We go as far as Yao takes us. Either that or we somehow sign 2 other all-stars who collectively hide Yao's weaknesses. it's kind of like Philly with A.I, who was also a flawed superstar. They went as far as A.I. took them, which was the finals, but does any team really want to build their team around a shoot-first PG? Fact is, Yao has a lot of flaws that makes him unable to dominate a game like a REAL HOF big man (Dream, Shaq, Duncan). We just have to ride him until he starts declining, which could come sooner than we think.
not really. if shaq was in his prime today, i think he'll still put up 27-29 pts a game with 12-13 rebounds and 2-3 blocks. yao is what he is. we just have to be realistic. yao is a REALLY good player that depending on matchups, can be REALLY dominating. so when those matchups do happen, we give him the ball and let him go to work. in matchups like these, a guy like artest has to step up since tracy wasn't playing. we built this team on balance. if all 5 starters shoot below 40%, we're not going to win very much.
true. but dunking and playing aggressive is a mentality. yao CAN dunk. there are times when nobody is around him or guards are on him and yao just lays it up. when you WANT to dunk, you'll make an attempt to dunk. i think if yao does it more, his game will be for the better. sure we're not expecting yao to jump through the roof b/c that's not gonna happen, but just LOOK to dunk. when that happens, he'll go to the line more, he'll get more foul calls...
You can dress the duck anyway u want, its still a duck. If you stay out all night partying and have to go to work for 6am and work a 10hr shift, if the boss says you're not productive, go home. Are you fatigued or are u being lazy because you're fatigued? Yao just like any other player plays lazy when fatigued. They play high, don't really hustle for position, don't put your hand up on a shooter, Those things happen when you fatigue.
That's not laziness. A 7'6, 310 player has an excuse for being fatigued. There's never an excuse for a professional athlete to be lazy.
To the point about Yao dunking, I agree he should be more aggressive and put up more dunks then he does. At the same time, he has to bend his knees to lift 300+ lbs off the ground and it takes him way too long. The taller you are the longer it will take. For Yao it looks like slow motion. That's why he never wins tip offs. That's why he gets stripped frequently in the middle of his shot. That's why it's easy to block him - by the time he gathers himself the defender has enough time to react and get a hand on the ball before Yao even gets the ball above his head. By the same token Yao would be better served clutching the ball w/ two hands than gathering up momentum for a dunk to better protect the ball. It depends on the situation, but Yao should really work on this. Yao is what he is. Tmac is what he is (not what he was in Orlando). That's still pretty damn good...much better than most of the NBA. I still think the talents of these two plus the supporting cast are enough to win a championship.
Try to be 7''6 and fell it youeself. see if you still can running,playing,jumping just like Yao.you wont be 7''6,so you never know how yao feels.
it's not that. it's that he'll have games like this and that will never change. and it will happen in the playoffs. yao shows the same faults every year, with no signs of those faults getting better. it may be his weaknesses, but as a team and organization, either they have to find a way to hide yao's weaknesses better, or put guys in there when these matchups occur. but after JVG and adelman, 2 different coaches, same problems with yao. nothing has been solved. it's all great and dandy if teams play him straight up or double him with short guys, but the main problems persist. we need to find a way to stop them or better teams will exploit it ala boston, lakers, utah, spurs... we're talking about the pacers here. c'mon.
then fans have to be realistic of what yao's strengths and weaknesses are and know we can't ride him to the promise land. either tracy has to get healthy quick, or devise a plan to get really balance play where if these matchups occur, sit yao and play small.
The whole point of sports is exploiting others weaknesses. EVERY PLAYER IS WHAT HE IS....... the problem is most of those players are NOT YAO MING. TMAC is what he is a sissy. Artest is what he is....... stupid on and off the court and so on.
We're relegated to playing this offense, because Tmac can barely run, let alone scorch his defender. The truth of the matter is that if Tmac was even 80% of his former self, Yao can be used as an active big, where he thrives on efficiency and playing within the flow of the offense. However, if Yao in the post is your ONLY offensive option, then you certainly won't win a championship that way - especially, if Tmac is limping on half a foot.
Thing is that if yao missed 5 out of 10 shots because of failed dunks, i would live with it, and even prove me wrong, but when almost all of his missed attempts come from questionable lyups or turnaround jumpers i cannot.
I've been saying this for years with yao you have dramatic strengths and huge liabilities as the tragic greek heroes of old he has an unparalleled shooting touch but stone hands catching the ball his limited mobility is terrible on defense with the PNR but massive size in the lane nets 4-5 defensive rebounds a game for his teammates and makes his team perenially a very strong defensive rebounding team he has unparalleled lower body strength allowing him to back down the strongest men in the league (dwight, shaq) but terrible upper body strength that's prone to strips and problems finishing with contact he has among the strongest mentality in the league in terms of discipline and positivity to get better but questionable will to take over for a win etc etc etc aside from being 7'6" there's never been a man like yao in the league ever both physically and mentally. take the good with the bad... the good is pretty good 20/10 when he's healthy and an automatic playoff berth/press for your team. we really dont know what the upside really is with yao... the downside is first round exit
From the very start I've said Yao is what he is, and his limitations are too severe to overcome (lack of athleticism, stamina, soft type personality). With the Is-What-He-Is approach in mind, doesnt mean he escapes criticism by saying he's too limited from the start and can't ever improve on whats being critiqued. But to say Yao gets lazy AND uninspired is just irresponsible. Especially when the laziest "I can't wait for Battier to get back so I can shut it down" player in the league is on the same team. (I also dont understand the view of how the Spurs "knew" what they had in David Robinson, but this thread isnt about that....) Everything else is right on though. I'd even call Yao an overachieving Brad Daugherty type.
Here we go with this again- How about the weakness of only having FOUR total players score in an entire game, and one of those "scorers" being a sub-40% shooter. Yao did in those playoffs what he did the regular season. Okur didnt do diddle until the last 2 games of those playoffs.
Actually... Yao was on Boozer the entire series and got destroyed (except for the first game). On the other hand, Okur did a pretty good job on Yao... don't get fool by the 25/10... Yao was only shooting 44%, only 0.7 block and almost 5 turnovers per game.
Then theres guys like Francis who made a career off of athleticism and when his body caught up with him because he was lacking in all areas of the game.
This is the same Pacers that blew the Celtics out this year. Killed them the entire game. So stop worrying about one loss, where we led most of the way. We are 10-6. It would be great to be 11-5 but its over. Move on.
