[LakerLunatic]

Let's get one thing straight, i hate the guy as much as i hate Mike Bibby (Im a Lakers Fan) so were talking some serious hatred. But im curious as to what people actually think about Yao, i do not want to be bias, so i wont post my opinion, but what does everyone actually think? And lets try to post some well sounded arguments, nothing like "HE SUCKS CAUSE HE IS CHINESE", ok, so let me know.

 

[Sith]

Let's get one thing straight, i hate the guy as much as i hate Mike Bibby (Im a Lakers Fan) so were talking some serious hatred. But im curious as to what people actually think about Yao, i do not want to be bias, so i wont post my opinion, but what does everyone actually think? And lets try to post some well sounded arguments, nothing like "HE SUCKS CAUSE HE IS CHINESE", ok, so let me know.

he sucks and overrated because he's not an american.

 

[DuMa]

Yes he is overrated by that is by no means his fault. He cant help it if he is loved by the Chinese population and media. People seem to think that the tallest player in the NBA is supposed to dominate the game but real basketball fans know that it takes a lot of energy and stamina to use that body to be effective in the NBA. Yao is above average and I think he plays great with what he's got. And being a #1 pick is hard to live up to these days if your name isnt Lebron James.

And typical big men taken at #1 will take time to develop. Yao might take longer, but I believe he'll get there barring any injuries.

 

[Amplifier]

Anytime a player has the skills necessary to be a 30ppg scorer and doesn't deliver he's going to be looked at as overrated.

Yao's a great post player, but he isn't under the post enough to put up MVP numbers. That's why his stats of 18/8 don't show how good he is.

An analogy would be Shaq in that they are both better than there numbers. Shaq is only putting up 23/10 this year dispite being unstoppable offensively. Doesn't mean Shaq isn't the best scorer in the league. Since both Shaq and Yao have teammates capable of scoring they aren't forced to be first options unless everyone else is struggling.

 

[white360]

No palyer can help if they are overrated. It's the media's fault.
Yao is'nt overrated, he is doing pretty good, still needs time to develop, and he doesnt have to be a great scorer, he has T-Mac

 

[FirstRocket]

Yao is Yao. It doesn't matter what the media said. Media will report anything that will sell. Yao is neither over-rated or under-rated because he is not Shaq, he is Yao. :yes:

 

[On Thre3]

yao was overrated last season, this season hes underratted. Everybody has bashed yao this whole season for doing even better than he has last season. Its mostly the casual basketball fans who think yao is ovverated, because they look at numbers and think that determines a player.

 

[Kmasonbx]

He's not overrated because so many say he is. He also is what he is, he's supposed to be the 2nd best center in the league and that's what he is.

I don't know if he'll ever be dominate, but if he ever gets into good enough shape that he can play 35-40 minutes a night he might be dominate. Brad Miller plays 37 minutes a game to Yao's 31, and averages 2.5 points less and gets 1 rebound more a game. If you look at their per 48 minute numbers there really is no comparison, Yao blows him away.

 

[777]

NO, IMO JVG is the reason why Yao hasn't live up to the hype.

 

[PartisanRanger]

It really depends on the audience you're talking about. To the casual fan and the media Yao seems to be vastly overrated, portraying him as an unstoppable force akin to Shaq and at about Shaq's level of play. While this is not true, there seems to be a growing numbers of "hardcore" fans, among these boards some of them, who share the view that Yao is just a useless stiff who is just popular because he's a 7'6" Chinese guy in the NBA. This is also false. The truth is that Yao is a competent and improving center and is among the best in the league. While the criticisms of him being soft and having poor rebounding and defensive stats are somewhat true, his contributions to his team are undeniable.

 

[Minstrel]

He's currently underrated (by this board) due to overrating expectations. People expect him to be a dominant force, like Shaquille O'Neal or Hakeem Olajuwon, and when he doesn't show ability like that (like a top-ten player of all-time), people swing the other way and act like he's nothing special, despite his still being a very productive offensive force and valuable defensive presence.

Further, his penchant for standing in to contest dunks and ocassionally (but seemingly much more than anyone else) getting "posterized," causes people to assume he's a soft defender and easily dunked on, when that's entirely false. He's a good defender, he just doesn't concede the dunk when it's going to happen.

 

[sherwin]

I love how people who don't watch games think they can judge a player. Until you see him play, and more than just one game on national TV, you can't decide. Not to say his numbers aren't there, they are.

And why do you hate Yao? How can anyone hate Yao?? You've got to be messed up in the head.

 

[kflo]

1.22 ppfga. #1 defensive rebounding team in league. #5 defensive team in league.

yao's stamina is an issue. but he's an impact player. he's not a dominant do it himself player - some may have expected that of him. but he's a very good player. certainly better than 18 & 8 would suggest.

 

[Nevus]

I think expectations were too high for him. He's certainly one of the best centers in the league, but I highly doubt he'll ever be the best player in the league. I don't think he's a future Hall of Famer, either.

 

[roastedtoaster]

Like phil jackson said, yao will get better in increments, year by year. and most of what he does, you can't find on a stat sheet.

the guys that call him overrated are the same people that watch around the horn and listen to woody paige. the same woody paige who last night said yao hasn't lived up to expectations, the same woody paige who 3 years ago said yao was a bust before he was ever drafted.

i think if haters would spend half the time they do normally on hate and just watch what the guy is doing on the court, they will see a 7'6" basketball player doing what has never been done before....being one of the most talented players on the floor night in and night out.

 

[JoSo]

I mean, what do you expect from this guy? I just got into this conversation with a few friends on Friday night. The way he was hyped up made it seem like he'd pull down 30 points a night and grab 15 boards. The guy needs time to adjust to the American way of playing basketball. There's a learning curve, and I think that before we call this guy overrated or a bust, we should at least let him hit his fifth season in the L.

In addition to that, this guy is playing so much basketball it's not even funny. After his first season if I'm not mistaken he had committments to the Chinese Basketball Team, this summer he was in Athens, let's see how well he does next season if he gets some time to rest after this year. When he was in China he never had such a tough schedule like he's going through in the NBA.

Give him time.

 

[Nate505]

Let's get one thing straight, i hate the guy as much as i hate Mike Bibby (Im a Lakers Fan) so were talking some serious hatred. But im curious as to what people actually think about Yao, i do not want to be bias, so i wont post my opinion, but what does everyone actually think? And lets try to post some well sounded arguments, nothing like "HE SUCKS CAUSE HE IS CHINESE", ok, so let me know.

In terms to how popular he is to how good he is, he might be the most overrated player in the history of the game. That doesn't mean he sucks however. He is a good player with immense popularity, because, well, I'm not sure.......because he's the first Chinese (heck, Asian in general) player to be as good as he is?

 

[Pan Mengtu]

Further, his penchant for standing in to contest dunks and ocassionally (but seemingly much more than anyone else) getting "posterized," causes people to assume he's a soft defender and easily dunked on, when that's entirely false. He's a good defender, he just doesn't concede the dunk when it's going to happen.

My problem with that is for every 10 dunk attempts, it seems that 8 of them are successful dunks, 1 gets blocked, and 1 results in a foul.

If you're going to contest dunks instead of shying away, at least prevent them from successfully dunking it. Even if it means fouling them.

 

[On Thre3]

My problem with that is for every 10 dunk attempts, it seems that 8 of them are successful dunks, 1 gets blocked, and 1 results in a foul.

If you're going to contest dunks instead of shying away, at least prevent them from successfully dunking it. Even if it means fouling them.

its a lot less than 8 out of 10. more like 4 out of 10

 

[Debt Collector]

i dont think yao is overrated. he's just as valuable to the rockets as mcgrady is in my opinion.