It's a lot easier to score and pass when Miller isn't double teamed. If teams double team Miller consistently, he is gonna play a lot worse. But teams don't choose to, because he isn't good enough for it in the first place. To borrow Will's analogy, Yao is a lion, and Miller is a vulture.
I am watching Portland vs Sac. King. If Miller is ever double-teamed like Yao, I bet he would be crying like a girl. Makes you wonder the intelligence of these hustlers who call themselves sports journalists.
I don't see why its necessarily Miller vs. Yao....Miller is both an F and a C, the coaches can call him whatever they want. Why wouldn't Miller squeeze Elton Brand out? Brand's having a good season but he did miss 15-20 games or so.
yeah wouldn't have Brand in my team, there are just too many winning teams in the West to include players from losing teams I'd like to think both Miller and Yao make it, they both deserve to.......knowing Shaq he will pull out with some softass toenail injury anyway.....
Miller and Ming should both go...it is an all star game....who cares for crying out loud. Scratch that...maybe it would be humbling and motivating if Ming didn't go.......So...Miller should go...Ming should not. DD
Let Miller go. Let Yao have a weekend off. I agree about it shouldn't be an either-or thing. I think they both deserve to be All-Stars (Yao more so now than earlier. He shouldn't start over Shaq though.)
I'd like to see Yao and Amare against Lebron and Carmelo in the rookies vs sophomore game. It would arguably more exciting than the all-star game. Having Yao and Amare in the paint blocking shots? Lebron and Carmelo trying to dunk on Yao and Amare? That's a game.
Only the starters are voted by the fans. Coaches vote for the rest of the all stars. Miller will not be voted in. Coaches will put him on the all star team, at power forward (in place of Webber). Yao and Shaq will be at the center position one by the fans and the other by the coaches. That is the end of the story.
I think the writer of the article has a point. I wouldn't have a problem with either Yao or Miller starting the all-star game. In fact, one could probably make a better case for Miller if you remove all the hype surroudning Yao Ming's potential.
In another thread someone questioned if I was even a Rockets fan because I felt that Miller and Shaq should get in over Yao. It's not "ludicrous" to believe that Miller deserves a spot over Yao. I'm looking at it objectively and I don't think Yao deserves the spot over Yao. Yao has been great at times and a complete no-show at others. Yao has just been too inconsistent this year, I go into each game thinking he'll put up 20/10 or 8/5. I think if you ask most people that keep up with the NBA without a bias towards Yao/Rockets or the Kings, they'd go with Miller. I think Miller has better numbers, has played more consistent and is on an integral part of a team with the best record in the league.
I think you have got soemthing there that I dare anyone to dispute, YOF, anti-YOF, whatever. Well done!
I think Yao being double teamed and Miller not is kind of irrelevant. The fact of the matter is Yao IS double teamed and the double teams have severely limited his effectiveness on the court. It may prove Yao is more talented than Miller and deserves more attention from the defense, but it’s not necessarily who the more talented player is that goes to the all-star game, but who is having the better season. Yao could be the most talented player in the NBA, but if the defenses have all figured out a successful technique to shut him completely down, all that talent means zilch.
You are assuming that Miller doesn't have the same problem (in consistency, bad games, etc.). I haven't been following Miller enough to say it's true or false. Have you? My guess is, most players, including Yao and Miller are "inconsistent" to some extent. If you want to look at numbers, you look at their average output. Consistency is not a statistical category. If you want to look at how they play, the simple question I posted earlier is still there: Do teams pay special defensive attention on Miller like they do against Yao?
Does anybody remember how many APG Chris Webber got last season? Yeah you know, that really good (and oft injured) black dude? 5.4. Does anybody know how many APG Brad Miller gets this season? 4.7. That is, after all, the only difference. In terms of either stats, impact or intangibles I can't think of a reason to choose Brad Miller over Yao, except in APG, where Miller is simply benefitting from what Webber benefitted from last season (ie. he's taking Webber's stats). That is of course, even if you completely ignore that Yao sometimes get double/triple teamed where BMiller does not. I understand that the all star game is just a show, but if we are picking by merit then I would start Shaq (although he did miss games) with Yao backing up. Both players DESERVE to be at the ASG, Yao just deserves it more. Having said that however, I hope JVG gets the training staff come up with a new strain of "flu bug" for Yao.
According to your logic, if teams use 5 players to completely stop a guy, his talent means zilch. That player is as worthless as a scrub who can't do anything even unguarded. That logic is clearly wrong. If a player is consistently double teamed, that means his teammates are getting less defensive pressure. That's why players who command double teaming are better than those who don't. If two players have similar output numbers, one is constantly double teamed, the other is not, then the one that is double teamed is more productive by making his teammates better.
