# Yao needs a mentor...



## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Yao has skill
Yao has talent
Yao has the ability
we all know yao can be wonderfull with just some work


I wonder if Ewing really is helping yao besides just being an assistant coach on JVG staff
Hakeem was the small, easy going big man his first coupple years untill he met Moses Malone at the Houston YMCA in the off season. He showed him, trained him, and set the fundamentals for a dominating center that he became.

Abdul-Jabbar is helpoing Kwame Brown develop(tho we all know thats a lost cause...)

I wonder one day, if Hakeem would pass the torch to the next center to grace the team hes done so much for. I honestly think, one off season(what yao actually has free time) have hakeem mold him, train him, and give him lessons of fundementals. I honestly think, that could change the entire scheme of his foot work, and further enhance his all around talent.

thoughts? opinions?


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

OneBadLT123 said:


> Yao has skill
> Yao has talent
> Yao has the ability
> we all know yao can be wonderfull with just some work
> ...


That would be amazing. Yao definitely has the potential to be the next GREAT center. He is already, IMO, a better center than Shaq.


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## Gotham2krazy (Nov 22, 2005)

well you can't compare the two. what yao has shaq lacks and what shaq can do, well yao hasn't gotten there yet. yao plays a finesse game (which i love), while shaq plays a low post dominance in which he bullies through people. also yao doesn't have the type of body strength like shaq does, thus he can get bullied by a bit heavier guy (like what karl malone did to him in the playoffs), but yeah. as for shaq, he can barely shoot the ball, but yao can do that excellently and yao is more agile and flexible than shaq.

and i honestly agree with shaq getting mentored by someone else other than patrick. i don't know what he's been doing for the past year since he's been hired. what has he been teaching yao? i would like for kareem to go down to h-town and teach yao how to sky-hook. plus wasn't he helping magic with the magic's fundamental bs? lol i most certainly think that either kareem or hakeem would be suitable in developing and unlocking yao's ability. but btw, has anyone noticed yao's improvement after coming back from surgery?


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## tone wone (Jan 30, 2003)

bronx43 said:


> That would be amazing. Yao definitely has the potential to be the next GREAT center. He is already, IMO, a better center than Shaq.


 I love him...but no he does not have the potential to be "great". He's too big. People dont understand physical limitations being 7'6 gives.

He's a stationary player. Working with Jabbar isn't gonna make him more agile; training with Hakeem isn't gonna improve his verticle. And until he improves his upper body he's gonna have balancing issues.

If he were 4 inches shorter and 20-30lbs lighter he would be a better player.

Now, while this entire seems negative, understand Yao hasn't "peeked." He's gonna get better but not to point where he's "dominant"


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## bronx43 (Dec 9, 2005)

tone wone said:


> I love him...but no he does not have the potential to be "great". He's too big. People dont understand physical limitations being 7'6 gives.
> 
> He's a stationary player. Working with Jabbar isn't gonna make him more agile; training with Hakeem isn't gonna improve his verticle. And until he improves his upper body he's gonna have balancing issues.
> 
> ...


IMO, only Shaq was truly dominant. Hakeem was one of the best centers to ever play the game, but he wasn't dominant in the sense that Shaq WAS. (I don't think he is dominant still.) The 2001 season where the Lakers bulldozed through the playoffs was a showcase of Shaq's utter ownage of the game of basketball. Four-man coverage was an understatement. There was just no defense for that whatsoever. Yao will be a very solid (borderline great) center in the league. I'm thinking his peak will be 23/11. We also have to remember that the Rockets score 90 pts a game. Comparisons to Amare's 26 is therefore misleading. (Suns score 105+ a game) With a few more pieces, I believe the Rockets can be a championship team.


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## Gotham2krazy (Nov 22, 2005)

all yao lacks is.. endurance, discipline in giving away stupid fouls, and gain a few pounds so he doesn't get pushed around, then he can be great


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

Gotham2krazy said:


> and i honestly agree with shaq getting mentored by someone else other than patrick. i don't know what he's been doing for the past year since he's been hired. what has he been teaching yao?


It's impossible to say whether it's partly due to Ewing's influence, but Yao has certainly improved on both ends of the floor since last season. Offensively, the difference between the present Yao and last season's Yao is that now he can score freely and the Rockets can win with the ball going to him as much as it goes through McGrady (as long as both guys are healthy). At the start of last season when Yao was being used as the first option, he played poorly and the team lost. He played best as second fiddle. Now he is better at handling the double teams, is more poised, and passes better to the perimeter when the double comes. His impact is greater. Now he is looking more like the dominant centers of the past. He'll plant himself where he wants, call for the ball with his back to the basket, draw the double, and pass off or score. Last season he was playing more of a Zydrunas Ilgauskas role.
Defensively, the improvement has been less obvious, but he's emerged as one of the premier big men defenders in the league, though few non-Rocket fans will admit it. Again, Ewing could have something to do with it. 



tone wone said:


> I love him...but no he does not have the potential to be "great". He's too big. People dont understand physical limitations being 7'6 gives.


His size has advantages, too, though. Although they were good up to 18 feet, you'd rarely see Olajuwon or Ewing just face up and shoot over a defender without employing any sort of move or fake. Yao can do it because he doesn't have to jump much. Also, his hook shot could be unblockable. Most of the great centers never jumped much with their hook shots (because it's difficult), and so were less reliable ('94 Finals: Hakeem missed a bunch of those from a gettable distance because he had to work so hard to get it off, and Ewing had several of his blocked and just gave up and started shooting jumpers). Another advantage of his size is that he can see over defenses with ease, which is part of the reason why he is such a great passer to cutters.
I think he can be great. Perhaps not quite as good as Olajuwon or Shaq or Robinson or Ewing (who were arguably four of the five best players of the '90's), but still dominant. Right now he's roughly 20/10 in only 33 mpg, an efficient scorer, a very good defender and passer, and he draws as many double teams as anyone in the league. And he's still improving. Plenty of scope for greatness.

(Remember, in Patrick Ewing's fourth season, he was 23/9. The next year he was 29/11.)


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## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

> I think he can be great. Perhaps not quite as good as Olajuwon or Shaq or Robinson or Ewing (who were arguably four of the five best players of the '90's), but still dominant. Right now he's roughly 20/10 in only 33 mpg, an efficient scorer, a very good defender and passer, and he draws as many double teams as anyone in the league. And he's still improving. Plenty of scope for greatness.


Exactly. And he's still only 25. He's not yet in his prime. Hopefully, in another three years or so, he'll be a 25/12 player.


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## Wilmatic2 (Oct 30, 2005)

Yao got P-Ew.


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## Demiloy (Nov 4, 2005)

Patrick Ewing isn't worth a thing.


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## Mr. Hobbes (Jul 1, 2005)

Ewing's just teaching Yao what he already knows. Get someone with great post moves to teach him. I suggest Yao take a road trip in the offseason to train with each great big man -McHale, Hakeem, Kareem, Sikma, Russell (maybe just talk to him). You can make a reality show with that.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Ralph Sampson 



> Big E. Moses. Dream. Sampson. Yao. Mutombo.
> 
> Say their names collectively and you think you’re quoting either Biblical icons or superheroes from some new Marvel Comics book. Elvin Hayes. Moses Malone. Hakeem Olajuwon. Ralph Sampson. Yao Ming. Dikembe Mutombo.
> 
> ...


Could Yao learn something at the ASW???


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## Mr. Hobbes (Jul 1, 2005)

Hopefully.


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## 4ever_bball_fan (Aug 5, 2004)

I would love for the Big E and Moses to get a hold of that kid, and also get some weight on him.


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## edyzbasketball (Nov 16, 2005)

Yao could be coached much better even by Dikembe Mutombo....

I suggest Kareem...


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