The PTI gang had an NBA analyst (forgot his name and I don't recognize him at all) on the show talking about different NBA topics. They brought up the Rockets and how they have hit thier stride. Wilbon gave himself props by saying months ago that they would be a real good second-half team and mentioned how Kornhieser hates the team, TMac and Yao. The analyst just said that Sura has made it a different team. That's it. They then went on to talk about Yao and the analyst said that he will be a good servicable player in his career and then said he was a mix of the good from George Muresan and Rick Smits. Both, Wilbon and Kornhieser, agreed to the assesment but disagreed on if that was a good or bad thing. Wilbon pointed out what other centers are averaging 19/8. None outside of Shaq. So basically, no one on the show thinks that he will become a great center. At the end of the show, Kornieser asked Wilbon if they would win thier eight straight tonight in which Wilbon said "yes". Anyway, Rocket talk on that show is interesting and I thought others would be, well, interested.
Damn I missed it and the TIVO didnt pick it up... I can hear Tony now..."STICKBOY" atleast wilbon is the voise of reason...
I heard 'em. That fella named 'Dupree' made the Rick Smits - George Muresean comparison. And I thought, man it would have been better if he would have just said Rick Smits. Because I can't recall one good thing about Georg Murasean that would be a compliment for another to say Yao had. It would have been more on target if he would have said Rick Smits and Brad Doughrety.
The guy did win most improved award one year. Go look at his stats and you'll realize that he really wasn't that bad of a player.
The guy had one year where he scored 14.5 points a game sandwiched in between two years where he scored 10 pts a game. The rest of his short career was pretty bad. I don't see the comparison. Anyways, that George Muresean comparison, the way he said it, that was meant to be a jab at Yao. Ronald Dupree or whatever his name is sucks.
Rik Smits gets a lot of flack... but had he stayed HEALTHY... he would have been a much more productive NBA player, and thus people wouldn't be looking at this as such a negative comparison. The difference is, so far, Yao has shown the ability to STAY HEALTHY... and thus, a guy with Rik Smits-like skills, but the ability to actually stay on the court, will thus have a career BETTER than Rik Smits just by that reason alone.
Yeah he really wasnt a bad player at all. If I remember correctly a degenerative injury (foot i think?) really made his numbers fall off after that good seaon and eventually ended his career.
Rik Smits like skill? Yao is a much better rebounder and much better defender than Rik. And Yao actually bangs down low, draws double teams. Those media guys will keep being biased until the day Yao retires. Then Yao will be the new standard of tall NBA players. It always happens that way.
I just meant in terms of jump-shot ability. I know Yao has more to offer than Smits (who, btw, did do his share of banging and drawing plenty of double-teams... even against the young Shaq-led Orlando teams.... its just that he always got injured).
I bet even if we win a championship, these guys are going to bash Yao. Until the day Yao puts up 25 and 15, sportswriters are gonna compare him to Bradley, or Smits, or Muresan. They only pay attention to the box score.
Exactly. These guys don't watch Rocket games and they don't see what Yao has the capability to do in this game. They see maybe one or two nationally televised games and make a judgement.
Well, tonight there's no reason why TK and Wilbon won't be seeing Yao (and more importantly, the ROCKETS' performance). They're both Washington Post columnists, and they keep up with the Wizards on a daily (non-box-score) basis.
Anyone think that this Dupree guy reminded them of the Ladies' Man from SNL? That should discredit him right there.
Hubie Brown made an interesting point last week when he said that if Yao was getting 35minutes a game, he could very well be averaging 20/10/2 - and that everyone's perception would be vastly different. How much value do we put in "plateau numbers"? 18.5/8.5/1.8 (in 31 minutes) is very close to 20/10/2. Of course, being able to consistently play 35 minutes a night is an achievement in itself and something that Yao has done yet. But he is very close. By adjusting to the refs (or having the refs adjust to him), Yao should be able to get close to 35 minutes.
Rik Smits was an adequately skilled offensive player. I'd be just fine if Yao produces like he did on offense, which Yao is pretty much already doing. The difference is that Yao is stronger and a bit more mobile, and of course the health issues.
i'm proud to have to told all of you about Bob Sura and his X-factorness. You dont have to give me money or wash my car. Just a smile in knowing that I'm right. Thanks guys!
The thing that all of these analysts don't understand is that Yao isn't like other players. There aren't other players with his height and skill level. He's better than Rik Smits, who was skilled but more of a one-dimensional jump shooter. The other people who were freakishly tall suck. Instead of comparing him to other people and showing that they're morons, they should just be admitting that Yao is a player without real precedent. At the same time, we shouldn't be comparing him to Hakeem because it's not fair to Yao.
