What changed Hakeem's career, and could it change Yao's?

t-mac said yao was a rik smits type player now but it's totally up to him if he takes the next step. anyways the comparison doesn't really make sense anymore. i mean when was the last time yao hung around the foul line waiting to take jumpers? he's almost exclusively a post-up player now and maybe that's also something he's adjusting too.


dream's signature move was the dreamshake but it was just as much the little hookshot in the lane as he could use one to setup the other next time down the court. yao doesn't have anything that we could call a signature play right now, but there's no reason why he can't develop that fadeaway or hook to where he can get it off at anytime on anyone.

 

Tmac was implying Yao a finesse player, I guess. He needs to
take the next step to be closer to Dream (the ultimate finesse
center in 90s) than Smits.

 

look at it this way, Rick Smits + Reggie Miller = Conference Finals

Subsititute T-mac into the formula and you get

Rick Smits + 2 x Regie Miller = RING

 

Hakeem ruled his inner fire, whereas the inner fire ruled Akeem.

Yao needs to stop dousing his.

 

Well said

 

Yao's improvement is slow, but steady. I think as someone stated earlier, time and experience might be all that we can really hope for. There are certain things that will simply improve with time. Even though he is pretty strong now, he can get even stronger over the years and hence get even deeper position in the post. Also he can work on a more consistent fadeway and an automatic jump hook. A person of his size should have no problem creating an automatic jump hook.

I worry about his rebounding because there's really not much more you can teach a guy after 3 years in the league. It's gonna be up to him to be determined enough to grab more rebounds, and perhaps more importantly, HOLD on to those rebounds. I believe during the latest stretch, he has done a much better job in that department.

Of course much of Yao's problems stem from the mental aspect of the game. We can sit here and hypothesize about a ton of things that might or can change Yao's outlook on the game. But the simple fact remains that some kind of light bulb MUST light up in his head. If it doesn't, then expect his numbers to improve only slightly through better experience/skills. If it does, then we can have ourselves a monster.

 

I miss Dream.

Dream of 92-93-94-95 and T-mac 02-03-04 would have been the perfect 1-2 combo.

 

Holy Yao-only fan, Batman!

TMac is the opposite of a selfish player. Both he and Yao have to be encouraged to take more shots.

I'm glad you are such a fan of the Rockets.

 

dream learnt to balance extreme domination thru his own individual performance/actions and to trust his teammates to get the job done is teams stopped him

Yao's balance is the wong way.... the doubles are still often just show and he still passes out before they become real doubles, he also doesn't take enough advantage of when he is 1on1

 

Yao has a lot to learn, he needs an offseason in Houston working on his game.

Yao can shoot the ball.
He will get stronger and wiser if he can get some offseason work.

He is the player he is. He gives us a good center that can score.
We will have a very good center for years to come.
Let's accept that.

Yao is not the savior.
He is not a better scoring option than TMac.
Yao is not freaky athletic, he is freaky big.
Yao is better than most other centers in the league.

Given time, offseason work and good coaching Yao can and is a part of our championship building process.

Another really good starter in the mix with TMac and Yao and then the right roll players and we will be there.

Patience.

 

Yao needs freedom. Yao needs to be Yao. Not anyone else.

 

Best use of this smilie ever!

 

oh man,
you people are crazy, yao will never measure up to akeem or hakeem, so stop trying to pretend that all it takes is a new coach/role players, or motivational speeches.

rik smits is a good comparison, but yao lacks the speed, agility, heart, and fire to be anywhere near hakeems level.

 

It's easy to measure up to Akeem but not Hakeem. I doubt Akeem would have led Rockets to any ring.