simple: the expectations are higher for tracy b/c of his potential. even if we lose this year, tracy's gonna get mose of the blame though yao has been the team's best player.
it's not just that. peyton manning was called a loser before he won a super bowl (and overrated by some for choking in big games). kevin garnett was also criticized for not stepping up in big games. alex rodriguez is WILDLY criticized. and all those 3 guys play as hard as anyone in any sport. tracy's effort has been fine in the playoffs. but the reasoning is tracy is SO TALENTED and good that people expect better things from him in terms of team accomplishments. the same can be said for peyton, kg, and arod. yao is a very good player, but you never hear anyone talk about him in the breath of the great centers of the game. and most take dwight howard even now (though i disagree). b/c of that, they don't expect yao to carry a team and thus don't put that weight on his shoulders. like i said, if we lose in this year's playoffs and tracy plays well, the blame will still be on him. it's not right or wrong. it's what you get for having that burden. that's part of sports.
I don't think Yao gets a free pass, I make sure of that, but he's a favorite of most on this board. I think because he is a cultural hero to some, many will abstain from brutilizing their hero. He doesn't get nearly the repeated created threads tracy does, but Yao is a likable guy. I don't buy into the theory he's the hardest working guy in the league like they or some try to portray, but he is a hard worker. He's a good player, not a dominant one, but many will try to put him there. When he doesn't play well, posters blame everyone else, but yao stands up and blames himself. I just wish people can be critical of a player without being called a hater. If yao is playing like a chump, just because someone calls it out, doesn't mean they're "hating." This board has a division unlike anything I've seen in the past. It shouldn't be that way, but it seems to get wider and wider. I hope this group can win a title, but if they can't, I want Tracy and Yao gone and start over with new,fresh guys everyone will feel good aout rooting for or criticizing.
i don't think the question is about this board. yao will get criticized if he plays a subpar game like he did earlier this year and recently the philly game. i think the OP is talking about the national media.
Les will try everything in his power to keep Yao. if Yao leaves, than he must be sick of Houston. Yao had a broken foot, played in the Olympics, and has been consistent this year. He's had some bad games where he's been blocked by the rim and getting out rebounded by midgets, but he's made up for that and has worked harder on his D and boards. He hasn't had any terrible games lately, so that's why you don't see any Yao criticism threads. plus i think he's won over most of his harsh critics with his play. Even the national media, all you hear is praise about Yao, even from Charles.
This about sums it up, and not just for this board or even just Houston but for sports teams in general. We haven't been out of the first round so we have to blame someone. Yao has so many physical limitations (jumping, lateral movement, quickness, reaction time, strength, etc.) that it's amazing that he plays as well as he does and even if he plays poorly it's probably partially because of something he can't control. Tracy is easy to hate. At this point i'm not impressed with either one of them. Over the years I've changed what i view as a superstar and none of our players fit that view. We need a superstar to win a championship.
Yao is not gonna get a free pass. At least Yao himself won't give it to himself. I would like see yao be the first choice on the team in the regular season and playoff games at least for this one season. Then I will know more of what is Yao's capability. I do think an unselfish player be the leader of the team benefits more to the team. Right now I would say the team and Yao are both becoming better and better, even it was not shown by the records. I just hope everyone will play team ball at both ends, especially the returned guys won't be selfish and mess up the team chemistry.
Actually, I've felt that Yao tends to get more blame than he deserves. Yao's main problems has usually been things out of his control. His physical body, like his height, short arms, make him always TO prone and not a good rebounder. He is playing the low-post in the era of NBA when everything is biased towards perimeter players, and never gets any respect from refs. Which leads to games where he plays poorly because defenders hack at him with impunity. I feel that Yao at least try to improve the aspects of his game that he has control over. That IMO is totally different from T-Mac, who has basically been slacking off. It's one thing to not be good because you're not capable, but totally different when you BELOW your ability because you're lazy.
i'm may bring this thread back up when he has a bad game. we'll see how much of a "free pass" he gets in other threads. it's going to be ugly.
Yao gets the benefit of the doubt far more than McGrady or even Artest. But if you thought the Toronto quitting threads were bad for T-Mac, imagine what would happen if he were to fumble crucial rebounds or have them bounce off his head followed by an opponent putback dunk after the team put forth 24 seconds of dominating defense. Or better yet, simply throw a lazy pass that gets stolen under the opponents basket. Yao gets the benefit of the doubt, no matter how many times it has to be given.
i dont quite agree with the topic the OP used but the contents are quite reasonable. he didnt really put down Yao in the thread, his point is, us fans here keep beating up a player whenever he's down and no room to redeem himself. i agree, lets give T-mac til end of the season, then we shall see how. Yao on the other hand, still needs to be more consistent and hope he improves more. T-mac, needs to gain most of the confidence of the fans back, this guys are pros, they should be able to handle the pressure.
yao doesn't get free pass, but think about this, we brought Tmac here, consider he is one of few top player who can change the game single handly. Until tmac takes us to deeper of playoff, he will be the first player to blame, simple because of his salary.
When Yao consistently beats Tracy down the court there's something wrong, but it's not with Yao. And since Tracy's fans don't believe stats, just watch the games. One gives it everything he has and is constantly trying to improve himself, and one thinks he makes his team better by just standing on the court and half steps it.
