett, and Tim Duncan this season as one of the league's most feared players? I honestly think he can.
Personally, I think he'll be somewhere in between. However, 21/10 is a HUGE improvement over 13/8. I also see him playing better defense and blocking shots at a higher clip. Basically, I'm telling you that we're replacing last year's Yao Ming with a 21/10/3/3 monster. We're also replacing Rudy T with a defense-first coach, yet we scored 100+ points last night. Denver have a solid power rotation with Camby and Nene starting, and there aren't many teams that can put that kind of tandem up against Yao. Will Yao join the likes of Shaq, McGrady, Kobe, and Duncan? I don't think so. Will he be in the same class as O'Neal, Brand, and Amare? Slightly better I think, because he's a better passer than all these guys, a better FT shooter, and a bigger presence. Let's not forget that he's playing the C position, and we all know that the C position is the most important on the team. If I had to make a presumption, I'd say he'll land somewhere in between. Not in Duncan's class, but above Brand's class.
All-Star... and all though his stats will probably be good enough, it will be because of the millions of popularity contest votes.
Unfortunately I dont see how he EVER will be a MVP because he simply is tooo unselfish. He doesnt get gawdy numbers. The media or whoever votes for the player with the best stats + record. The suns and Spurs and Wolves will pretty much always hang around us record wise,but amare,KG,duncan like to "take over" and score as MANY points as possible. The voters dont care much about team defense, or shooting % . It was obvious last year when amare won roy. Dunks gets you on espn ,all espn shows is mainly dunks. Unless yao wants to EMBARASS people by shoving dunks down peoples throats,he will not get the votes. He is trying to "bulldoze" like amare and shaq right now,but the refs are sooo stupid they dont want him to embaress the league by scoring EVERY single time. IN theory,if Ming wanted to score 100 pts he could but the refs wont let him. Shaq bumps people and they fly and no foul is called,and ming touches someone and its a foul on ming every time because he is just so noticable and big so refs focus on him. Yao also doesnt want to "carry the team on his back". He likes it more to share with his teammates and thats all it seems. We can win the championship but Mings numbers will always be less than Garnetts. Mings rebounds are also very alarming low. Even espn mocked him today with his only 3 boards,even though we blew out denver and ming only played 23 minutes but espn doesnt care about excuses. Like I said in another thread, idiots only look at two stats points,rebounds, and rank players that way. Thats way everyone outside of houston thinks amare is better simply from stats and not from game influence. It takes a basketball wizard to understand the complex influence ming brings that doesnt show up on stats. The voters are not smart. Also with Cato grabbing alot of rebounds now ,that takes some away from Mings. However in my book, Id rank Ming already #2 behind Duncan. When the rockets end the season with a better record than spurs than I will put ming #1 in nba.
Yao is good. I never doubted Yao's skill. He is 7-6...with talent. He is scoring more..but he has to keep up with Amare and Lebron and all the youngsters who are doing well. I don't think he can be a top 5 player. There are too many good players already. And a bunch are stepping up... For example: Eddie House! 20+ points?!?
If Yao wins then it will mean two things: 1. he puts up great stats 2. most likely the Rox will have to have an amazing record Both of which will bring a collective orgasm from cc.net. Oops, mean cf.net now.
Ive always felt that Yao would not have a problem scorings, its his rebounding and shot blocking I am worried about. In order to be Top 5, Yao is going to have to become a monster on the boards and on defense also. I get frustrating watching him miss so many rebounds and have smaller guys able to shooter over him. Hopefully, this will improve over time. Someone get him some "Jimmy" shoes.
Yao's rebounding techniques are still work in the progress. JVG and Ewing will work with him hard to fix it. I guess their primary concern right now is to Yao to low post on offense. Rebounding is a lesser concern since Cato is doing it well. I have no doubt that Yao will be a MVP candidate this season. In my opionion, he IS already a top 5 player. Offensively, he cannot be stopped near the low post. At 7-6, with tons of offensive moves (dunks, hook shots, layups, fadeaway jumpers), shooting FTs at near 90%, clear court vision, and great passing skills, Yao simply cannot be stopped offensively. Defensively, he is always casting his 7-6 frame near the basket, daring people to come to the paint. With Yao and Cato, Rockets opponents are going to find the basket smaller each day. However, Yao's rebounding techniques/aggressiveness have huge area of improvement.
I agree with those pointing out his rebounding flaws. It may be his technique or it may be his short arms which allow defenders to poke the ball away before he gets firm grasp of the ball. Either way, he is easily one of the top 3 centers in the league.
Either Yao Ming has small hands for his size or his hands are just very slippery. I notice he gets to the ball but just can never manage to get a grip on the rebounds.
Yao will be MVP when he leads us to the promise land!!! (at least 2nd round this year, conference finals next year, and nba champs the year after that!!) Oh, and Yao was robbed!!! He was the true ROY last year and will be the true MVP soon.
I've been onboard with Yao from that Sunday moment Steve was on stage at the drawing. I can still recall the suit and that look on his face when he figured out the Rox had the #1 pick. There was never a doubt in my mind about who they would pick. I'm not sure about the Top 5...maybe. IMHO, the Rox can be a very dangerous team if Yao gets his defense on the same level as his current offensive game. The benefits of his rebounding and blocks allow the Rox to uptempo more easily. I'm probably one of the few that does not want Yao to score much above 20 points. I feel the Rockets can be very effective (and dangerous) with 3 near 20 ppg players (Yao, Cat & Steve) and 3 others in double figures. (Yao's ppg does not equate to touches...I'd prefer an efficiency rating to a ppg total). The Pistons were regarded as one of the NBA's best defensive teams last season and gave up 87.7 ppg. If Yao, Steve and Cat can get you 60...you only need 10 each from Cato, JJax and MoT to win a lot of games.
I was watching the suns last night and noticed how often amare is left wide open rolling to the basket. teams are so scared of marbury getting in the paint they just take their chances with amare. Yao on the other hand, is never open, and he creates opportunities for his teammates. Theres the difference between the two.
I hate Amare, but in due time, I think Yao will learn to use a little brute force and put the back on his shoulders
Yao cannot be single covered for very much longer. And he is still learning how to be more aggressive and assertive. By seasons end though I do believe other coaches will rate him in the top five of toughest to defend. Already coaches are starting to build their game plan to shut him down. Hardest to defend I think will soon look like this: 1. Duncan 2. Shaq 3. McGrady 4. Garnett 5. Ming 6. AI 7. Kobe These are the guys teams have to have a game plan for or they will control the game
My order for Top 5 would be like this: 1. Shaq 2. Duncan 3. Yao 4. Garnet 5. T-mac AI can be easily stopped. Just put a quick guard to front him. Mobley did that last year. Lue did it in the 2001 NBA finals.
I must say, it was alarming to see him grabbing just 3 rebounds yesterday. However, that was in just 20 minutes. However, I'm pretty confident that Yao will grab around 10reb per game this season, as long as he plays around 35 minutes. I also easily see him scoring 20ppg. How about assist numbers? I think they will go up significantly when Pike comes back and as Boki gets more comfortable in the rotation.
3 rebounds is nothing to worry about after just one game (where he played half a game). Worry if he's averaging 3 boards per game after 5 games - then there's trouble! But there's absolutely no reason to think that will be the case - last season he snared over 8 boards a game in just under 30 minutes. That's some good rebounding - not dominant, but good! I just hope he stays out of foul trouble!
