By who? You and Bill Walton? In order for Yao to measure up to Hakeem he needs to have a much higher skill level than Hakeem to compensate for his lack of athleticism. Since Hakeem's overall skill level in his prime was widely regarded as the best among the big men in the game and some of the best of all-time (Robinson, Ewing, Shaq) I think you have to be dreamcasting a little to believe that Yao Ming can match that level of play. This doesn't even incorporate the defensive side of the ball where Hakeem was one of the best ever while Yao is not exactly good at the moment.
Passing is extremly important. But I'd rather have my center establish a consistent low post threat and then pass to teamates once the defense adjusts. Please be realistic. Yao fans feel like he will be the best at everything in history. The best shooter, the best passer, the best rebounder, the best shotblocker. And they swear that we are going to see this big jump from avaerage player to most dominant of all time. From now on, I don't want to hear of all these things Yao will do, I just want to see him do them. Also, Yao fans seem to focus on the first quarter of the game against Shaq and forget about the next seven quarters. Did you see Shaq repeated back Yao down and dunk on him? He averaged like 38ppg against Yao. I saw the dunk against big ben, and I also saw Kobe, Tim Thomas, and lots of other player throw it down on Yao. I saw the one handed snatch and I also saw 6'10" guys repeated box him out and outrebound him. Please actually watch basketball before you make this comment. Yao took one three point shot and now he's Larry Bird. Yao is improving, but Duncan is a much better low post player. First of all, Duncan can and does back his man into the paint. Yao cannot. Duncan has a more spin moves, up and under moves, the bank shot from both sides, he can put the ball on the floor and drive to the hole and he has a good jumper out to 18 feet. And you will never see Duncan get the ball under the rim a nd try a freaking flip layup. He's going to flush it. If Yao had hit some free throws, we could have won against Sacramento. I remember a several games where we gave the ball to Yao in the final minutes only to have some small forward come take the damn ball from him multiple times. Fire is not letting people dunk on you in the first place. Fire is deciding that you are going to control the boards and the lane and make sure that your team wins. Too many times, if Yao wasn't scoring, he was totally ineffective. Cato was a better rebounder and shotblocker per minute. Name the last team to win a championship that did not have one of the top five players in the league on it? Nuff said.
Name the last team to win a championship that did not have one of the top five players in the league on it? Nuff said. [/B][/QUOTE] I agreed with you on this one. If Yao is not a post threat, how come Boston use satellite to cover Yao, if he's not a post threat, than how come most team change their game plan just to keep Yao out of post? He do does these things, the team is just so dysfunctional it does not use Yao the efficient way. He does not assert himself too much, so he does not show the abilities often. I never imply or say Yao is going to best in everything, you just think I say it. I'm a Yao fan but I also have realistic expectation, unlike some people, expect a rookie to carry the team and when things go sour, it's Yao's fault that Rox is not in the playoff. Everyone is responsible. I don't need to say no more, he's going to be the most dominant center in his era really soon. I watched as often as I get a chance. I don't know if you have a selective memory or just you refuse to see many of the good things Yao bring to the table. I don't think Yao is better Duncan right now. If you read my post correctly, I'm just saying he's a better shooter than Duncan since he's got such good mechanic. I remember Duncan clanking bricks when he tries to bank it in repeatedly in his second year. As far as shooting is concern, Yao is far more better than Duncan in his rookie year. No one say Yao is larry bird after he hit the 3 pointers, if anything you would be the one to say it since you don't really think when you post. What the hell is wrong with a layup instead of a dunk? we all know if you get a chance you will want to dunk it. If you watch as much Rockets game as you claim, you see Yao can do more than he's shown so far. When a team is run as well as the lakers, you get to see all the best from even the role players. In Sacramento game, the whole team cannot hit their free throws. Yao did cost one game in NY when they steal the ball from him. Yao acknowledge his faults. This season has been up and down, it's clear he's improving along the way. You can not really blame a learning rookie, the whole team is a mess. If you calculate the games in clutch when Yao delivers or he faulters, I bet he help win more games than he lost it. Not back down from Shaq or the constant hitting in the post by defenders, if that's not fire and heart, what the hell is? You see guys just turn away and let Shaq dunk when he's 3 fts from the hoop, Yao at least have the guts to contest the dunk. How many guys show that besides Tim Duncan? Do you expect Yao to contest every single one of Shaq's flush? Nobody can. Too many times, yao is very effective even when he'snot hitting his shots. Here's some examples: @ 76ers, 6-14, 13 rb, 3 ass, 3 blocks, @Sac Kings: 11pts, 19rbs, @Denver,etc. Prop to Kato for doing a decent job. Do you see team send triple team or double team to cover Kato or try to prevent him from getting the ball. Yao's presence alone help his teammates. Would you see all these missed Open 3s or pemrimeter shots if Yao is not being constantly double team. Would you see the nice cutting dunk or layup if Kato was there instead of Yao? There's only about 2 or 3 game where Kato is more effective than Yao. There's a reason why Yao is starter and Kato is not, because coach see values in Yao's presence unlike some blind knic picking guy.
My bad. I apologized for name calling. Juugie just pissed me off because he's picking everything there's to pick or simply make up stuff to bash Yao. I don't what his problem is. Plus I am in a pretty bad mood after Rox miss the playoff again and come so close and all he can blame is a rookie that really exceed everyone's expectation.
