A freaky think like that would scare the hell out any opponent! Can you say, "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind?"
It's the legs that generate power, upper body transmits the power when a player backs defender down. Upper body mass has no use in terms of generating backing down power, if one leans his upper body mass on defender to push him back, it's very easy to lose balance and fall on one's back, if the defender quickly withdraws. Upper body strength keeps the body in position during backing down, it maintains the upper body as a bridge to transmit power from the base. Yao has the bulk and the lower body strength to back people down, but his current weak upper body strength cannot consistently hold body position and transmit power. That's why, I think, Rudy basically said "Yao doesn't need to bulk up much, he only needs more shoulder and back strength."
Panda, you're right. Upper body weight can hurt a player (back and knee problems later in a career). But you forgot one thing. Yao needs to strengthen his abdominals AND back. It's all about balance. He needs that power strength to bend his torso, thus giving him the leverage to back down people. Right now, Yao tries to back down people and his abdominals and back strength are not strong enough to do it all game long. I have been watching some film of Yao and kept trying to figure out what was missing from Yao's post/rebounding game. I couldn't figure it out at first. I mean, the guy is "skinny" up top. So it wasn't like he was carrying a lot of weight up there. Then, I remember what Robert Horry's problem was: torso strength. This is something that Yao will need to become more explosive around the rim which will help him develop a power game.
You're right. DavidS. Yao not only needs more shoulder and back strength but also abdominal strength. It helps his post up game and a six-pack beats Tylonel for some sharp elbows.
Does Yao Ming need to bulk up? The consensus is Yes. But by how much? where? I have pulled out my old human anatomy/physiology books and talked to a few medical professionals lately. The conclusion is that he only needs another 20 - 30 lbs or so MUSCLE on his back and shoulder. This seems to correlate to what Rudy T. suggested. Here are the reasons. 1. We all know that Yao Ming has a very strong lower body. In fact, his current lower body can support a height of 2.30 m (some one help convert to inches). 2. Most big men have foot problems. Physically, when you have a very heavy upper body (such as Shaq), you add significant burden to your feet and lower body. In Yao Ming's case, his lower body and feet (size 20??) are strong enough to sustain addtional 20 lbs of his upper body. Too much weight will create the same big man problem. 3. Yao Ming is athletic and runs fast based on his size. If he adds too much weight, he will slow down and lose part of the athletism. There is no free lunch in the world. Human body is highly coordiated and Rockets strength coach and nutritionists have to work with Yao Ming to decide what the best tradeoff is for him. 4. He needs to add 20 lbs of muscle not fact to his back and shoulder. There have been excellent posts on this. I will not repeat again.
Here your formula (Yao's mass/Yao's(upper torso/leg length)*2) + (T.Rudy's basketball IQ) + (Steve's willingness to pass) + (Year of NBA centers retiring) - (CBA bureaucracy) = ? NBA dominance. You need a supercomputer to run this differential equation.
When I started the gym I was 145 lbs 2 years later I am 155lbs. you can get drastically strong even if it doesnt show in weight. When I started I could bench 100lbs now I can bench like 225 lbs. So you should judge by weight alone. you can get stronger with out gaining weight.
