http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%7E10835%7E810825,00.html Rockets' Yao Ming is the real thing Dave Del Grande Oakland Tribune WHEN THE DREAM Team junior varsity takes on China at the Arena in Oakland on Thursday night, I'm sure the crowd is going to get a chuckle the first time Jermaine O'Neal blocks one of Yao Ming's shots, Antonio Davis overpowers the nimble giant or Shawn Marion dunks on the big guy's head. But when all is said and done, I'm betting there will be a far greater appreciation -- from American players and fans -- of the talent level of the Houston Rocket-to-be than we've gained from watching the various B-quality film clips of the 7-foot-5 center in action. It would be no surprise to me if Yao, far and away the best player on the Chinese team, is the second-most productive center in the NBA next season as a rookie. As Bay Area fans will observe Thursday, he can shoot the ball like Marc Jackson, block shots like Adonal Foyle and rebound like Erick Dampier. None of those qualities earns you All-NBA honors -- as any Warriors enthusiast is well aware. But put them all together in the same package and ... well, suffice it to say Golden State has been looking for this guy for about 30 years. Yao made every shot and every free throw he took in an exhibition against the Canadians last week in Vancouver. He's blessed with good hands, good feet and good training. In other words, we're not talking about Dikembe Mutombo here. This is a real athlete who just happens to be tall. Enjoy him.
Here is another Yao article from yesterday: http://waymoresports.thestar.com/NA...l_pageid=979619472127&call_pagepath=Home/Home Yao toys with game, and words Aug. 20, 2002 By Chris Young YOU SAY YAO, I say Yowsa. This would be Yao Ming, seven foot and lots more, coming soon to a hardwood near you — if not as a budding NBA giant, then neither as the Ming vase waiting to happen some seem to be calling him. And if verbals are the measuring stick, he appears capable of joining the line auditioning to be the next Dennis Miller. Already, he's ahead of Jimmy Kimmell and bearing down on whatever nincompoop currently holds the mike on ESPN radio. Ming has yet to play an NBA game. But he can deliver the kickass quote without even trying, a veritable fortune cookie waiting to break out. After his Chinese national team managed a 28-point defeat to Steve Nash on Friday in Vancouver, his flip was showing. "I need more weight training," Ming said later. "No. 23 is so strong. He was so physical. Maybe I can get stronger than him." This had to be a joke, correct? If it was another No. 23, maybe so. But Ming, all 7-foot-6 of him in the contractually obligated sneakers, was recalling one Richard Anderson. The 24-year-old Anderson is a second-stringer, perhaps not even out there were the Canadian frontline stocked with the likes of Todd MacCulloch and Jamaal Magloire, along with reliable international Peter Guarasci. In short, the NBA depth charts would have to go as far south as Cape Horn to have him on it. Opponents snickered, and the nay-Yao contingent no doubt nodded. But there was enough of the other stuff to keep the Rockets and the rest of us interested. Five blocks and all six of his shots dropping showed a glimpse of the potential that has followed him around for the past two years, when it was just a matter of time and deal-making keeping him from making this leap forward. When basketball's world championship begins in Indianapolis next week, the spotlight will be on this fellow more intently than anyone else. But these are still his baby steps on the way to what could be a very satisfying NBA career, or at least the oddest, with part of his salary going back to the motherland, not to mention the T-shirt revenue this is going to generate in the world's most populous country. So he's no Shaquille O'Neal — not the kind of big man, everyone seems in agreement on, who is going to take the Houston Rockets up into the clouds in his first go-round, or even a nice, solid 10-game improvement. The Rockets might well be ready to do that all on their own, with a youthful group (Francis, Mobley, Griffin et al) brimming over with talent. Hey, it's a whole lot better than waiting for the latest high-school dunker's acne to clear up. The foreign invasion to the NBA is an established fact. It's been going on for a while, with three of the league's first-team all-rookie side, including rookie of the year Pau Gasol, coming from Somewhere Else. The Kwame Browns have become so commonplace that these more finished Euro or now Asian products have become not just intriguing but preferred. Now comes Yao. The first big man from Somewhere Else. No. 1 over-all is a status that carries a certain amount of prestige and pressure. He will be tested and humiliated for sure, and last Friday will be forgotten, unless you're Anderson, telling his grandkids about it one day. The next chapter will come Thursday against the United States, when incidentally he is supposed to sign his contract with the Rockets, who seem to have recovered nicely from losing Hakeem Olajuwon, wouldn't you say? By the time Yao starts feeling comfortable — could take two months, or (more likely) two years — he'll probably have long dropped this kind of charming innocence, too, that has him freely admitting to being too weak to handle a guy who's a head smaller and played last season in Austria. Can you imagine one of these too-cool-for-school NBAers doing the same? Stay true to yourself, Yao. And oh yes, hit the weight room.
yao will be the next great center in the nba after shaq. didnt shaq say he was going to retire when he turns 34...or some age in his 30's?
I like how the writer states that he believes that Yao will be the second most productive center in the NBA his rookie year. That would be awesome, since Shaq is still reigning King of Centers.
i'm impressed that they said yao will be the second most productive center in the nba. It just goes to say that i was right yao will put up great rookie numbers. not no 12,8,3. I always said 18,12,4. Thats what its gonna be too.
I think he'll have similar numbers of Gasol's rookie season: 17pt/9reb/3asi/2blk on .518% shooting if given 37min/
"well, suffice it to say Golden State has been looking for this guy for about 30 years. " so they start to wait when Yao's father meet his mother
Just a caveat from a local: Although Dave Del Grande was at one time the Warriors beat writer for the Oakland Tribune, he's held in much lower esteem than any other local writer by informed fans. Although I can't say whether "Nachos" (as we like to call him) is right or wrong about Yao, his opinions in general are known for being somewhat off the wall. He was replaced as the beat writer last season, and his primary role now is serving as the Oakland Tribune's fantasy sports columnist.
