http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/050223 The Gretchen Mol Award for "Most overmatched participant in the All-Star Game" With apologies to Stan Van Gundy, Rashard Lewis and Gilbert Arenas, I'm giving this one to Yao Ming. What happened to this guy? Remember when we thought he could be the Chinese Bill Walton? Why does he always look like he was just picked out of the crowd to play with everybody, like he's just happy to be there? I'm really starting to get worried. If Yao doesn't become one of the 10 best centers of all-time, then Jeff Van Gundy needs to change his name to Ted Van Bundy.
What a Loser, that comment should have been made to Amare Stoudamire. Yao put up better numbers than Shaq did. What the hell is he talking about.
Sounds ignorant and doesn't make any sense. Seriously, why does the media hate on Yao so much? Its like they're picking on him just for the sake of it. He's just a good player thats getting better, what is there to hate regardless of what his expectation are?
I hate the stupid Page 2 articles. This is just random. He probably wrote the article before the ASG was played.
Since he predicted that Yao would be worthless on draft night, the Sports Guy has come around and been one of Yao's biggest fans. So he's not stupid, and as he likes to say, he's one of only 14 true NBA fans left. The Sports Guy realizes that Yao has potential and he still seems to believe that Yao can change the game. What I think he's talking about more than anything else is that Yao doesn't have the same on court camaraderie with the other guys, he's not as comfortable on the floor at the ASG as the other guys are. People complained that the Rockets were being frozen out by the other players. Same thing. And being a center, the ASG isn't really your showcase. So Yao did look somewhat awkward and uncomfortable, but it's the frickin' ASG, not the playoffs. It's not a real team, it's not natural. So why does this matter, and who really cares?
Not to stereotype but most guys / gals in the media are a bunch of cry baby's. They all pegged Yao to fail when he first came into the league and now that he has proved them wrong they have all changed their tune to the "why isn't Yao the best ever" crap.
Overall, if you guy's don't think Sports Guy is one of the funniest sports writers out there, you just can't appreciate good humor....
He's definately hilarious, but his comment just doesn't make sense. Shaq scored on Yao maybe twice (one of them with a push to the face with his off arm). Other than that, who else is playing any D whatsoever? I think he did defer too much, but it's hard to blame him when 4 of the top 5 players in the game are on his team.
The reason that Simmons makes comments like this is because he expects Yao to be the next great passing big man. And that Yao will revolutionize the game with his creativity and selflessness. So the ASG being an offensive show, I guess BS was expecting Yao to pass it around like Magic on stilts (or as he likes to say, a 7'6" Walton). The problem is that Yao just isn't that good. He isn't nearly the passer that Sabonis was (I can't compare him to Walton because I never saw him play). Yao's got a pretty good feel for the game, and he has good vision. But his ball control and passing accuracy isn't THAT great. Yao is still a very good passer for a center (his interior passing would be absolutely dangerous if we had an athletic finisher with decent hands at the PF slot) but he's far from a revolutionary force. Yao is developing more into a Kareem with some passing skills than a 7'6" Walton. More as a scorer and finisher than as a creator. Maybe in a different offense with Yao at the high post with lots of motion and constant back-cuts, he could develop into a once in a generation caliber passing center. But as it's going right now, I have no problems with Yao merely being an incredibly efficient scorer with a monster FG%.
Hey, do you think MONSTERS will have a bigger FG% ? I mean, can the NBA allow MONSTERS to play for regular teams? One that comes to mind is Super Grover... or how about the YAP YAP Aliens... no, those aren't MONSTERS, they're Aliens... never MIND... MAN... I thought I was going to get to use my RIchard Simmons Picture again... You guys are talking about someone other than RICHARD...
here's another mention from eric neel today: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=neel/050223&num=2 -- Yao Ming. Assessment. I think it's still too early to say. We're talking about the midpoint of his third year, and we're talking about an absolutely unprecedented first three years in terms of who he is and where he comes from. And all that's before we get to the fact that he's playing for a coach who wants to make him into something he isn't, and to his still learning how to play alongside his new superstar teammate. I think we still have a lot to see is all I'll say. I don't think the story has been told, not by a long shot. That said, the man has got to mix in some assists every once in a while, doesn't he? 0.8? At 7-foot-6? That's brutal. He ought to get three or four a night just finding Tracy out of the double-team.
I don't know why YM's assists number is getting worse year after year, from rookie season 1.8/game to 0.8/game now. Even Amare is getting 1.3 assists/game and he is not known as a player with good court vision.
