http://www.woai.com/sports/story.aspx?content_id=81CB5E78-90CB-4020-BA7B-84F893E44042 Yao Ming¡¦s Good But Over Hyped LAST UPDATE: 1/20/2003 6:47:32 AM Posted By: Gabe Redondo Yao Ming¡¦s showdown with Shaq the talk of the country, and is it just me or is this guy totally over hyped. Yao scores ten points against the Lakers. Six real early and then wasn't heard from again until late. Shaq meanwhile goes for 31, totally takes over in overtime, abusing Yao for a dunk, but since Houston won, Yao is the talk of every highlight show in America. He's good going to be very good, but when asked to compare Yao to other centers. The admiral didn't give out names like Hakeem, Ewing, or even O¡¦Neal. ¡§If I had to compare him to anybody it would be like a Rik Smits sort of player, but potentially better than Rik Smits,¡¨ explains David Robinson. ¡§If you watch him on TV he doesn't move like he's that big. But he's got good size hips and legs, a good base and that really helps against some of the players. I mean you saw him against Shaq he held his ground pretty good.¡¨ Pretty good, is accurate Yow's getting way to much hype for his production? Yao's numbers comparable to Rik Smits, not David or Shaq as a rookie. Look at David¡¦s season averages - 24 and twelve that's hall of fame, 13 and eight is not. Yao is simply the product of David stern's marketing machine. There is no way he should be starting in the all-star game - debatable if he's the best rookie much less best center. Stern and the NBA see millions of fans in china, and billions of dollars. Truth is. Yao is a 13 pt, nine rebound rookie nothing more, nothing less. In the marketing world he's Refrigerator Perry. But let's not get popularity confused with ability. The ESPN's of the world are quick to point out his 23 pt twelve rebound games, but they quietly ignore the eight point four rebound nights that happen just as often. The other night against Shaq, he had conquered the world with ten points, ten boards. In other words just another Rik Smits kinda night. That's my point. Email me yours at ExtraPoint@Ticket760.com or call me on SportsTalk San Antonio from 4 to 7pm.
Why do people in the media continue on insisting that Shaq scored 31 in their matchup when at least 10 of that was over Cato and at least 4 of it came in the final seconds when the Rockets were conceding free throws from Shaq as opposed to three point attempts? In reality, Yao "held" Shaq to about 20 points. I say held because while 20 is great for most people, it's about as good as anyone can possibly do against the Diesel. Bottom line: Yao is already one of the only players in all the NBA willing to stand toe-to-toe with Shaq and actually contain the guy.
Uh, some people are never convinced no matter what happens. I might be biased, but quote the following from "yaomingmana.com" ".....he played solid defense against O'Neal. In total, Yao had 5 blocks against The Diesel. Offensively speaking, although Shaq scored 31 points, 8 of those points were scored when Yao was not in the game, 2 were scored on a slam dunk that should have been a goaltending call on Shaq, and 4 were scored on free throws from intentional fouls. That's alot of points (14) to account for if anyone is going to say Shaq outplayed Yao. It's funny how Shaq's dunks are talked about on Sportscenter, but what about Yao's 5 blocks against him?"..... Now I have some serious doubt about this "Gabe Redondo " credibility.
Good point...What impressed me is that Yao showed no fear during his minutes against the big guy...He will only get better and already probably did as good a job one-on-one that could be expected! I love it!
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?!?!?!? How about the TWENTY-SEVEN POINTS AND 18 REBOUNDS AGAINST THE TWO BEST...TIM DUNCAN AND DAVID ROBINSON!?!?!?! Shaq scored a lot against Cato. He also scored a lot against Yao too. But what do you expect? Yao has never played him before. It was the first game!!!!! It wasn't like he was gonna dominate. Shaq didn't DOMINATE either. We won. He's not overhyped. Nobody is talking about it anymore.
I bet he did not watch the game, and he thinks he sees the whole thing by just watching the espn highlights. Obviously Yao's contribution was far more than what the stat shows. And, when Rik Smith was ever a shot blocker? Was he ever a defensive presence that's even close to Yao? Also let's not forget the passing ability. In 1994 during the Pacers' eastern conference final against the Magics, Rik Smith was at the peak of his career. But he couldn't do squad against Shaq, in fact I don't remember him blocking Shaq even once during the entire series. His passing was not a threat, and he was not strong at defense at all. Sure the Admiral said Yao'd be better than RM, but hell, even mentioning his name with Yao at the same time is an insult!
Yao is a 13 pt, nine rebound rookie nothing more, nothing less. The ESPN's of the world are quick to point out his 23 pt twelve rebound games, but they quietly ignore the eight point four rebound nights that happen just as often. The other night against Shaq, he had conquered the world with ten points, ten boards. In other words just another Rik Smits kinda night. >> not everything is based on numbers and stats. yao affects the game by just being in there. his size alters many would be drives by guards intent on burning houstons perimeter defenders. his abilty to pass encourages movement and his scoring potential causes players like shaq to play honest defense and less of a zone. intangibles transcend numbers.
First off, there is a reason why centers like Alonzo Mourning and David Robinson had great rookie seasons. Its simple: Back in the day, the league wasnt loaded with ridiculously athletic forwards. Nowadays, you have guys like K.G., Elton Brand, Jermaine Oneal, Dirk Nowitzki, Ben Wallace, Shawn Marion, etc... These guys arent centers, but they play above the rim. The center position will no longer be as dominant due players with such athleticism. Guys like Stoudemire and Hilario will continue this trend. Had Robinson been a rookie this year, I would bet my life his numbers wouldnt be near where they were.
Maybe they figure that Glen Rice and Mo Taylor are primarily responsible for the fact that the Rockets are #4 in fewest points allowed and #3 in lowest FG% allowed. In fact, they do this despite being dead last in forcing turnovers, which goes to prove that the guards aren't stopping the other team - Yao is!
furthermore to accentuate my point, i will repeat a very insightful john thompson comment i heard when he was calling an earlier game between minnesota and golden state. antawn jamison had about 26 points entering the fourth quarter but his team was losing. thompson said that jamison was getting his numbers but they seemed inflated because he wasnt really affecting the game. they were not impact points.
You know what I find most amusing? How these writers/analysts can be such cynics to Yao and yet act like a herd of sheep when it comes to prospect LeBron James. I have to make the comparison here b/c there's been a lot of speculation that LeBron will enter the draft this year. Naturally, you also get a lot of comparisons btw last years number one pick (Yao) vs. next year's likely winner (James). However, I find it ironic that not a single writer/analyst I've read (and I read A LOT), even considers what adjustments/difficulties James will have in this league. I'm sure James is a great player, but by the way the sportswriters have followed this subject, you'd think we're getting the second coming of Jordan (Congrats on the marketing machine of St. Vincent's high school). theSAGE
When u judge a player, u don't just check the stats, u watch the flash of the greatness, and we saw a lots of these from yao.
How about the rule's changed? It is much more difficult for Center to score or even to get a good position down low now. Besides the aging and injury, this is why D.R and A.M.'s production are much much lower than before.13pts and 9 RB for a rookie center in the league, who barly speaks English and still learning the game, that is amazing to me. Another 3 month, Ming is going to be a Monster on a consistent baisis. Also, please stop posting such non-sense article, we dont need to hear about it.
This reporter clearly didn't know what he is talking about. Due to good luck(Nobody includes the Rockets didn't expect they would get #1 pick), Yao got drafted by good team that already has 2 good players, an allstar SF, and Cat. Because of that and Yao's unique circumstance, (no rest for 2 straight years, getting comfy on a foreign land etc. etc.) coach Rudy has the luxury to bring Yao along slowly and in no hurry to put Yao as the #1 scoring option on the team to put pressure on him and further wear him out physically. O'neal and Robinson got drafted by bad teams that had nobody and so they became "the man" on their own teams. If Yao was selected by by the Cavs or the Bulls, I am pretty sure they would make Yao the man. He would get 20 plus shots per game and he would put up similar numbers like Shaq and David's rookie year.
Is Yao overhyped? Yes and No. Yes, because: There is soooooo much hype around him that he has to practically be the second coming of Jesus Christ not to be over-hyped. His stats are much worse than Shaq, Dream, David Robinson or Patrick Ewing in their rookie years. He's only the second (or third) best player on his team, yet gets all the recognition. No, because: Much of the hype (although not all) is due to the "human interest" factor, and not necessarily to his basketballl skills. A 7-5 Chinese guy coming to the NBA, that's far away from your regular #1 draft pick. Many of his contributions are not directly measured in stats: passing, clogging the lane, changing shots. Being the third best player on a contending team would never get you the type of stats that being the first option on a bad team will. He has to make up a lot more. I think it is obvious by now that the Chinese league is much worse than Div-1 NCAA. Or at least what used to be Div-1 NCAA when Dream, Ewing, and Shaq were playing there. Add to that the cultural adjustment, and it is obvious that he is starting his career from a much lower base than those guys, which makes the whatever success he's had that more remarkable. As for the Shaq game that you mention, first Shaq had his 'A" game on, which is quite rare these days. I really liked the way Shaq played. Second, you could see how much more damage Shaq did with Cato in the game. Third, I don't think that THAT particular game Yao was overhyped. Nobody said he outplayed Shaq, and many of the Rockets (Yao himself, Rudy) admitted that he struggled. If you read somewhere that Yao had a monster game, then yes, that would be overhype. He had an OK game, though.
You really need to consider what Yao does on defense. Scoring points is not the major part of his game at the moment. Making others miss is not a stat, but Ming does that quite often. Ming makes the other teams change their game plan. That my friend is what makes Ming a game breaker.
Nod nod. Good call on the human factors. BTW Mr.Kay You have turned to be a good man, in Rocket sense.
Kayman: I'm totally with you on this one. I think maybe we are getting "over-hyped" confused with "overrated." There is a difference. Yao HAS been over-hyped. It is the nature of the media and the league to make a bigger deal out of something or someone than is really warranted. He is a very good story and will continue to be so he will be constantly talked about both good and bad. The combination of his size, his ethnicity and the mystery surronding him before he was drafted makes him almost impossible to ignore and FAR too tempting for media to dismiss as a big time sports story. On the other hand, he is NOT overrated. Yes, his numbers are not what Dream and others had when they entered the league, but they all had the benefit of solid college competition. They also came into the league in better athletic condition. But, Yao has demonstrated quite admirably that he is the real deal when it comes to skills and talent. In a couple years, he will be one of the most dominant forces in the NBA.
The players with whom Yao is also compared also had the benefit of taking 20+ shots a game. I firmly believe that Yao is not shooting as well now because he feels as though if he missing his first 4 or 5 shots, he won't see a shot again for two quarters. You can see it in how tentative his jump shot has become. It's very flat compared to what he shoots in practice. On a team where he's the main offensive option he'd be able to miss shots and still know that the team is going through him. I wish the offensive sets that Rudy puts together would focus on getting Ming 20 shots per game and then people would see what this guy would do. I'd like to see Ming, Mobes and Francis all get 20 shots per game with the other players realizing and accepting their roles and understanding that any shots they get would have to come off of offensive rebounds or in transition. In other words, never gonna happen.
