I haven't read through this whole thread, but I'm a bit disturbed by the attitude of some posters here that Yao shouldn't be criticized, or "**** Dirk". You can be a fan of a player or team, and still separate that from making objective judgements about them. If someone doesn't think Yao truly deserved POM, then address his criticism, rather than trying to silence it by saying that he's a troll, party spoiler, or hater.
This is a Houston Rockets fans site, not a general bb site. If you want to discuss pure bb without personal feeling, check this out: http://boards.espn.go.com/boards/mb/mb?sport=nba&id=general In this board, most people are biased. i.e, most of us will give Rockets players more love than other players. This is what we call 'homer'. Besides, a lot of ppl here really, I mean really don't like Marvs if you know a little history of the Rockets. So if you hear someone here say 'fu*k Dirk' and you don't like it, my advice is: deal with it! You might come to the wrong board.
Just to clarify my position, I never said Yao didn't deserve it. Sometimes, multiple players are deserving of an award, some more than others. Yao was up there, and I'm happy for him that he got it. He just wouldn't be my first choice.
Do you really think you offered a sincere congradulation to YAO? If your friend won a prize through hard work, you came to him to congradulate him by saying:"congradulations! But I believe so and so deserves more!" What would your friend think of you?
If I was to say that to a friend, to his face, I'd be a jerk. None of us are actually talking directly to Yao when we say "congratulations." We're just expressing that we're proud of him. And I am. For him to be considered seriously for the honor is a testament to how hard he's worked the past year. As a Rockets fan, I'm happy for Yao. There isn't a player in this league I don't root for more and wish success for (well, except maybe Chuck Hayes). As an objective NBA fan, though, I think Dirk was more deserving in November.
Being biased homers is something to be proud of? Yao is my favorite player, and the Rockets are the only team I'm even following this season. But just because you're a fan of something or someone doesn't mean you have to be a mindless follower. Yes, you CAN like a player while admitting his flaws (or at least not dismissing other people's criticisms of him without even bothering to address them) and showing respect to other players. I'm not opposed to people supporting Yao. I support Yao. What I'm opposed to is fanatic, close-minded, brainless worship. The type that doesn't allow for differing opinions, and doesn't care about searching for the truth. I'm not even saying durvasa is right. I do look at +/- stats and take them into consideration, but I would be lying if I said I completely understand how much they matter when evaluating a player. But what I don't like is people trying to shut him up just because he doesn't think Yao was the clear-cut POM, without bothering to show how he's wrong. I respect the evidence-based, statistic analysis of the NBA, and durvasa is one of the posters on this board who I think understands things better than most. I used to go to a certain Lakers forum, since Kobe was my 2nd favorite player. But even though I supported Kobe, I didn't like the mindless asskissing the people gave him there. Statistics and other evidence? Forget about them, they're nothing but useless geekboy stats since they don't say that Kobe is head and shoulders above anyone else in the league. Kobe was a basketball god and could do no wrong. Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, T-Mac, and anybody who was around or above Kobe's ability was perceived as a threat to his image, and they were irrationally and mercilously bashed. It got so bad that these Lakers fans even rooted against freaking Team USA during the World Championships because Kobe wasn't able to make it to Japan and reap the glory, while Lebron and Wade were headlining the team. That was sickening, and I stopped frequenting that forum after I saw that. When I found Clutchfans, it was a breath of fresh air. Posters like Van Gundier, Tango, and durvasa had an interest in advanced stats like I did, and they were accepted and looked up to by other members here as well. This forum seemed to have more knowledge and respect for statistical analysis in general, and it also lacked the brainless arrogance that that Lakers forum had. Yao didn't HAVE to be the best player around, no questions asked. He was considered a good player and up there, but the fans here would support him whether he was the clear best or not. What I'm seeing in this thread closely mirrors the crap I saw at that Lakers forum I used to go to. And that's not a good thing.
I agree here. There is a difference between debating with others and pounding on them to prevent them from talking about the issue ever again. Some of you guys take it too far in defending Yao and not being open minded as to the difference between honest criticism and mean spirited shots at Yao.
Granted, pointing our Yao's shortcomings is a way of supporting him, wanting him to get better. I have no problem with this. I do have a problem with the timing and the thread in which durvasa chose to do this: it is the time when Yao was named the player of the month for the first time in his NBA career, and in a thread that is devoted to congraduating Yao for this great achievement. Durvasa could have started a thread that compares yao and dirk any other time but he chose to do it during this special time in this special thread where all true Rox fans express their heartfelt happiness for Yao. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, durvasa did congraduate Yao. He congraduated Yao and then wasted no time to claim that someone else deserved more. Do you know how I felt when I read this? I was so disgusted that I almost wanted throw up!
Nice! Tell me how ESPN is "mean spirited shots" and saying Dirk deserves more of POM when the league decided to award Yao this honor is "honest criticism"?
Critize Yao is absoulately OK. Hell, Yao's rebound sucks tonight! But taking away the credit that clearly belongs to Yao is robbing and disgusting.
