Yao‘s greatest strength

Apparently, Yao Ming does not have the mentality to dominate.
Now I‘m not going to argue with another writer, particularly such a fine one whose work I truly do enjoy.
I just want to know who that guy in No. 11 with the Rockets I‘ve been watching all these years, andespecially Friday against the Knicks.
Yao not only had 35 points, 17 rebounds and blocked seven shots, hehumiliated Eddy Curry (four of those blocks were on Curry) off thecourt.
The Knicks tried six different defenders on him. They fronted. They double teamed. They failed miserably.
This was not an aberration. It was one of his better games andmatched his career high for blocked shots. (He also had eightturnovers.) But he is often unstoppable.
But still, there were some interesting points in that story Friday morning worth mentioning.
"Yet he has also not blossomed into a dominant force."
Depends how you define dominant. Keep in mind, the NBA has changed. What center is more dominant?
"He doesn‘t change the game when he‘s on the floor."
Except that he does. He changes everything opposing teams dodefensively. Access to the game plans of 29 coaches would show Yao‘sname all over every scrap of planning. Even the Heat double team himnow.
"He doesn‘t strike fear into the hearts of opponents."
Again, depends by what you mean by ‘fear." He is the guy they talkabout before and after every game against the Rockets, privately andpublicly. Curry looked like he wanted a place to hide. Guys still liketrying to dunk on him if they can get to the rim before he moves his7-6 and 300 pounds into their path. No one doubts him anymore.
"He‘s simply a prime example of isolationist basketball: A playerlarge enough to score 24 points and grab eight rebounds a night, butwho doesn‘t have the ability or the drive to power his team to achampionship."
And that‘s where he went wrong.
Drive? You‘ve got to be kidding. No one has more drive. No one. AndI‘m not talking about work ethic, though there is no reason to ignorehow dedicated he is, how entirely committed he is to excelling in theNBA.
I think when he wrote ‘drive" he was referring to on the court,during games. Again in that regard, no one has more drive. Yao iscompetitive. Yao is fiery. Yao is driven.
Yao has his shortcomings. There are things in his game he and theRockets have to hide. They are all physical. At his size, there arethings he‘s not built to do. In his time in the NBA, the league istwisted against him and the other traditional centers.
But personality is not one of the problems. It‘s a strength. A case might be made it is his greatest strength.
• • •
For all Yao did on Friday, he and the Rockets look lost when teamsgo small and quick on him. He won‘t see that Sunday against ShaquilleO‘Neal and the Heat, but NBA teams eventually see everything.
Yao will see all kinds of quick fronting, with weakside help. By thefourth quarter, he was triple-teamed regularly by a team that startedthe game not even double-teaming him. The Rockets bogged down badly.
• • •
Did you see Jack Nies toweling off the new fake-leather ball?
The guy has been officiating since the ball had laces and the slick new ball has turned him into a ballboy.
Funny, but when the dancing girls did their dunk act, they got to use the old leather basketballs.
As long as the league‘s got its priorities in order.
Posted by Jonathan Feigen at November 10, 2006 11:46 PM