it doesn't matter, we still need the most important player on our team to step up, just look at pierce last year, or shaq, or duncan. you get the point.
i think he's saying that he oughta be playing better than he is now, he hasn't progressed like some of us thought he would. i doubt he'll win the mvp unless he plays with that anger, and with that dominating mentality.
what did paul pierce ever do before last year? and no, yao ain't no shaq nor duncan. if that was you're disappointed for, i'm afraid you would have to live with it. after all, "over-" or "under-", it all depends on your expectations, doesn't it?
pierce has been to the conference finals a few times on crappy teams, he can basically score at will, has an array of moves in the post and on the perimeter, he's done a lot more than mac and or yao.
a few times? i could be wrong, but i can only remember one. and that was back to when the east was ultra-weak. well, that's not the point anyways. playoff success is largely a function of your own TEAM's strength as well as your opponents'. (that's why you never see me criticize any player solely based on his playoff record, incl. both yao and mcgrady.) on an individual level, yao never missed any allstar game as a starter since he got here; and to this date is still THE most double-teamed player in the entire league. that to me is a lot of achievement. but of course, if you expected him to be a 30-15-5 player, then you'd certainly be disappointed.
Who said he underachiever? I said he's a good player and the only thing that stops him from greatness is yao. We've seen him destroy people, so we know he can do it, but mentally he doesn't have it in him. That's why shaq,dream and the others are great. They wanted to destroy every opponet all the time whereas for yao it takes a rookie dunking on him with a staredown afterwards to get the fire under his ass. If he played every game like he plays against shaq or howard, it would be illegal. He doesn't and foster,murphy,marc gasol and dudes like that cancel him out.
Look at Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and oh, about 30 or so other players. What do they have in common? They're the teammates of Pierce, Shaq, and Duncan when those players won titles, and they had to play well, too. I know it's a crazy concept...
t-mac is also taller than Kobe, should he contribute 40+ pts and 20+ assists per game? how do you like his current performance?
I would be amazed if half of you Yao bashers even watch the game!! First thing is Yao will never be a high rebound man simply he is simply to slow to be mobile enough around the rim to get alot of rebounds ontop of the fact anytime he tries reach over someone for rebound he usually is called for over the back! Second for all of you who talk about Yao should offensivly dominate games he already does!! Can anyone name a single player who can hold Yao on the block 1-on-1. He shoots a great % from the feild and the line and thats with ther refs not giving him calls. I will admit his turnovers are an issue but half of them are cause by horrible post passing by his teamates, and the inability of his teammates to make a open shot to keep the defense honest as apposed to swarming all over Yao knowing they probably wont get called for a foul even if they hack the hell out of him. He also creates alot of offensive oppurtunities for his teammates that he does not get credit for. He is doing all of this while taking less shots than last year what more do you want from him on offense. Third thing the man has been playing basketball for 8 years straight between team china and the rockets, yeah he had time off via injuries, but the day he heals he's back on the court. So cut the man some slack no matter how you look at it he gives 100% on the court even while he gets picked on by the refs, and he is still a either the number 1 or 2 center in the league
Geez, stop being such a homer and get over it already. Yao is a good center and nothing more. He may have a good average in scoring, but he is and always will be inconsistent. He still gets bullied around and has a very difficult time finding easy shots. And last time I checked just like She Mac, Yao has not ever won a playoff series either not even once in his career. He is just a stats guy but can't close a thing when the game is close in the final two minutes. The Rockets have never been able to depend on Yao at the end of games to close them when they're close. He doesn't have a dominating skill set that is good enough to get the kinds of shots he wants when players are playing with a lot of intensity at the end of games. Sorry, but you and many others can continue to live out your dilusions about yao being this superstar great player and all, but he hasn't accomplished anything in the NBA and people outside of Houston aren't ever afraid of what Yao is going to do to their team. He isn't really good on defense either.
PAUL PIERCE selfish ass didn't win crap until RAY ALLEN and Garnett- other under achievers- DUDE stick to the playground bb and your video games. Your threads and your opinions and your name shows you have no real thoughts or creativity of your own.
Even though i am a Y-O-F, i tend to think of him as a Shawn Bradley Yao and the Hakeem Yao. So there is TWO side to him...he can show up and play below average basketball and he can show up and be a dominant player...you never know...that's what i hate about him sometimes...can never be consistent.
Poor analogy. He never plays as poorly as Shawn Bradley and he never plays as great as Hakeem. Yao's strengths and weaknesses are obvious: he is tall and strong with great post moves but he is also extremely slow and unathletic (by NBA standard), which hinders him from being a great rebounder and shot blocker. He also doesn't have good stamina and turns the ball over a lot, particularly when he was played in a physical way. He also has the mindset of a role player and tends to pass out to his teammates, not try to dominate the game by himself. He has consistently played well but he only has a "great" game once in a while.
