I predict there is no way Yao can repeat last year's performance in a whole season. Since there are still 75 games left for this season, it is not the time for me to eat crow, yet. But I am happy to do it by the end of season. This guy is amazing out there. From now on, everything less than 20/10 is a bad game for him
"He has alligator arms, weak hands, poor timing on his jump, and poor anticipation skills. He won't even be a servicable low post player because he can't rebound." - AEBYF's (Anyone-else-but-Yao fans)
I still think Yao can be a better rebounder then 10 a game...so that's something for him to work on. Also, turnovers are probably his one achilles heal....especially for a big man. If he learns to address that... of course it's hard to complain after thinking he'd never be more then an 18/9 type of guy. yaozer!
that's pretty funny.... i think yao has enough of a face up game...just out of virtue of his sheer height. but great centers then to be post-up players...kareem, hakeem, shaq....
His face up game will work if he can go shoot over someone from the top of the circle. But, why even do that? He is so good on the block. DD
The only thing I'm still waiting for Yao to develop is a consistent KILLER hook shot. It would be awesome if he has one by the playoffs, and we milk it like the Showtime Lakers all the way to 2007 opening game ceremony.
For the curious, the overwhelming majority on the BBS supported the drafting of Yao at the time, and were miffed at Francis when rumor came out he was not pleased about our draft plans. We needed someone to fill the center spot, it seemed a perfect match. Yao's CBA statistics were off the chart, so it sounded like a good gamble. Noone knew if he'd be terrible or dominant in the NBA, but it was going to be a fun ride to find out. I was delighted we drafted Yao that day. We had "dared to be great". However, it was a weak draft, and I knew the Knicks were going to mired in awfulness for a few years, so when last-minute bureaucratic hassles were reported to be coming from China that threatened to keep Yao from having a normal NBA career in Houston (some wondered if China was angling to get Yao to a larger media market), some of us got tired of it, to the point where I thought maybe letting them have Yao go to NY in exchange for a couple 1sts might be better. In retrospect, it might not have been too bad when you look at picks 1-8 in the 2003 draft, but NY somehow managed to win just enough games to draft 9th - Mike Sweetney, lol. Kudos to Rudy and CD for seeing it through to the end.
Yao doesn't have to out quick anybody, Jeff. He can have an efficient face-up game even if he is the slowest guy on the floor. That's the beauty of being 7' 6" with a wonderful shooting touch. I'm with Panda in wanting Yao to spend some time at the high post. Not exclusively, nor even for the majority of the time, but only as the occasion demands. Yao might need a breather, for example, and we can't afford to sit him because we need his defence. Or Bonzi might have a gross mismatch, and we might want to exploit it by occasionally moving Yao from the post. Adding to Yao's arsenal can only help, I don't understand how it can hurt.
