I just saw his workout on the deuce. This guy is not Shaun Bradly. He is very mobile, has a very smooth shot(3 pointers included), and is not as thin as most people say he is. I am officially the Yao Ming expert. I have officially joined the Yao Ming fan club.
His workout was on tv? Or just bits and pieces - cause even I might look athletic if you had a good editor?
On ESPN 2. Basically the drills that I saw him perform he excelled at. He shot 3 pointers(very smooth), he dribbled up and down the court while being semi-guarded(I bet there is not one other 7 footer that can dribble like he can. Ok maybe Tyson Chandler), and he did lay-up drills. He looked huge(tall). His body frame is similar to Shawn Bradley now not when he first came into the league.
Talk to me after Shaq has back him down in the paint and dunked on him oh about 8 or 9 times. Also, what happens when goes out on the wing to check Duncan.
I think Shaq does that to everyone. If he can come even close to limiting Shaq, he's worth the hype. From the reports, he moves fairly well for a big man; if these are true, he might be able to effectively stop Duncan along the perimeter. I'll have to see clips from his workout myself, though.
When did Duncan become a wing player? Of all the PF's in the league to mention in this regard, you choose Duncan - not, say Nowitski or Walker.
Who has not been dunked on by Shaq? Who can guard Duncan? Five years from now, he maybe the best center in the game. Also, it was on ESPN News not the deuce.
I saw a clip on ESPN.Com. He looked smooth and mobile, but I also saw him get stuffed by that stiff he was playing against.
The ESPN guys were comparing him to Rik Smits... I honestly don't want anything to do with Ming, even if we do manage to draft him, I see China forcing him to go to NY as soon as possible...either a la Francis or a la McGrady...
Ming looked great.....he is the real deal, and will be an impact player next year for someone, I just hope it is us. Put it this way, he already can make moves that Cato and Collier can only dream about. http://msn.espn.go.com/nba/s/2002/0501/1376913.html DaDakota
The one thing that workout can't show is whether or not the guy can actually rebound, which is the biggest thing we need out of a big man at this point If the guy can't board then we don't need him, because we've already got Kenny T, Cato, and Mo T in the big guys that can't rebound category (Kenny can rebound well for his size, but for a PF he's average at best). Who knows, maybe Griffin will develop into the 9-10 rpg guy he was in college and can be in a few years with development and strength, but for next year I find it doubtful. I'm still high on Woods or Butler with our pick and hopefully we would take a chance on Amare if he made it to us with the 15th pick.
Don't get hype by one workout, there is a lot of adjustments that would be required by Yao to be successful in the NBA. Adjusting to a new city, people, teammates, plays (oops I forgot, we only have 2 plays ISO and Pick and Roll, which teams defend easily). I definitely don't want him standing on the baseline hoping Steve or Cat passes it to him. Maybe Steve, never Cat. We need immediate help to get back to the playoffs. In addition, we need to bring Shaq out of the middle to win a title.
I saw the workout as well on ESPNNEWS...not to put a damper on things ut it was fairly uneventful. Yes he has good hands, he can run the floor, he can shoot etc ...but that is with pretty much no one guarding him except for some scrub they brought in to play guinea pig. However, he is definitely more moblie than anyone else I have seen that is his size and he has a very good shooting touch. He looked to be very tired and that was probably a result of his body clock not being right. He didnt look "dorky" or anything like that (im sure if you see the hi liltes you would agree). All in all, most of the scouts aer comparing him to Rik Smits which, while it isnt a Shaq-comparison, its certainly better than 70% of the centers in this league. I dont know yet if Id rather be the one to give up the farm to draft him or be the one who gets the farm to let someone else draft him. I guess time will tell...
FWIW, I feel a lot better about Ming than I did yesterday. He's a very intriguing prospect, that's for sure. On ESPN, David Aldridge made a comment that Ming had an unusual frame, strong solid legs but a thin upper-body. But actually, that might be a good thing for a true giant like Ming, having a solid base to hold up that enormous body. Other giants like Sabonis, they seemed to be somewhat top-heavy, which might explain the knee and foot problems. Maybe if they had a stronger base, they wouldn't have had these troubles. His trainers should just work on getting stronger, but not necessarily bigger or heavier. Lots of ab work, too, to give support to his back. With his base and build, injuries shouldn't be a problem for him, or at least not more than any other player. I still wouldn't rip up the team or trade significant players to get him, however. Just go through the process, and see what happens. I have a feeling that the Rocks have a real chance to move up significantly through the lotto drawing. Either way, this should be a great draft for the Rocks. And I would DEFINITELY keep BOTH PICKS if I were the Rocks and drafted Yao. Great opportunity to address BOTH needs (C or SF) in this draft, and it may be a year or two before Yao starts contributing significantly and consistently, so its important to come out of this draft with someone more prepared to contribute immediately. Possible lineup, perhaps? C - Cato, Ming PF - KT, Mo, EG SF - Rice, TMo, #15 (Grizzard, perhaps?) SG - Cat PG - Steve, Mooch, Brown Not bad.
He's looked okay from what I've seen. He can definitely be better than Rik Smits or Shawn Bradley. I'm worried about his upper body strength.
I hope everyone remembers back to all the hype about the skills that seperated Shawn Bradley from being 'another Manute Bol'. The bottom line is that Ming is very similar to Bradley out of college who had quite a few skills. Bradley's problem is that he never worked at getting better. Ming is not an NBA player right now. If he has a decent work ethic, he might be one but if he's as lazy and passive as Bradley, then he'll be just another lottery joke. Also, remember that it took Smits 5+ years to become anything other than a bust. I hope nobody expects Ming to be anything more than Bradley is now in his first year.
