His stamina definitely concerns me. For 2 years he has puked out at the end of season. And if he runs out gas this year that definitely has to send out the caution flags.
Ralph Sampson was one of the biggest enigma's to ever hit houston. Even before the big fall in Boston there were games that he just did not seem to impose his will the way we (the fans) thought he should while there were other games when he just simply took over. Much like Yao today. Ralphs numbers were better than Yao's but I think we need to keep it in perspective to the time period. Big men as a whole dominated to boards much more in the 80s than they do today. Scoring as a whole was much higher in the 80s than now. Almost all teams scored more than 100 pts in every game. It was very unusuall for a team to average less than a 100. Now teams that average 100 or more are few and far between. Ralph is the single most athletic player there has ever been at that height, much more IMO than Yao but their effects on the court are amazingly similar IMO.
I think it's a misquote from the original quote. I remember back when TMac just had a sensational game and the Rox won. It could be against the Spurs the miracle game, I forgot. Yao said, "if T-mac is that hot, I don't mind being the second option."
http://www.wforum.com/newspool/articles/sports/43125.html It is in Chinese Quote (Yao 12/8/2004): Since Sixer's game (12/4/2004), I have been thinking that I want to be the second option.
I like the Ralph Sampson comparison, too. Where Yao has an advantage is in his tremendous lower body strength. Ralph had the knee equivalent of Gerry Cooney's chin, to make an 80's sports analogy. It was a shame he got hurt so quickly- the Twin Towers are the great "what could have been" of Houston sports.
I agree with your thoughts on Sampson. As a center Sampson was dominant. When he moved to the 4, he was less dominant, and before he could ever fully adjust he was injured, and Charlie Thomas rushed him back early from his injury. He was never the same after that.
This reponse is right on, however if you had to make a decision today, he'd have to be signed to the max. He's the second best player at his position in the NBA, top 10-15 player in the league in 3 seasons, underachieving or not. Besides the alternative is too hazy to pull the trigger on, if not Yao, who's our center, new PF(s) with all the extra money we would have? Could we get Tyson Chandler, Swift in there, who knows? And if yes, does that necessarlily = more wins? What does T-Mac have to say about all this after management almost assuredly told him Yao would resign? Too many questions abound to just let him walk, expect the max and be very happy with it...
GREAT POST (as usual) but this reference probably went over every YOF we have on this board. I like their energy and enthusiam for the big fella, but come on guys, if you learn a little about the history of the franchise (especially with our legacy of big men) you will understand this frustration at times. btw - I will take 25 pts a night from Yao every time (as long as Tmac is there) ... but that is just me
Good Post Jeff. I too at times probably appear to be a Yao hater to some, only because I do get frustrated with the big guy quite often. I love Yao, and wish he could become the aggressive monster we have believed he could be on the floor. Yesterday, he did a couple of things that didn't match his character, although I loved them. One was when he spun and suddenly seemed to have some rage in him and he went up for the one handed facial (granted he missed the slam, but him being this aggressive was awesome). Then like 3 plays later he got the ball and went in even harder with the 2 handed slam. That got me up and yelling at the tv. That was sweet. Well, I will agree that my expectations for Yao are probably too high....sometimes I realize I expect him to be perfect. But it is his third year, and I expected to see him hold the ball better go up stronger, and go straight to the paint for the good position. Go Rockets.
Whew...just got done reading this thread....here's my 2 cents: Yao will be more consistent / somewhat dominate when and if he becomes the leader/co-leader of this team. Currently, since he's shied away from that role, it's obvious to me that he just another complementary piece in the puzzle, whereas in the future, he and T-Mac have to be the center pieces, the largest pieces. Once he takes on the responsibility that this is his team, that's when I believe we will see the fire and agressiveness that seems to be lacking; that's when we will start seeing him chastise his teammates for not passing him the ball. For whatever reasons why he is incapable of doing this now (whether it's his personality or JVG or culture clashes blah blah), once he does this, I think we'll see the Yao we've all been waiting for. Let's face it, I would say that 90 to 95 percent of the people who posted in this thread LIKE Yao; all this Yao hate stuff is bull crap if you ask me. We're actually all on the same side here, and we all want Yao to succeed. Jeez, I would pay cash if I could talk to Yao for only 10 minutes....
Yao needs to grow some balls The dude is not your locker-room leader-type. He's not even a floor general. The fact that he's coached by Patrick Ewing is classic b/c Ewing was never the most ferocious type of floor leader the Knicks needed even though he was a captain of the team and a quiet warrior at that. With Yao, we have a supporting type of player. He's not a leader. The most he can/will do, IMHO is be a complementary player who puts up decent numbers. The only instance in which I've seen Yao get fired up is when Francis, back in the day, got involved in certain scuffles. Thus, my gut tells me that the stronger T-Mac leads, the more Yao will follow. And that includes T-Mac's passion for the game. My frustration with Yao, the player, is that he DOESN'T try to impose his will much like T-Mac has been in recent memory. If Yao took this mental approach I am 99% positive we'd see an increase in the number of: 1. points scored 2. fouls against opposing players 3. and WINS Bottom line is that barring any change in attitude for the better, I dare say that Yao is "peaking." theSAGE
There are dominant players who were not ferocious like Shaq or Hakeem. If Yao could grab 12 rbs like Duncan, I bet you would by Yao's dominance then. Dont stereotype all dominant players. You don't need to be Shaq or Hakeem to be dominant. Example: Duncan, Kareem, Walton, Robinson, ... Some of them were also labeled as passive and soft.
Uh Duncan???!!!! Hello???!!!! Duncan's about as aggressive and as competitive spirit as can be. Same with Walton. Robinson??? Tough guy but keep in mind, it wasn't until Timmy D came to town before SA started to win championships. As for Kareem... let's not forget his two wingmen in Worthy and Magic. confusedSAGE Bottom line is that you need FIRE if you want to be a competitor in this league. FIRE presupposes some degree of EGO which I don't think Yao has. But IMHO, he should start developing some. I mean, this IS the NBA!!!! If he's not out there with a will to compete and to win and to be aggressive, why on Earth should I pay $50 to watch a lackluster effort? Yao needs to show some of that national pride/zeal from the Olympics here and now with the Rox. theSAGE
