GEEEZE!!! He's a rookie. His bags are barely unpacked. Don't hold the hype against him. Let the guy mature in the NBA for a while before you pass him off as overrated. Do you remember Kobe's first year? How many stars had so-so rookie years? It's not time yet to compare Yao to Dream. So far, so good in my book.
I emailed the guy...I didn't blast him...just pointed out some of the facts (Shaq's points when Yao was on the floor). Here's the reply I just got back: Not a yao hater. I actually like him alot. Seems like a great guy. He may belong in the all-star game, but only because it's a popularity contest. I did my research. Here are yao's numbers compared to legit big men in their rookie year, Since 1969. Kareem 28.8 ppg D.Cowens 17 ppg B. McAdoo 18ppg R. Sampson 21.ppg P.Ewing 20 ppg D.Robinson 24.2 ppg S.O'neal 23.ppg T.Duncan 21.6 Yao 12.8 ppg Very good for a rookie, but not in the class as he's being hyped. Shaq dominated in overtime. Yao scored 6 pts early and wasn't heard from again except for one bucket in the 4th and 1 in o.t. He's good. Just not great. May be someday, just not now. I enjoy the debate. Thanks, Don
Unfortunately, NBA is a number's game. Until Yao Ming can show some improvement in his shooting, the author (who may reprents the view of many others) to a certain extend, ... is right.
I disagree. I haven't heard anyone say that statistically he's better than the aforementioned players. What people are raving about are his skills and knowledge of the game. The stats will never be there when he gets 8 shots per game and have no reflection on his ability to play the game. He's simply being underutilized on the offensive end.
HE IS NOT OVERHYPED!!! He was the NUMBER ONE PICK OVERALL IN THE DRAFT. They always get attention. ALSO, he is 7-5!!!!!!!!!!! That gets some more attention. No one that tall has ever played this well. AND ANOTHER THING........HE'S FROM CHINA!!!!!! 1.3 billion people want to know about him.............it's news. He's representing a lot of people. He's not overhyped. He's "a special gift from God". (Allen Iverson) THAT'S TRUE AS WELL. David Robinson owned with 23 ppg because his team SUCKED and Shaq wasn't even out yet. I love David Robinson and I thank him for his enjoying career. Now it is Yao's turn. I think stats are very important. But considering the amount of shots he takes, he is doing very well. Lately, he hasn't been shooting very well, but he should get better later. He barely gets the ball. Unfortunately, when we did pass the ball to him, he missed. Once Yao gets more aggressive and stronger and becomes a lesser Nice Guy, he will be great. He has a lot of skills and talent. He has only been in this COUNTRY for 3 months. He's still eating his mother's soup!
Over-hyping athletes is a human phenomenon (specialized in America). In basket ball alone in the past decade Kobe, Dauntee Jones, Marcus Camby, Tractor Taylor, Joe Smith, Ed Curry, Olowokandi, Ad Foyle, Garnet, Jay Williams, Bryce Drew , Harold Minor, Gran' Mama, Shawn Bradley, etc were all over-hyped one time or the other. Even Lebron James has been setup to fail because of the lofty height of the hype surrounding him. Not many of these over-hyped players get to turn out "as hyped". I strongly believe will get to the top but there is still a chance that he may never be as great as has been hyped so far.
I think Jeff's distinction between over-hyped and over-rated is good. Yao is overhyped in the sense that his value to the team is not worth the hype he's got right now. He is not overrated in the sense that most of the praises about his basketball abilities so far are true. About his matchup with Shaq, I watched the tape again yesterday. Shaq scored 12 points in regulation with Yao on the floor. (I don't count the OT because Yao was clearly worn out by then, which of course is his glaring weakness.) Yao played 33 min. in regulation, a good starter's PT. In fact, I wonder what the average PT of starting centers against Shaq is . Of the 12 points Shaq scored, 4 of them are questionable. One basket was the result of Mo Taylor's foolish goaltending, which probably wouldn't have gone in. The other was Shaq's offensive goaltending that wasn't called. If you take those points away, Shaq scored only 8 legitimate points against Yao in regulation, 4 in the first 3 quarters. Yao, BTW, also scored 8 against Shaq in regulation, 6 in the first quarter. Shaq clearly had problem scoring against Yao until Yao became tired. That is the one thing that surprises me most. I had thought that Yao had no chance putting defensive stops against Shaq. I was wrong.
Stats doesn't matter to Yao. And if you insist on comparing stats to determine who's the dominant player, you're a complete idiot! Look, the Rockets offense hardly go through Yao or run plays through Yao so don't expect him to outscore O'neal. Also, Shaq can't do a thing against Yao for all 4 quarters. He held his own ground and blocked and altered Shaq's attempts. And the Lakers occasionally didn't bother throwing the ball to Shaq cuz Yao is guarding him. This is what you should study and analyze to see how Yao measure up against Shaq. And I think alot of people want to see wheather Yao can guard Shaq or not more than anything else and he shows that he can. With the exception of a couple dunks at the end which i think could be due to Yao being tired since after the 4th quarter, he should be resting at that time and not playing in overtime. And how many shots did Yao stop Kobe from driving to the hoop? And how fundamentally he play the game by boxing out Shaq every SINGLE time. If you think Shaq scored all 31 points against Yao, you're not watching the game. He probably got about 20 points against Yao. Shaq's game is nothing but bullying people. He got a charging call for bullying his way into Yao. Yao constantly keep Shaq out of the paint and that my friend is a sign of dominant. And he's just a rookie, imagine if he put on a little muscle, with more experience under his belt and more plays running through him, he could be a dominant force like Oneal. Dominate not by bulling people but by playing tough defense altering other team's shot, shot blocking and eventually dominate with unstoppable shooting touches using his height. What i am also impress with is his IQ in the game. He is so smart that he knows when to step it up when the game is on the line. How he tap the ball to his teammates when he could not rebound the ball and how quickly he passes the ball the minute when someone began to double. How he is so compose throughout the game, his competitive spirit and also signs of leadership on the court. How he's not afraid of anything. These are the elements you should not forget because it's a sign of dominantion. Like Bill Walton said, "will you just forget about the stats and concentrate on how the team is doing."
Some body tell this moron that back when Shaq, Hakeem, Admiral and Ewing were drafted there also were no freakin' zone D. You can't double a guy until he gets the ball (unlike that Celtic game). That's a +5 to 8 pts +3 boards right there.
Come on every sportman is overhyped. What's the big deal? Vince Carter is overhyped after a dunk contest. Lebron James is overhyped even before he comes to league. Why no complaints about them? That's just plain jealousy.
Yao plays like an international power forward (i.e. Dirk and Pau Gasol). Tim Duncan's rookie numbers were monster. The zone can do some hurt to Yao's offense but his defensive numbers are impressive. As a no.1 pick, teams that have them are usually lousy with 1 or 0 quality players. Houston is a pretty deep team as it is, so the Rockets do not have to depend on Yao as much. Plus, our game is totally different now than before Yao arrived. The reason Tim was so successful despite having the Admiral in good condition was because the Admiral wisely allowed Tim to be the first option, took the tougher defensive assignments, and compliment his game to Tim's instead of the other way around. The Rockets are making Yao adjust to the team instead of the team adjusting their focus onto Yao (as many teams with no. 1 picks have done or were forced to do) This writer is only skeptical because what he sees does not match the hype. With more time and exposure, Yao doubters will be cut down one by one.
