Two articles from 2009 which mention Yao in the MVP race (if healthy) http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=11853 Bill Simmons ESPN
Quality original post. You clearly articulated my thinking. (One person, I think, who shares this assessment of Yao: Daryl Morey.)
How does this help to illustrate your point? Do you ever realize the MVP poll is done after the season is over a.k.a. Yao has broken his foot and missed half the season?
I guess he lives in a world where employees aren't judged by how much they work? That if two people are similarly productive, and one is takes the rest of the year off in the middle, he should still get the same treatment as the other person who worked the entire year? If only I can get away with saying that to my boss... "Hey! I'm just as good as that guy. Except I'm lazy and only want to work half the time he does. But I do expect the same pay and benefits though."
Still tall and powerful. Still can shoot. Seems like he is one of those guys even if he slows down will always be effective because he can shoot and his height will never change. Never was fast or could jump so its not like that matters as much with him. He didnt lose anything exept we dont know how long he can last in minutes or how much his fatigue will effect his game. Other than that? Yao is one of the best centers still yes.
Overreacting is overreacting. It was far from a foregone conclusion of Yao's demise. In fact probably 60-75% of the posts after the announcement of Yao's limited minutes was "wait and see." Spelling Yao's demise back then was overreacting, gushing "hopeful" optimism now is overreacting. At least people are consistent. Frankly, Yao's offense was never going to be impacted. Thinking that really had no basis in reality. Any question of lingering effects of the injury and his limited athleticism was going to be on the defensive end... would he be able to move laterally well enough to cover the paint? Would he be able to get back on defense? Would he be strong enough, conditioned enough, and confident enough in his feet to battle for position against Howard and other strong bodies. None of that has been answered. We also don't have an iota of reliable feedback on how his feet will hold up through 82 games + postseason, which has been the main issue all along In short we haven't seen ****, except what everyone knew we could see from Yao in a wheelchair... that he can still turn and shoot, and that he can hit the open cutting to the basket. Gauging anything after these 3-4 appearances is the internet equivalent of calling a ballgame based on who you see getting off the team bus. LOOKS GOOD. TOO EARLY TO TELL. I've thought all along that Yao would be okay as long as he didn't get reinjured. That's still the case but haven't seen anything unexpected to have additional optimism to that fact to this point.
Too bad i only saw bits and pieces of reel in his prime. He would have been something else to watch pre perma-gimp injuries. At least we got a glimpse. Thanks to Perestoika! Well, we can dream that Yao will have that point-center vision and overall court awareness if he decides to play the support roll from here on out. A 7'6 point center...i dream at the possibilities with our line up. AB would have a field day! Divac had nothing on Sabonis.
Overreacting? Just because you apparently have a crystal ball doesn't mean the rest of us are fortunetellers too. It wasn't a foregone conclusion that Yao would even ever play again. And that was coming from the front office. So for us mere peons to speculate the worse, or simply less-than-best case scenarios was far from overreacting. Am I saying he will return to 100% for sure? No, we've only seen a few games. But it is becoming less and less of a foregone conclusion that he won't ever come close. At least to some of us who didn't know all along like you. Give yourself a pat on the back.
