I am wondering about it. If he is not the only one to be a NBA starter from China, if he is not that tall, if he was not labaled to be Shaq terminater, there will not be so many criticism on him. And of cause he is a good NBA center, which leading me from a soccer fan to a NBA fan, but as time going on, we are used to compare him with Shaq, we need him to be a superstar! When we praise him, we praise him as as a superstar, when we pissed on him, we pissed he hasn't done a superstar job. I love Yao as a Chinese, he has done what we had expect him to do, and more of everyone's expectation. So can't we give so high impressure on him, let him be what he want to be, maybe he will not be a superstar, but he has creat history.
In the NBA, the way you get the kind of respect guys like Shaq get is by dominating competition on a night-in-night-out basis. You have seasons where you shoot 60 percent and average 29/14. You show that nearly every night the opponent is overmatched at your position. Think of it this way - Ilgauskis is, arguably, the second-best center in the league, yet no one is clamouring for him to be on highlight reels or in all star games. Why? Because he is servicable, but not spectacular. He cannot dominate his competition every time he steps on the floor. Yoa can't either. He might still, but it will take the kind of a dominating effort you've seen from Shaq for years to get Yao in the same breath with the greats of the game.
In my opinion, Yao's nowhere near satisfying everyone like Shaq has. He needs to bring it every night. When you pass to him, he needs to catch the ball (that's always a good thing for a pivot man). Anyone talking about Yao and Shaq in the same breath has no appreciation or never saw Shaq's dominance in his prime.
When your the #1 pick, there are always high expectations. Some #1s flop, some never become superstars, etc. Right now, Yao is far from a flp but he's not a superstar like Duncan. I hope he can get there.
The only thing Yao is missing is that determination or mean-streak in him.. and i can't even imagine him having one a whole game. Is there any super star player that doesn't have that?
They were talking about Yao on NBA Fast break last night.... Matt Winer was asking Mark Jackson (our old point guard) and Marc Stein why Yao is "getting criticized again" after putting up solid numbers -- 22 pts 9 rebounds. Marc Stein said that he believed in Del Harris's theory concerning Yao in that when you're 7 foot 6- people will always expect more from you, No matter what Yao's stat line is people will want " 5 more points, 3 more rebounds 3 more blocks..." Matt Winer said it was unfair to Yao, but unfortunately that's just how it is. He added that if you look at other # 1 picks like Kwame Brown, Yao has really been solid. Just a side note Mark Jackson kept on goofing up the broad cast. I TiVo'd it so I made sure I rewinded to make sure I heard right. He accidentally called the Miami Heat the " Minnesota Heat" then called Marc Stein " Stephen A." He did say, Yao was a "great great guy,and a great teammate" "Yao will eventually get it done in the future, he just needs to be aggressive offensively." They ranked the top players in the NBA 7 foot 4 and above. Yao was # 3 on Mark's list, and # 2 on Marc Stein's list. # 1 on both lists was Rik Smits. Both said it was only because Smits has gone to the NBA finals. However both Mark Jackson,and Marc Stein did say, Yao will probably be on the top of the list by the time his career is over. Yao does have the complete package, has all the skills but lacks aggressiveness. Marc Stein added at the end that everyone's been way too hard on Yao this year.
Shaq was athletic. The Shaq you see today is nowhere near the player that he was five years ago in terms of athletic abilities. The gap between Shaq and Yao right now is not that big. Both of them are big, immobile players who don't really belong to this age of the game. Shaq is no longer the best post player in the league. That honor belongs to Tim Duncan now.
Something we have to have in mind is that Yao is not going to dominate the game like Shaq. He is a very good center, but just not a superstar we expect him to be.
Yao needs more one handed fakes. He likes to fake the jump shot and go towards the basket but I think his one handed fakes would actually have more effect. He'll have people popping up like popcorn machines. Also if he isn't always comfortable with his back to the basket he should get the ball in the post and then just turn and face up and make his favorite moves like he used to. HIs game is about variety of shots. I'm a pretty strong post player with my friends but I do have to mix it up a bit to keep them guessing. Limiting yao makes him predictable and less effective. Most of all he just needs to have fun. He seems to play better when he's relaxed and having fun.
Nobody will ever satisfy everyone out there, not even Shaq, and certainly not Yao. If I am a player, I would care whether I play well, whether I can lead the team to win the championship, whether the management, coach, teammate appreciate me, whether the fans like me. Some writers out there? That's the least I would be worrying about. Yao's in his 3rd year, he has performed below expectation. Whether the expectation is justified or not, is another story, but once you can't meet expectation on time, you will be get criticized, a lot. Especially, there were so many out where who predicted him as a bust from the very beginning, they just wait for opportunities to attack. When you are down, don't expect their mercy. Furthermore, Yao's been getting enormous attention from day one, big endorsement money etc. You have to realize, some players might envy him or don't think he deserves all the attention etc. Therefore, they would use every opportunity to play tough against him or try to dunk on him. You are famous, you have to live with that. If you are hyped as next something, franchise player, max money, will you have to be ready to get flamed. This really shouldn't surprise anyone. Finally, I would like to offer my opinion for Yao's special case, although it's debatable. I think those Chinese reporters and some extreme "fans" are doing more harm than good to Yao. Some reporters spread half-true stories. They go to interviews, no matter with whom, no matter when, the only question is "how do you think of Yao? Could he be the next XXXXX?" I am sure those players are fed up with it, which could translate to something negative towards Yao. If someone plays defense against TD, some action might be harmful or cause injury, they would avoid that (my guess); but if it's Yao, I am not saying anyone would try to hurt him intentionally (Malone aside, who wanted to hurt everyone.), but not necessary backup from any dangerous action. As fans, we might attruibute to the negativity towards Yao as well. The attitude of "Yao is the best, he can do no wrong, everyone else on the team sucks" is really harmful for Yao, to gain any new fans or keep his old fan base. A mild approach is always appreciated, if you could start with "Player A is my favourite, but I know you like Player B more, and I knwo this and that about B, and I still think A has such such strengths etc. I just wish them all the best, and help the team to win." I am sure you will be more welcomed. Eventually, you might turn others to "Player AOF" as well
Ming will probably never get the accolades that Shaq gets becauses he will never have the complete power game as Shaq does. Ming appears slower than Shaq, and Shaq is noticabley slower than he used to be. Shaq never had the lateral movement of an Hakeem, but Ming is even slower. Shaq's reactions to be the ball are still faster than Ming and he has slowed in this area as well. Conclusion: Ming is a better shooter, maybe a better passer, but Ming is slow and lacks competitive fire. Fans love "the fire," and Shaq has it, Ming doesn't. Just imagine what Ming would be like, even with his physical limitations, if he were Bob Sura. Yes, he would foul out every game but he would be scary doing it.
It's an 'if' not a 'when' And that's not a bash. We all have a bad tendency to look at a young player and compare them to HOF players or even legends. It's not fair and begs for disappointment. Consider the hype on Carmelo last year, or Hill-Penny-VC and all the other next Jordans. Even Kobe gets hurt by the Jodan comparisons, and he's a HOF lock. Yao's consistency and determination have to go a very long way before we can start lumping him in with the great centers of the league (historically). He's already a top 25 guy (easily), though. Evan
Right now Duncan doesn't play so much low post games. His stats are also going down. Because Spurs are playing team basketball.
Also anther major difference is Shaq gets good whistles. He almost always travel and doing his power move that can be called offensive foul, ref just let him do what he does. Also Shaq gets a lot of foul shots.
