i don't remember what he averaged at age 18 or whatever in the olympics, but he improved on those averages in the next olympics. being drafted number 1 doesn't mean anything. yinka dare was drafted number 1 if i remember correctly. they draft anybody number 1 if the guy is 7'6. even if they think the guy is a project.
he is NOT ungardable by nba players at the age of 17. dude has played in some summer camps and jordan camps against select players and done well, but to make a staement like that is ridiculous. since when was jerry stackhouse considered even an AVERAGE nba defender??? as for his passing skills...whoop dee damn do. one of the best passers i've seen is ed cota from north carolina. and he is where? given, at his size, his passing skills appear to be very good - against outmatched high school players. let's see him do this against nba defenses. 6'8 240??? are you crazy??!!! look at him again. if he's 240, mcgrady's 260. fyi, tmac is 6'8, 210# and appears to be just as big, if not bigger than lebron. any position on the floor? sure, if you want a shooting guard that cannot shoot (because, make no mistake, at this point lebron james cannot shoot). or if you want a shorter robert horry at the 4. fyi, robert horry is 6'10, 240#. at center, he'd be a joke. in fact, the only 2 positions i see him potentially thriving at are 1 or 3, much like lamar odom - who, imo, is the best comparison you can make for lebron james at 6'10, 221#. if i had to guess an accurate size on lebron it's 6'7, 215-220#. and one last thing, if lebron james came out last year, he would have been the #2 pick, because the rockets still would have picked ming. and, truthfully, i'm not sure he SHOULD go #1 this year. oh, he'll go #1, because no one (save for maybe jerry west) has the balls to not pick him. however, i could make a serious argument for why carmelo anthony should go #1. ask yourself this, would you rather have paul pierce (who is the person i think carmelo will be like) or lamar odom (who is the exactly nba comparison of lebron james, imo)....?
Yinka Dare was not drafted #1 and he wasnt 7'6". Gheorge Muresan, Manute Bol and Shawn Bradley are all 7'6" and none of them were drafted #1. Bradley was drafted #2 which made it even worse for Yao since Bradley was a big bust.
oh, that's what americans say out loud, but there are still deeprooted stereotypes that exist in many. i don't know what you mean by the 2nd question, though. rephrase, please...
there are a lot of tall chinese centers over there. but not all of them can be compared to yao. some of them have potential, but the majority would just be average to below average players, that's why none of them will be recruited. the silly thing about this is they're going to compare every single asian player to yao ming even if they're not 7'6 or even chinese. ha seung-jin is korean and they're comparing him to yao.
yinka dare wasn't 7'6 and i never said he was. but he was a 7 footer, and you draft a 7 footer even if he is a project at the time as long as they have "POTENTIAL." even if they do nothing to prove it like dare shawn bradley was drafted number 2, that's pretty damn close to number 1 and he was hyped much more than yao. people believed he would be a star. people believed yao was a bust even though he played against the dream team. if dare didn't go number 1, what number did he get picked at? i could have sworn the nets took him number 1 a couple of years ago. and even when he played like a bum, nobody called him the worst lottery pick in nba history.
Do you understand the words cause and effect? And who gives a rat's behind where Yinka Dare was drafted.
The guy that Denver drafted (his name is Sika or something) was only a bench player (averaged less than 10 pts) in Europe, yet he's being compared to Nowitzki. Darko Milicic too was being compared to Dirk, Duncan or KG. So you're trying to tell me that European reserves are that superior to the Chinese league? Compete dominantion of the Chinese league is worse than riding the bench in Europe? Also saying Yao's upper physique resembles Shawn Bradley then he's most likely a Bradley-type player is like saying that since I was 6-6, I was going to be Michael Jordon. Bad logic. And anyone who thought that Yao's rated and treated as a true No. 1 pick was apparently dreaming. The guy was dissed left, right, center before his breakout Dallas game. Yet, the next pundit who questions Lebron James's ability will be the first one. MJ merely suggested James might struggle in his rookie season, yet MJ's dissed.
ok...lemme try it this way, since the last way didn't sink in... cuz with black folks you assume the best. euros, because of the success of dirk, peja, vlade, etc., get the fair assumption also**. chinese folks, because there is no precedent, get it in the shorts when it comes to assumptions. ** of course, they also get labeled as "soft" because of dirk, peja, vlade, et al.
Tskitishivilli came after Pau Gasol. Gasol was ROY and set a precedent for tall, white, skinny European players. Depends on the player. Wang Zhi Zhi totally dominated the Chinese league. Would he have been an European superstar?Chinese basketball sucks. They are not anywhere near the Europeans, Russians or even Argentinians. Look at all those teams that beat the US in the World Championships. The Chinese National team, supposedly comprised of the nation's best, lost to Korea. Come on - they suck. There are thousands of 6'6" basketball players. How many 7'6 players are there in the NBA or college or in Europe, or in Asia? Answer- none. LeBron James is unbelievably gifted.
this is funny coming from people who constantly label the NBA game as a bunch of street ballers. I guess there were never any racial messages in those posts.
it would be the same thing if someone from the middle east was coming to the nba. he'd get it in the shorts too, because there is no precedent.
pgabriel Kobe was drafted at # 13 by Charlotte. There was conderable hype on him (unless you did not have ESPN then). They always talked about his Father's exploits and Kobe's childhood. He was also considered a possible Jordanesque. Newgirl This is my take on it. Hype is like a wide forest fire. It can also me be likened to bad news. Lebron is reaping the fruits of the success of T-Mac, KG, Kobe and Jermaine O'neal. The hype was fueled by glossy endorsements from the likes of John Lucas and reknowed scouts who have seen him. He is also American. He can throw down some exciting dunks and no look passes. His body they say is almost fully developed. He is no doubt a pack of excitement and NBA is very happy to have him. I am not mad at him or anyone else for not giving Yao his props - I am just glad we have Yao. I am content with that.
BTW, I am not opening a discussion of "Yao or Lebron who is better" debate here. I am comparing the treatment from the media for these 2. Even Lebron is better than Yao, is their difference as big as Jordon/Magic to Smits/Bradley as the media (and even some posters here) suggested?
this reminds me of a funny conversation i had at a bar with a co-worker: co-worker: "hey, verse, i think you've got a drinking problem." verse: "why is that?" co-worker: "cause every day i come in here you're always drinking." verse:
If that implies that I'm being a hypocrite could you please point out one post when I was critical of Yao because of the game he played or where he learned. No sorry you can't, don't be mad because you got called out.
Uhhhh, the Bulls w/Jordan won 6 championships WITHOUT a great center. I agree that the center position is a key position but it's not the be-all and end-all for winning a championship. In today's NBA, the center position has been somewhat deemphasized as true centers have been so very hard to find.
I mean if NBA is supposed to be the place for real basketball, how would they value flash more than substance?
