Well if some freak of nature 400 pound all-muscle 8'0" dude who could run a mile in 5 minutes walked in one day and posted you up, I bet you'd be wanting the height restrictions, too.
Yup, I have been saying this for a long time. NBA players with decent leaping ability can easily make up the few inches in high difference. Why is it so hard for some people to understand?
I vote for Yao, but I don't agree with you on AS. He would still be a great player without Nash, though not as good as Yao
Choujie, Simmer down now! I wasn't making fun of your mother. What Yao's size gives him that Amare's leap doesn't is the ability to box out. Plus, while Amare is 6'10" with juge hops, Yao is 7'5" and doesn't often make the effort to leave the ground while rebounding. Not that he should or needs to at this height, but Yao doesn't make the effort to rebound the way I would like to see him try. -P1st, S2nd
vcchlw, I see your point my friend, but if you wouldn't speak to me like that in person, then don't do it here. Back to the point, if you're 7'5" and as talented as Yao, if you aren't consistently getting 10-12 rebounds then you aren't trying. -P1st, S2nd
He's averaging 10.1 which is between 10 and 12 rebounds a game for the whole year. This isn't the usual from the all star break exclusions. I think that means he consistently gets 10. Can he improve? Sure, but he is already there. Don't forget to factor in the incredible amount of pnr on both sides of the floor he is involved in which severly limits his rebounding numbers.
To make it clear, I wasn't making fun of your mother either. OK, Yao's size gives him the ability to box out, but Yao's size doesn't give him the explosivenesee like Amare, which is more important for rebounding. Look at Ben Wallace, Rodman, Marion etc. They are not taller or bigger or even quicker than Amare, why don't you blame Amare for only average 9 rebound playing 40 mintues on the team that has the most possessions in NBA? Plus, Yao does box out 10 times better than Amare. So what are you complaining for? Real production and impact is the only way to measure how good a player is, it has nothing to do with size, race, athleticism etc. Saying a 7'6 guy should grab every rebound is like saying everybody 6'7 or above should play in NBA because they are tall enough to play, plain ridiculous.
Ya know, I've just got to disagree with you. Yao is a special player. You Hopefully we'll see Yao snaring 12-14 rebounds a game in the next few years. You seem to be saying that Yao doesn't have the potential to rebound better because he's not as explosive as Ben Wallace and the like. I think that's B.S. Sometimes I wonder why Yao defenders try to shield him from criticism by saying he just can't do it. Yao IS quick enough to rebound better. Yao CAN jump, too. Just like he can dunk on offense, even though he prefers nifty spin moves to lay-ups off the glass. Proclivities are not the same thing as abilities. Proclivities are habits based on ability. I wish people would stop praising Yao for not doing his best. Yao is a very special player, but is capable of so much more. -P1st, S2nd
Thats why Yao is hated by most, b/c people like you expected more then what he can do for his 7-6 frame.
You know what, Yao has potential doesn't mean he can actually do it RIGHT NOW. There are so many factors like stamina issue, reaction issue. Amare has the potential to grab 12 boards as well, he is special as well, but I don't see you consider him underachieving for not doing that. I'm not saying Yao can't improve, because he can and he is improving. I just don't agree with you on the theory of "7'6 should grab 12 or more rebounds" and I don't agree with you to give Amare a free pass. Yao is still improving and learning, how far he can get is still to be seen, maybe he'll average 12 boards someday. it's too early to say he's underachieving yet.
This is why people like you can't see that I am a Yao fan. I don't expect any more from Yao than he is, in my earnest opinion, fully capable of achieving. We drafted a project that is blossoming offensively. The defense, including the rebounding, just isn't coming along as quickly as I would like to see. And Yao could do it now, which is clear on those nights you see him get 18 rebounds and 5 blocks. Yao is not Shawn Bradley.
Yao doesn't play alongside Shawn Marion, either. You do know that Shawn Marion gets 12 rebounds a game, right? Sure, that can go to show you how valuable quickness, instincts and height are, but it does undercut my expectations of Amare in the rebounding department. How many SF/PF combos in the league average as many rebounds as Amare and Yao? Exactly none. Do I think that Amare would rebound more if he didn't defer to Shawn Marion? Absolutely yes.
Playing alongside Marion doesn't stop Thomas from grabbing 7.8 boards in 26.6 mins. Thats a rebound every 3.4 mins. Stoudemire in his best season averaged a rebound every 4.08 minutes. Also, consider the fact that the Suns average 20% more possesions a game which bump the amount of rebounds up. Yao gets 10 rebounds in games that have only 75-80 possesions per team. Compare that to Stoudemires 8.9 rebounds last year in games that had well over 90 possesions per team. Stoudemire isn't a good rebounder. He isn't a consistent rebounder.
