I usually don't comment much on fans opinions about certain players or certain journalists, but since I know all of the Chinese journalists in question I thought I'd shed a little bit of light. 1. They have more access to Yao than almost anyone - to the point of annoyance. They're just always hanging around. 2. With the exception of a few, almost all of them are not knowledgable about basketball. They've gotten better in their 3 years of living half years in Houston, but 90% of them are basketball neophytes with no better knowledge of the game than fan. none of them have ever played organized basketball - not that it makes a difference, but I suspect they were chosen to cover Yao more for their ability to get by in English in a foriegn country and their willingness to leave China for 3-6 months at a time than for their basketball expertise. So they may (or may not) have more insight into Yao's psyche than anything, they also have very little basketball knowledge AND reading a lot of these articles, I think after 3 years of hanging around with Yao, they still don't really get his deadpan sense of humor. He's a funny guy. Take that as you may, but I'd put very little stock into most Chinese reporters opinions - unless it's someone like Xu Jicheng - not because they're Chinese, but because the reporters that most newspapers have sent here to Houston just don't know that much.
wow....much thanks for your behind the scenes insight...I appreciate it... I have alwasy wondered exactly how much access some of those reporters have since what they report is almost never picked up by the American sports media.
Here come another Doc Rocket. Thanks for speaking out. and you do seem to be the point man of team you in h-town (as I suspected in another post)
yep, they do have inside source in Yao. I remember they broke out the Sura injury about a week earlier. You cant trust Yao to keep business secret. STFU, Yao.
What to take from this post? With one hand, the poster reveals that the suspect class of reporters really do have special access. Moreover, the poster does not impugn their honestly, despite his general criticism. Then the poster proceeds to label these reporters as incompetent regarding the content of their coverage. Perhaps this means that we should give credibility towards direct quotes and anecodotes, but ignore opinions and intimations. If there is anything to this story, it's worth hearing about. And I do believe there's probably some truth there. You just have to decipher the facts through a great deal of opinion and hyperbole.
I don't know if I'd call it "special access" - I think it's more a case of "less than professional behavior" and taking advantage of regular access - meaning that most of the NBA beat writers are there to get their quotes or maybe a special angle on a story. It seems to me (and this is my opinion only) that the Chinese reporters are as interested in being Yao's buddy as they are in getting the story.
unprofessional? yes. but more effective in get what you want by doing this than just wait on the press conference and ask yao questions? definitely. so they will continue do it.
I personally believe that lots of those direct quotes from Yao, Ewing, Shaq, and JVG are true. It's the angles that the reporters try to spin the story gets to annoyed. Anyway, Yao did say that JVG has asked Sura to pass the ball to Yao twice during practices. After the game against the Heat, when asked about Yao/TMac combo and the scenario of Yao going to LAL, Shaq said: "TMac is the best guard in the league now and Yao/TMac will be the best combo in the league soon." "Let Yao I said this:'Don't go to LAL to play with that guy. Yao will be totally destroyed there". "Yao and TMac are Batman and Daredevil." Yao told the reporters after playing against Shaq:"I don't feel anything after playing him now. It used to be that I would have a hangover for about a week, not now. " "I feel super confident. If he cannot stop me, no one can stop me." About wanting the ball more: "I definitely want to have the chance to shoot the ball more. However, I do know that the ball is not in my hands and I need someone to pass me the ball. TMac is a great players and he has owned his shots. Certainly it's easier for him to get shots when he runs the offense." About the role of center in the league down the road:"With the league focusing more and more on speed, I can see that in 10 years the center position will be gone."
