What do you guys think of this Mexican fan's comment ?

I think thats a pride issue. I'm Australian and when i watch football(soccer, whatever you want to call it) I wouldn't take the American team seriously in ANY way. I mean at the Worldcup i wrote them off......the fact of the matter is, you wouldn't take anyone that is American and white seriously when it comes to soccer because its not a game that they are specialised in and its not a game the American public take seriously. Consequently the level of competition, would be lower and no matter the level of skill the white american player would be percieved as inferior or even muddying the sport. Black Americans wouldn't be written off as quickly cause they would have the athletic gifts to compensate. Oh by the way this is clearly just my own opinion if I saw a white American playing soccer compared to say a black american or a white european. I think in general there are alot of issues where the world cannot take white Americans seriously in alot of sports simply cause of the low coverage they get in their own home country.

 

People don't like that his game is on the ground. If he could jump/dunk like Amare or Shaq did he would be the biggest thing in the NBA. It's not about race to me.

 

I hate to say it, but I think i totally agree with him.

 

Well i kinda agree smoe of the points.
I play basketball, and I am Chinese. And I am not bad at 3 points line.
Sometimes I play game with white, and black players, i know that look when i made some 3 points. Not all the time, it does happened sometimes, they were like, they don't want to admit you are good. They were like wow....he can shoot three, but just the accident.
Anyway, Yao is doing better and better, He should not care anything about whether he is the best center or not, he is hardworker, he just need to continue his effort. He is a smart guy and know what to do and what need to be improvied. Oneday , he will be just like Jordoan, Magic, a legend player in NBA

 

you are 100% correct. and no matter how good yao becomes or how many rings he gets..he will only be criticized more.

 

I don't know why, but this was funny.

Glad to have you part of the forum

 

Let the truth be told.

Someone give this guy a blog. I feel the same way when I see white people play ping pong or badminton.

 

yeah race has something do with it..

but I'm not worried about what other players or league execs say..

I'm more worried about how referee's treat him..

 

I think mentioning NBA basketball and soccer in the same conversation should be a crime.

 

dude, you're right on the money.

 

Yeah, I think it has to do with both. And I like what he said, because racism as of today is hidden in everyone minds. People are unawaringly advocating segregation. Yes he was wrong for saying that, but he is only showing what he see's through his experience.

There is no doubt that players in the Nba say things about race. We're all human, and for the most part raised in segregation.

All i take out of this is that he has gone through the situation, seeing it from the other side, hence he is able to see the injustices surrounding Yao. What he did against Shaq that year was epic, and we could clearly see the impact that he had made that year.

I agree with him for the most part.

 

+1. Everyone's a little racist regardless if they realize it or not. I discriminate against all races equally!

 

If conventional wisdom then was that Yao was going to be a bust why was it almost a given that he would be the number one pick in the draft?

The point of my post was that many pundits did think Yao was going to be a bust because that is the counter surrounding any great hype and Yao had a huge amount of hype. Its a similar situation with Vince Young where there was a lot of hype surrounding him and in return a lot of negative hype from pundits.

If all the "basketball experts" thought that Yao was going to be a bust in 2002 he never would've been the number one pick. Many experts thought he was going to be a bust but many thought he was going to revolutionize the game.

Charles Barkley (and please refer to him as Charles Barkley as for most of his career his number was 34 and not 4) isn't the end all of "basketball experts." He just happens to be louder than many of them.

 

This makes alot of sense.

Everyone loves a highlight moment during a game. What does Yao give you? A dunk where he ploddingly elevates ten inches above the ground is not exciting. A jumphook or turnaround is something you see a dozen times a game. And Yao blocking a guard is not unexpected or particulary interesting.

On the other hand, Nate Robinson blocking a guy two feet taller is something we would all pay to see, so like it or not, it will get the media attention.

Duncan is not a high flyer either and has always been a bit shortchanged as a result. If he hadn't gotten the rings, esp. so early in his career, he'd certainly not be in any commercials right now.

I don't think Yao needs to change his game to suit the critics, but what would shut the critics up would be to build up what people expect of a giant: power and strength. Which is what he has been working steadily towards.

Shaq was respected because of his ferocity on his dunks. Breaking backboards, bruising opponents on the way to the basket. Not tipping rebounds away from himself.

 

well ewing was considered dominant. his career averages are 21ppg 9.8rpg, 2.5bpg.

now yao isn't the shot blocker that ewing was but he's better at every other catagory.

so i guess if you ask barkley or other commentators that question his dominance, it comes down to him blocking shots and dunking the ball...

 

Well, for you it's "next", which is fine by me. If you aren't willing to acknowledge that racism may be a factor concerning some groups disposition towards Yao then that's cool....but I don't want to hear you b**** and scream when other groups are racist towards blacks.


I said this before and I'll say it again, the two protected groups in this country are blacks and jews...because we all know these two groups are perfect and incapable of racism. Anybody else are free to be targeted.


Let's reverse it a little. Let's say that a great ping-pong player went over to China and it so happen he was black and he went through the same maturation as Yao. If he were treated the same way, would anyone of you not bring up race as the main issue? Please, every last one of you would be harping on endlessly on how racist and xenophobic the Chinese people are towards outsiders.


For Yao, I'm not saying it's racism, but to disregard it completely is just plain stupid.

 

Yes, good points about the ground game. Yao and Tim Duncan are good comparisons. Neither is flashy or self-promoting; both are great. Crap, even T-Mac called Yao and Duncan's big-man game "boring" at a press conference after the Houston All-Star game, with TD sitting right beside him! (At which point TD got up and walked out.)

Also, Yao does not have the gift of gab in English that someone like Shaq does. It is a slight obstacle to certain aspects of popularity.

There is plenty of foreign feeling and ignorance factoring in too. I CANNOT BELIEVE how many TV commentators and sports writers still refer to the guy as Ming when that is just flat wrong. It's like calling JVG "Gundy." It's just not correct in any way except as a goof. If people still cannot even say his name properly, I don't know how we can expect full appreciation for all that he is as a player, team member, and representative of the NBA worldwide.

Ever heard of that saying "Nice guys finish last"?

I just remember at the rookie-sophomore all-star game, Melo and Yao met at half court before the game and Melo said to him "Y'all ready to lose, right?" Yao said something like "Uhn?" and shrugged. Of course Yao's team smacked Melo's team after that. Melo had the flash and Yao had the W.

 

That's always been one of my peeves.

 

Good point. Either way, he shoulda been RoY, but the past is the past, both players of made a name for themselves.

 

Yao doesn't get the respect that he gets for many reasons and yes, race does play a major factor in how he is viewed by the media. American's view of Asian-American males have been mis-shapened and misinterpreted through the media. Hollywood emasculates the asian male, often reducing their roles to play villains and kung-fu masters. When was the last time an American directed film where you saw an Asian male in the lead role where he wasn't a superhero, or kungfu master?? When was the last time you saw an Asian male getting the girl in a movie?? (Harold and Kumar go to White Castle doesnt count). This same thing is happening to Yao Ming. The media does not want to portray Yao Ming as the new superstar, the new face of the NBA, because the most prominent figure in the NBA cannot be an Asian. The American media would not allow it.