He was exposed tonight, he is a great player. He just is what he is, he can play basketball.. just not american basketball. Most people outside america have problems adjusting to our style of play, its not normal, it isn't how they play it, it's different. It's not fragile, it's not pick up and shoot, its not hop-scotch.. it is strong, physical, aggonizing, grinding, tiring, fast, and harder. Alot of forgein players just can't adjust to american basketball, since around the rest of the world they play the game differently. One of those players is Yao Ming. He has the skills, he has the 'know', he has the height and everything to be a great center in the nba. He just doesn't have that extra oomf, that extra somthing that it takes to adjust to the American style of player. To play american ball you have to not only play strong, physical, but you have to play with desire, you have to play with WANT, and most importantly you MUST play with mental and physical toughness... things that aren't reguired in other styles of player. The NBA is almost a cross from streetball and basketball, as in China/Europe/Everywhere else they play traditional, it's a rough adjustment not many can make, Yao is one of those many. I love Yao, he has the tools, he has the skills, he just doesn't have the oomf... He can throw up the numbers but it seems like it doesn't help our team, like it goes un-noticed, and it goes un-noticed for a reason and that reason for this season is the 4th quarter.. the quarter you pay attention to most, the quarter that wins you games, Yao has been non-existant. It's not his fault though, this game is different from what he has done all his life~ you need that extra oomf to play this game~ you need that awarness and want~ You can argue that 4 years should be long enough to adjust to the american style of play but it's not and it's been proven many of times in many situations that even a career might not be long enough to adjust either..
bout the 500th post on this unfortunately, I agree. whether Yao can be a decent scoring option to backup mcgrady ...... maybe.. maybe not but Yao's obviously fallen from the Superstar player category and probably will never be one :\
Guys....cmon.....sure Yao has been frustrating thus far but remember this is the FIRST time he has been asked/forced to lead a team. Playing as a second option to Tmac is vastly different than leading a team. It took Tmac, yes TMAC! awhile of being "the man" before he became the Tmac as we know today. Its ridiculous how some people here have jumped the gun after 10 games, and its this reason why most of us arent GMs running an NBA team. It sucks that Tmac is out, but it does give Yao the opportunity to learn what it takes to succeed and being a TRUE superstar in this league. Every star goes through this growing pain.
I agree. No more excuses, especially after four years already(and guys, please stop comparing his first four years to KG. It's a shame to think anyone would actually put those two names in the same sentence together). He's a good player but we are starting to see he will never be a great one. Prove me wrong, Yao.
Yao definitely has his faults, but this is his best year so far. He is stronger, quicker and putting up better stats. Is it fair to be dissapointed in him - sure, somewhat. But he never came out and proclaimed he would be the next Wilt, regardless of what some may have thought. At 7-6 maybe he should be better, maybe he should be worse. Is he worth the max? To any owner, sure. To fans, it becomes a little questionable, but still probably. It's just if you look at all the good teams throughout the league, and you take away their two best players, and they have a lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lotlot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lotlot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lotlot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lotlot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lotlot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lotlot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lotlot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot better talent around them thus far. Add to that the fact that TMac is definitely the better of our two star players, then take him out, then add a coach who teaches defense better than offense... well, a lot of people seem exposed. BOTTOM LINE: Yao putting up the exact same stats, etc. right now with a 7-4 record or so and we are all super happy.
This is Luther Heads 9th NBA game and he led us more then Yao.. Oh lets hear the excuse 'He played college ball' SO WHAT he never was the main leader of Ill... Besides Yao was the leader of the China team so he has had experience leading a team before, I take this terrible excuse of an excuse as a NON-EXCUSE so DENIED. Being a leader is natural it's either you have the desire and passion to be a leader or you don't, you can't really force it, it just doesn't work that way. A great example of forcing a leader is Yao Ming.
Yao didn't have a problem leading the Chinese national team. His current performance has nothing to do with his desire or motivation, it's more about his limited physical ability to turn his emotions into baskets. Face it, Rocket fans, Yao is just not THAT good.
Yao was "exposed" his rookie season. That said, we're judging him as the "next Dream" or something. And he'll never be near that. His "weakness" is still better than most of the league's centers. He needs more help and rest than the likes of Dream. I doubt he'll ever be the go to guy, or the work horse late in a game... hence the T-Mac signing. What Yao needs most now is a healthy team around him. Something he cannot control.
Everyone needs to calm down. This team, when healthy, doesn't really need Yao to be the "key" guy in the 4th quarter. That is what a healthy T-Mac is for. This team is built around T-Mac and Yao. T-Mac needs Yao, just as much as Yao needs T-Mac. They are there to compliment one another. By no means can T-Mac carry this Rocket's team by himself (just look at what happened to Kobe), and neither can Yao. Considering our early schedule, do you really think our record would be much different with T-Mac healthy and Yao out? Remember last year how awful we looked in the games Yao missed?
asking Yao to lead the national team vs leading an nba team is different. from the moment yao stepped foot onto the nba scene he was NEVER considered the best player on his team. He has never had the mentality of this being HIS team. Its different. When has any player been a great leader from the get go? How was Jordan's Bulls early on? Tmac's Magic? Kg Wolves? You can't suddenly as an assistant manager to suddenly fill in for a managers position and expect similar or great results from the get go. Are there exceptions ? Sure but they are more rare than common.
All the Yao doubters will go straight back to their holes hiding when the Rockets start winning. It's just like that so many times in these long (or short) four years. Fans are fans, nothing seriously wrong with that.
Yao was terrific in the 4th quarter last year. I don't think he just forgot what to do this season. He needs TMac just as much as TMac needs him.
A 18/8 center is what you call cannot play american basketball? Why are people here so demanding? btw, if you think Yao doesn't worth max, more than half of the current max player don't worth too.
It will make sense to say Yao has a hard time to adjust to the NBA refs than American bballs. NBA refs give calls/no calls based on what they think the players used to be. Criterials will be different on almost every star players. This means it will automatically create room for yourself if you played aggressively and dirty continueously. That sounds ridiculous but actually a truth as NBA is only an entertainment where audience want to watch for fun. International basketball is competition and real matches. No one should be treated differently. You will never make a name if you are just able to play physically. BTW, US teams suck big time right now in international basketball tournaments.
Aside from the mega Revenue ge generates, amare is 3 times the player he is. amare tore duncan to SHREDS in the WCF, While yao cant even school diop.
yao can't play american basketball? good grief that might be the dumbest thing ever posted in this forum. it's obvious that at this point yao can't physically lead this team an entire game without t-mac. he gets too winded. that however doesn't mean he's worthless. he has consistently in the past been a clutch 4th quarter shooter and i suspect that he will be once again when he's got some relief from mcgrady. yao may never be the most dominant player in the game but he is very very good.
Did you watch the Series?.. even duncan said he has never been torched like that. amare was Unbeliveble.
