1. He is the first Chinese player who finished with double-double in front of American Dream team. (Wang Zhi zhi had 13 points at Sydney with Dream Team IV). 2. Because of him, the Dream team got the lowest points in one game (84 points) in their history. Dream team IV had some 85 point games at Sydney. 3. Because of him, the Dream team got the lowest points in the games with Chinese team - lower than 100 points. (Dream teams had 100+ points in every games with Chinese team before August 22nd). 4. Because of him, China only lost 30 points to Dream team. At Sydney, China lost 47 points to Dream team V. China lost more than sixty points when they played with Dream team II and III (including the exhibition games). 5. He is the first player in the world who blocked 6 shots of Dream team in one game. These datas are from a Chinese fan"Blue Eagle Xier" at sina.com. Let us see what will happen at August 31st.
Wow! I know he did good, but THAT good?! Now I'm waiting fot the Yao haters to say this was an exibition game, we had no good players, and thoses players didn't care.
RC Cola, if you want Yao haters who say those things, three letters for ya, PTI. But I must say that Wilbon is slowly but surely, giving you his props.
Yeah, that's where I got those from. I usually like Wilbon, and usually don't like Tony. Is it supposed to be like that?
If Yao Ming is already being compared to Rik Smits after one game in which he had to deal with few touches in the post and China's terrible shot selecting guards, how good is he going to be in five years? My jaws are starting to hurt.
how good can yao get in the next couple of years with NBA coaching, weight training, and guards who know how to play?
Have you ever noticed that when a unique player enters the NBA, they always try and compare them to other player in the past? Average players never live up to even the comparisons. But, great players turn out to be NOTHING LIKE the comparisons. They end up being unique, one-of-a-kind, special and better than the expectations. Jordan was compared to Dr. J. But he wasn't like Dr. J. He was Jordan. Shaq was compared to Wilt. But he wasn't like Wilt. He was like Shaq. Olajuwon was compared to Kareem. Again, Olajuwon became Olajuwon. Not another Kareem. Stackhouse and Grant Hill were compared to Jordan. Both were similar to Jordan, but never as good. Both never even reached their OWN potential. Yao has been compared to Bradley, Smits, Ducan, and Wilt. But Yao will NOT be like those players. He will be like Yao. He will make his own name.
Real nice, but please don't overuse the word "Dream", It puts thoughts in my head and makes me sad...
Actually I think that this "dream team" will break a lot more records and make a lot more history...probably for the very first time, lose . Yao Ming did play very well though. I think his 6-block-against-dream-team record will stay for a while (unless he breaks it when he faces team USA again next week )
Come on, lets be honest. This US team is very good, but it is not the same caliber as some previous teams. That being said, I was impressed with Yao's play. It's nice to finally have a first-hand look at him against good competion.
Also remember that although they may not have been the best we had to offer, they are more than any team in the NBA can offer. That team was probably about as equal as one of the all-star teams. And Yao did this against them. Now, I wonder what Yao will do against the regular NBA teams, and a team of all-stars.
I think the USA team went through the motions. I didn't catch the game, but the game was an exhibition game.
Although I do agree this is probably true, who's to say Yao wasn't going through the motions. I don't think he would, but this is an exibition game to him, too. And he's been through many of those.
From what they said prior to the game, it's clear many players on that team wanted a piece of Ming. I wouldn't call it going through the motion when they stated clearly that they wanted to go after Ming. They were playing on purpose to put Ming under test to the extent of being "bordeline dirty". It's not just an exhibition game, it was kind of a duel.
Exactly. You didn't catch the game so didn't see how intimidated our guards were when they got into the lane (Miller almost falling over trying to stop because Ming was in front of him), or see him hustle for loose balls. You also didn't see swat Davis and Oneal when they were trying to dunk the ball. You also didn't see him shoot jumpers with Wallace, Davis, and Oneal in his face. Ming may not be a superstar this year, but he will be in the next three. And when he gets more confidence in his post moves, he will be unstoppable.
C'mon, this year's version of US Team is no Dream Team! The best NBA players who should be in the team (like Kobe, Shaq, Kidd, Webber, Bibby, Iverson, T-Mac, Duncan, KG, Payton, etc) are NOT in the team... IMO The original Dream Team can beat this year's US Team by 30 points!!
I believe Kidd IS on the team. Bibby shouldn't be on, IMO. Baron Davis and A.Miller are in place of Payton. Paul Pierce can take T-Mac's spot.(not saying better, though.) I don't know Jermaine's numbers, but he's an all-star. In fact, many of them are all-stars. AI probably wasn't on because...well you know. All that said, I'll admit we could be better, but the team is still pretty good. Ray Allen would have been on it, also. I also think that the group is selected also due to behavior. Didn't Francis get snubbed because of this? Some of those guys may have been. Or, most likely, they didn't care.
