Copy from espn insider link . Tuesday, December 23, 2003 Yao desires to be great KEVIN DING Register columnist NBA kding@ocregister.com The best quotes are the ones that not only grab you but shed that little extra light on who the person is at heart. Some of the sweetest from the season to date ... Indiana's Scot Pollard, on not playing for three consecutive games: "Are you asking me why I suck?" Golden State's Nick Van Exel, on trying to reach him via phone: "I haven't returned a call since I got in the league, whether it's Mark Cuban or Jerry West." And Minnesota's Michael Olowokandi, on his latest injury: "I'm an expert in my knowledge of my body." My favorite, though, was a comment from Houston's Yao Ming. You probably missed it, because there has been little coverage of Yao in his second NBA season. That 7-foot-6 frame, which came with a language barrier attached, wasn't a natural fit under the American-made microscope last season, but Yao dealt with it well enough to be chosen by reporters to the NBA's All-Interview second team. Still, he's glad to be free of the attention this season, as seen by this other quote from him a few weeks ago (which ranks up there with the season's best, too): "Thanksgiving just passed, so you should probably know what I'm thankful for: LeBron James." Yes, James is the league's new rookie darling - with Denver's productive Carmelo Anthony tagging along. They deserve some spotlight, because both players have displayed not only skill but also a real desire to be legendary. James' intentions to rule his era are clear. The name he put on his first Nike sneaker, released Saturday, is the "Air Zoom Generation." On the day before Anthony's Nuggets beat James' Cavaliers in Denver earlier this month, Anthony made the blunt, boastful statement that he wants to be "bigger than (John) Elway." Which brings us back to Yao and his quote from this season that caught my eye: "I want to be great." Here in the NBA, where guys try like nowhere else to generate "SportsCenter" footage, the substance comes from those who live in the moment but also yearn and work to create something lasting. Compare Yao's quote with what comes from Chicago center Eddy Curry, another candidate to be the dominant post-Shaquille O'Neal center in this league. First, though, listen to what Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen sees in Curry. "I'm saying he has the potential to be better than Shaq," Pippen said. "It hasn't popped out of him yet. But whenever he develops his body and decides to go all out, there is no limit to what he can do." Awfully strong words. Now here's Curry: "I think that I am already a pretty good NBA player. But I've still got a lot to learn and I'm determined to keep working hard to become the best player that I can be. And if the best player that I can be turns out to be Shaquille O'Neal, then I would definitely love to reap those benefits." Unless you are as uncommonly gifted as O'Neal, you'd better have a hunger to be great and the confidence to declare it. In evaluating Yao's game, though, scouts have considerable doubt whether he can make himself into an NBA legend. He has the size, but unquestionably lacks strength and conditioning. Although he began playing basketball at age 9 in China, his game intensity also must improve. "The longer he can sustain his concentration, keep getting a more and more solid conditioning base and figure out how he's going to attack ... those would be the areas I would want him to improve on most of all," first-year Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. Yao, 23, made the All-Star team last season, but that was through fan voting. O'Neal expects to lose out again to Yao for Western Conference starting center. Despite an early lead in the voting, O'Neal speculated things would change when more ballots come in from China (or to use O'Neal's actual phraseology, from Yao's "crib"). The NBA is also starting to put Yao out there again. Now is the time when the league gets serious about the season, coinciding with its first appearance on network TV, and the NBA is pushing Yao and James on a Christmas Day tripleheader with the Lakers, Sacramento, Dallas and defending scoring champ Tracy McGrady. The Rockets have been on national TV just three times so far; they'll be on 19 times the rest of the way - starting with Yao vs. Shaq on ABC on Thursday night. Quietly, all of Yao's numbers, except free-throw percentage, have gone up this season. Averaging 16.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks, Yao has moved into O'Neal's neighborhood (20.4 points, 12 rebounds, 2.6 blocks). Yao wants much more, the very key to unlocking it. And teammate Steve Francis sees it coming. "I know that he's in a position to be more aggressive (this season)," Francis said. "Shaq is definitely the most dominant player in the game, but Yao's not going to back down. I know he's looking forward to the challenge." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTACT US: kding@ocregister.com
YAO never be aggressive as you guys expect. If you expect he to be aggressive as ONeal, you would be disappointed. YAO may be a good player. His size determines that he is a little bit slow in reaction. His education tells us that he is a "gentle" kid.
