I hate to beat a dead horse, but both of these points are more about how the calls are made in regard to Yao than to how he plays the game. No one is "intimidated" by him because they know they can just run smack into him and get a foul called in almost any instance. (see: Davis, Baron; Dec. 31, 2007) As for the second, sure he gets the ball stripped from him in the paint plenty of times, pretty much every big man does. But how many times have you seen him with the ball up at or over his head and watch some defender jump up and swing at the ball, hit him in the head, both arms, maybe the ball, and see no foul called? Ends up being a "turnover"...
This isn't about yao v anyone. anyone that has watched duncan for 10 yrs, proof is in the pudding. He won a ring his 2nd yr in the league. His team have always made it to the 2nd rd. To say he isn't or wasn't a great.scorer,rebounder, and shot blocker is a disservice to the greatest pf of all time. back to Yao, in the nba and playing the pivot requires not just numbers, but a certain effect on the game. 2blks doesn't mean ur controlling the paint whe small guys challenge u every chance they get. controlling the boards is coming up with the critical rebounds on the defensive and securing them because u are a great ft shooter. Being a great low post player is the guy scoring 10 pts in the 4th quarter and forcing teams to double u correctly. When teams double u small, they pay.When they double late, they pay.When the double from the wrong side, they pay. To top that off, ur influence on the game doesn't have to be solely scoring. I get excited when I see 15pts 20 reb games. The pivot or post has to be effective no matter. I don't care when yao is having a off night, but go dominate the board, blk some shots, make some passes. make sure the other team know that ur fingerprints are on the game. sadly, there are to many games that if yao isn't scoring, he's a non factor.
Great post! Plus, bashing our 2nd best player when the 1st is down, nothing but just ranting. Until we have a healthy and working $20M-player, this conversation is going nowhere.
isnt that what we are doin? we have been building around yao.. just hes not that GREAT of a center ... in the top 5 centers but still not better than dwight howard amare stoudamire and i am not even sure hes better all around than marcus camby or shaq...hes still just not tough enough
oh c'mon. pls be VERY sure of that. camby? the same camby who yao just fouled him out not long ago and limited him to freaking 2pts in the game? and today's shaq? i don't even know what he's doing in the game nowadays.
Yes, the Baron Davis foul after he ran into Yao's ass was the worst call I've ever seen, no doubt. I'm talking about people taking it into the paint. Everyone takes it right at Yao, and they score way too often. Yao doesn't scare anyone. His intimidation factor is basically zero. 40+ year old Deke is a much greater intimidator.
I'm amazed at your basketball experience, more so of your accurate and insightful analysis NBA players and games based on your experience. Please some NBA scouts read this thread and recognize a future star like you.
This thread is idiotic. Of course you can build a championship team around Yao. Yao is a great scorer and decent in every other aspect of the game (rebounding and defense). Most importantly, Yao is a big-man that you can go to in the stretch to close games. I think it’s silly to say Yao is great at nothing when he has no problem getting 20+ a game while being zoned the majority of the time. YAO IS GREAT AT PUTTING THE BALL IN THE BASKET. Yao is not Duncan, and he does not compare to the other great bigs in league history (Shaq, Hakeem, Kareem, etc). However, Duncan has never played on a bad team in his entire career. You can’t find one Duncan team that had holes in 2/5 of it’s starting lineup. Put Timmy on this team and we aren’t winning a title either. It would be a flashback of the Olajuwon years, circa 88-92.
IDIOT, I'VE BEEN WATCHING THE ROCKETS FOR 20+ YRS SO DON'T GO THERE...the point i'm trying to make is you can build around him he just has the wrong coach case in point last year.....
true yao is not an intimidator. i can think of 2 reasons. 1 is that he does not throw his elbows around. i am talking about throwing them to a reasonable degree, not intentionally hurting someone. i take that as he refuses to do so due to his background and personality - otherwise he'd have learnt that from deke already. it's really not hard. 2 is imo he's freaking 7'6, so many players take it as a fantacy if they can somehow dunk/score on him or block his shots. that said, it's untrue that players "score way too often" on yao. the truth is quite the contrary if you check the #'s.
Yes, we've been building around Yao. with players who can't or won't pass him the ball the moment Yao sealed off his man, who can't make wide open 3s when Yao is getting doubled, who can't finish a layup after getting the ball from Yao cutting to the basket, who drives to the basket and throws up a prayer instead of passes to Yao right under the basket. I have to laugh at the statement that Amare is better than Yao. A guy who played with Nash, Marion, Joe Johnson and still failed to reach NBA final. Nash>Tmac, Marion + Joe Johnson>>>>> every other role players Yao ever had combined.
Yao is what he is: an all-star caliber player who is limited physically. Is Yao going to be an all-time great? Unlikely. Will Yao ever win an MVP award? Probably not. What Yao lacks is something you can not teach: athletic abilities. That is the truth. It's not hating Yao; it's merely stating the truth. However, that is not the point and should not be the point of discussion here. The two questions that we should ask are: (1) Are the Rockets better off with Yao on the team? (2) Can the Rockets win a championship with Yao on the team? The answers to both questions are: yes! The Rockets are a better team with Yao, and any team in the league would be a better team with Yao for that matter. I disagree with the notion that Yao does not do anything great. Yao is a great low-post threat and draws defense's attention every game. That is something that every championship-caliber team needs.
Gosh, how the hell did the Gotham Asylum let you out. Please get back in there ASAP. You're a danger to yourself. We do not want to see you get hurt.
