[TrueHoop] Remember When They Considered Yao Ming Soft?

he's not soft (cough: dirk: cough)

i think when he has a dunk and goes for a layup, it doesn't look good to the public. i think he has heart, toughness, and determination as much as every other NBA player.

it's just that I WANT HIM TO DUNK EVERY SINGLE TIME THAT HE'S NEAR THE BASKET.

 

"he still is!!!!"

lol

 

Yao Ming may not have been this hard on the court his entire career...but he's been mentally tough from day one, which explains how he got here.

 

people were stupid for calling Yao soft.. now look what they did. it sucks to be them now.

 

That is a BAD*** picture!!!!

Those asterisks = Yanly.Fan???

 

The most suprising thing about this is Garnett tried to contest the shot. He is usually very good about ducking out of the way of dunks.

 

yao isnt soft, but people mistaken his layups and jumpshots for being soft for some odd reason. theres a reason he lays it up instead of dunking 2 ft. from the basket. 1) he's not dwight howard 2) its less energy consuming to lay it up. 3) he's not dwight howard. when the jumpshots dont fall, it's easy to think he's soft. when the jumpshots dont fall, it's easy to ask why a 7'6 center is taking fadeaway jumpshots. but when they do fall, he's the "best center in the league".

 

Comparing NBA players to dogs . . . . hmmmm . . . .

Yao is more of a Great Dane. He's a little taller, but not as strong.

Tracy is like a beautiful Lab with great genes that now has hip displasia.

Garnett is like a Doberman.

Kobe's a pitbull.

Lebron James is like a Labrodoodle. He's got all the right skills, but something about him is kinda gay (His pre allstar game dance).

 

Yao is still soft. I don't think fear yao when they come down the lane. Small guy challenge him and get and 1's. There are too many times when he should finish with a dunk plus a foul. Instead, ya tries to lay it off the glass and misses. Now instead of a 3pt play, its 2 ft's. Robinson and Daughtery were soft, but still good players.

 

Yao is tough, but looks ridiculously soft when he shoots a layup and or get's it block when he should have DUNKED every time. All it takes is one power bounce and go up with 2 hands to dunk.

 

That photo is just beautiful. It encompasses all that is great about the Big Man's game.

 

Every big man that goes against him knows he is not soft.

 

He is not comparing Yao to dogs. Alpha Dog is an expression describing the leader of a group. He is saying Yao is now the leader of big men. A very complimentary statement.

By the way if you are labeling player as dogs Artest is the pitbull and Tmac is a show poodle. James is an airedale which can be both show and attack dog. The airedales where the only dogs that would protect their master to the death against a lion.

 

yao is averaging 3.1 fouls per game. let's assume there is no offensive foul out of the total and all his fouls are from the and-1's he gives to an opponent, that would be 3 and-1's he gives up. never mind this is nowhere close to reality, even if this is true, it's not as bad as you tried to portray in your post. (and keep in mind, EVERYONE who challenges yao is smaller than him. )

were there times i wished yao could've just dunked the ball instead of trying a layup? sure. but "too many times" is no longer the right description for yao now. and i think almost all bigs have this issue occassionally. kg, td, etc.

and what did you mean by "Robinson and Daughtery were soft, but still good players"? were you implying that yao isn't a good player?

man i don't think you personally have a grudge with yao. but your perception of him is certainly screwed up.

 

ask Tim Duncun if he thinks Yao is soft... or ask Amare... I bet the answer would be "Yao is a beast"

 

I agree, its mostly about perception. But there are moments where you wish he would use his 7-6 frame to tear down the rim or atleast bone somebody in the face in the process

 

i never understood what was meant by the word "SOFT" could mean so many things.

Yao is tough, and he's definitely more aggressive. i guess that's what people are referring to.

 

A guy backs down people and rarely takes 18 foot J is not soft. Never. Since Day 1 in the NBA, Yao has made his living under the basket.

Big Z is soft, Dirk is soft. Duncan is softer than Yao.


I love that picture.

 

Who do people fear then, idiot? Dwight? Who else? People don't fear Shaq anymore. No one really fears Duncan. Garnett doesn't have enough bulk to instill fear. Same with Amare. So, you're pretty much saying Yao is soft because he isn't Dwight. Why are you still here? Just leave this forum and go overdose on something out of your medicine cabinet.