He comes back with an "above average" number of missed games with a new injury that's worse than before. I wish he would just be average and miss less than 10 games like everybody else.
It is arguable, and impossible to know, what kind of form Yao will come back in next season. He may very well turn into the NY version of Tmac. But your speculation based on a decline in points per game is far from comprehensive. For starters, minutes per game may be a factor? 2006-07 33:47 2007-08 37:12 2008-09 33:36 Now points alone obviously does not tell us the whole story. How about some other metrics? PER 2006-07 26.7 2007-08 22.6 2008-09 22.7 EFF/40 2006-07 30.5 2007-08 27.5 2008-09 28.4 From these we see that his actual effectiveness and efficiency actually went up from 2008 to 2009. However there indeed was a drop off from 2007, when he was on pace for a MVP season averaging 25 and 10. But again, maybe there is more to the story? Who was on the roster in 2007? A starting lineup up that included Rafer Alston, Shane Battier, and Chuck Hayes. With a sixth man of Juwan Howard. You don't think adding Luis Scola, Aaron Brooks, Ron Artest, Kyle Lowry, Carl Landry etc. into the mix over the years has reduced our reliance on Yao? Maybe a cause for that slight down tick in the years after 2007? But what about the stat that matters the most. Not how much Yao produces, but how much he contributes to winning. WS/40 2006-07 12.1 2007-08 12.2 2008-09 12.9 His Win Share/40 was by far the highest in 09, which was also a career high. Points per game? Come on now.
Solid, I am in total agreement with you... My only concern is that it seems as if management is still trying to build around him and that's very scarey. T_Man
If Yao signs an extension he loses out on a no trade clause. http://twitter.com/STEIN_LINE_HQ/status/17695080768
I expect Yao to average 15 points and 10 rebonds a game and I think he is no where near superstar status for now.
THIS. The egotistical players and/or the media inept GMs/Coaches/Owners, are usually the ones that speak out to the press about how ready they are, or are going to be, before they have even played competitively after coming back from an injury. Half the time they eat their words because they give promises of a grand comeback and set high expectations for their performance and fall short. I don't think it's necessarily Yao or Morey's PRIMARY intention to keep things close to the vest, because they don't want to embarrass themselves if Yao under performs (although it's nice to not look like a presumptuous idiot too). I think Yao is smart and business savvy, but more so he comes from a culture that strongly emphasizes being HUMBLE. He's too smart and meek to come out and say something stupid like Shaq has done in recent years, and basically all but promise to bring a ring to whatever city he happens to be in for that year. And then fail... In terms of the Rocket's org, I completely echo DD's assessment. Any smart organization, such as ours, will keep their aces close to the vest to draw in some offers. And they will only show their hand when the time is right.
Right on the money! How simple is that and why is it so hard for others to understand? To those who question Yao's elite status, they have been biased against Yao from the get go that they fail to see anything positive about him. Just like the refs who seem to make calls against him like it is the most natural thing to do in the NBA.
I think Yao will be the same player he always was, if he plays fewer minutes, but bad things will happen if Rick pushes him. He'll never be the Ox again. The Rockets know this, or they wouldn't be paying Miller five million per.
Your use of win share/40 instead of win shares is because he wasn't doing jack for half the season. He came back worse. It would only make sense to use those numbers, if he played at least 70 games a season.
A man known for his humility made a humble statement when asked about his own greatness. Sound the alarm!
Your use of "Points per Game" means jack without context. We are not debating whether he got injured again after he came back. Because we KNOW he got injured again, and did not play 70 games a season. What we are debating is whether he was as effective in the games he did play. For that measure, WS/40 is completely relevant. MUCH moreso than saying, "Oh look! He scored 2.3492 less points every time he came back from injury! He's gotten worser each time!!!" Rather, let me fix it for you. "He came back just as effective as EVER. Unfortunately he got injured again, each time after coming back." And. "I will never judge a player's value looking solely at PPG." "I will never judge a player's value looking solely at PPG." "I will never judge a player's value looking solely at PPG." x100
If you look at effectiveness, why would you only look at a portion of the season? It's like faction of clutchfans that kept rooting for Yao and T-Mac, because they were great when "healthy". The Rockets were never contenders. If the NBA playoffs would start and end before his yearly injury, then he would be more effective for the whole season instead of only 50 games.
Ok seriously: stats mean a fart. 08-09 is Yao's best season for anybody who followed all them. Watch the games.
Come on man. What do you think you were looking at when you talked about his declining PPG? It was also for a portion of the season. You are arguing the wrong thing. If all you said was that, "He has gotten injured again every time he came back from an injury, and there is a chance of that again next season." You would get no argument from me. But to say that he has lost effectiveness in the games that he DID play in is patently false. As I have demonstrated using measurements much more comprehensive than "PPG". How else could we measure his effectiveness than to look at the "portion of the season" he played in? You do know it is completely separate arguments to say, "Yao has not been able to finish each of the past 3 season." and "Yao as gotten worse each of the last 3 seasons."? Right? One is true, the other is false.
The most important stat is games played. You got to show up to have an effect on the game. Celtics got in trouble, when they started talking about Garnett playing "when healthy". You know the Lakers will not win a ring, if they start talking about Kobe playing "when healthy". The same thing goes for the Miami Heat, if they start talking about Wade playing "when healthy".
Using "PPG" as the end all be all is a fart. There are plenty of statistics, ones I have posted in this thread, that show 08-09 was indeed his most effective season.
