Lakers center McGee, who just won the championship two days ago, talked about Yao Ming in the podcast:
Who is the hardest opponent to defend in his career?
Yao Ming! Undoubtedly, although many of you have never heard of his name, he seems to be 7-6 or 7-4. He is from China. He can shoot three-pointers and dunk, which is too exaggerated. There is no doubt that he is in the Hall of Fame. I defended him when I was a rookie. I was only 7-foot-1 and 240 pounds. He had about 300 pounds, but I didn't do much with him. He was crazy. (The above content is translated by myself)
I checked McGee was talking about the away game against the Wizards on November 21, 2008, his rookie season. In that game, he played 20 minutes, 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. All 5 fouls were used on Yao Ming. Then he contributed another such classic background board.
McGee was lucky. When he entered the league in 2008, O'Neal was already 36 years old and was battling Nash. Duncan began to suffer from plantar fasciitis. Garnett could only use the iconic high position in the Celtics. Throwing and killing opponents, the only one who is called a monster on the inside is the "Warcraft" Howard who is now playing himself as a substitute, but that is limited to the defensive end. Only 29-year-old Yao Ming is the only one who truly possesses the legacy of the NBA "centre prosperous age" and can dominate both ends of the offense and defense. However, the 2008-09 season was Yao Ming's peak and final season.
The youthful McGee was still powerless in front of Yao Ming.
The historical status of Yao Ming can be roughly divided into three areas: domestic basketball, FIBA and nba. When
was still in China, Yao Ming’s dominance reached its peak in his last two cba seasons. In 2001-02, he averaged 41.3 points, 21 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game for two consecutive years, 27+19 and 29+18. Overlord Bayi, the first game was a total of 49 points on 21 shots. At that time, his domestic dominance, not to mention the CBA, which has been nearly 30 years so far, could not find a second person even looking at the entire New China basketball.
The 2002 cba finals was the pinnacle of "China's first basketball player" Yao Ming vs "cba history best" Liu Yudong.
was put on the international arena, from the withdrawal of the "golden generation" after the 2000 Sydney Olympics to the swan song of the 2008 Beijing Olympics He is the undoubted core of offense and defense of the Chinese men's basketball team.
three-time Asian champion and MVP,
2002, the best lineup center of the 2006 World Championships,
2004, the top eight of the 2008 Olympic Games and the center scoring leader.
In those years, but in tough battles, Yao Ming had to arrange about half of the team's scoring. His back play and high position support were the main starting methods for the men's basketball offense. He averaged 25.3 points per game in the 2006 Fukuoka World Championships. king.
, Yao Ming from 2002-08, is also the top center in the FIBA world, even the first center, if you count Gasol as a power forward in Spain.
In the first decade of the 21st century, Yao Ming’s dominance in the world's basketball inside line means that the Spanish "golden generation star" Gasol can be comparable to
. However, if he comes to the nba, it is somewhat controversial.
In 2016, Yao Ming, O'Neal and Iverson joined hands to enter the Naismith Hall of Fame. The former is the most dominant center in nba history, and the only "champion + fmvp" three in the history of NBA. The latter is the shortest regular season mvp in nba history, a symbol of unyielding will and a spiritual idol that has influenced generations of people. .
At that time, behind him, there were the 76ers' champion outsiders Bobby Jones and Cheeks in the 80s, the 79 championship center Sikma was lining up, and even the 2004 Pistons championship center and four-time best defensive player Ben Wallace hasn't entered yet.
and these two nba legends can be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the same time. It can already be seen that Yao Ming’s position in the Hall of Fame
will definitely jump out and say, “This is because of Yao Ming’s pioneering significance to Chinese basketball and this is because of the China behind him. Market Balabala..., in fact, as a basketball player, he just Balabala...".
One more point to clarify here is that shortly after Yao Ming retired in 2011, the United States NaishiThe Miss Basketball Hall of Fame invited Yao Ming to be selected into the Basketball Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to world basketball communication, but Yao Ming refused because he wanted to be selected as a basketball player. Therefore, in accordance with the rules of the Hall of Fame, he entered the Hall of Fame with his old opponent O'Neill in 2016, five years after his retirement.
Then we will put aside all the off-court factors of Yao Ming, put aside his dominance in the fiba world, and even put aside the Naismith Hall of Fame and not only consider the objective reality of the player's NBA performance. Just look at his nine years in the NBA.
fan flew scum Pachulia
1. Ratio data-underestimated high-efficiency inside core
Yao Ming played only 7 full seasons in his entire nba career, but
ranked No. 84. Center 11th.
ranked in the league’s top ten in player efficiency PER three times and third in the league once (06-07 season).
ranked 29th in league history with 23.0 in career efficiency. For comparison, he is now the first player in offense and defense in the NBA, Leonard (23.02). Antetokounmpo, Kobe, and Garnett are all behind him.
Before Jokic led the Diggers to the playoffs this season, Yao Ming was the last international center to lead the team to win the playoffs.
In the first round of the 2009 playoffs, Yao Ming faced Oden, the champion of the previous year. , After all, I did that too, but what about the best team? When he was still able to play in 2003-2009, in addition to his rookie season and the 04-05 season, he entered the best team 5 times. Among the contemporary centers, O'Neal 5 times, Big Ben 4 times, Stoudemire 3 times, and Warcraft 2 times. The only regret for
is that Yao Ming has never been selected for the league, but the reason is injuries and attendance rate . In the 2006-07 season with the best personal data,
ranked first in the league with 25 points per game and seventh in the league. But because of injuries, he only played 48 games in the regular season, making him the star with the fewest appearances among the 15 players selected for the All-NBA team.
is facing the famous NBA tough guy Alonzo Mourning. Is such Yao Ming still called "soft"?
In his peak season of 08-09 when he played against the Lakers as the core of the team, he averaged 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, lagging behind that year's center Howard (20.6 points and 13.8 rebounds), but in the two games where the two had a direct dialogue. Among them,
Magic 95-100 Rockets (Yao Ming 22 points and 13 rebounds, Dwight 13 points and 9 rebounds)
Magic 83-93 Rockets (Yao Ming 20 points and 16 rebounds, Dwight 13 points and 10 rebounds)
The Magic of that year was a season The playoffs eliminated the 62-win Celtics (without Garnett's Big Three) and the 66-win Cleveland Cavaliers (mvp crowned for the first time) LeBron, who were only defeated in six games in the Finals and the Lakers. Eastern Championship. Howard was also known as "the man who can change LeBron alone" that year.
To know how strong Yao Ming is, we must know how strong his opponent was at that time.
The Warcraft at its peak was also at a disadvantage in the confrontation with Yao Ming. Z7z
Second, look at the match-the league's last penalty zone dinosaur
When Yao Ming just entered the NBA, his draft report was like this: Although he is 2 meters 20+ , But can still run like a small forward. He has guard-level skills, the ball quotient is not a problem at all, the footsteps of the basket are very good, the timing of the shots is well grasped, and the free throw performance is equally amazing. The disadvantage of
is that the body is still too thin and needs to gain weight in the future to adapt to the NBA-level confrontation. If you are unable to communicate with the coaching staff, it will become a problem.
Draft template: Rick Schmitz
Yao Ming's delicate technology and dexterous pace are not available to most American giants
Before the start of his rookie season, Yao Ming was selected as the best team center at the Indianapolis Men's Basketball World Championship held in the United States. Earlier, he had 10.5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks at the Sydney Olympics. Carter and Payton's shots were slapped in a direct conversation with the American Dream Four. Everything shows that he was already a top center in the world basketball. After
experienced the rookie adaptation period and Barkley's "donkey butt" incident, Yao Ming contributed 18.5 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2 blocks in the second month of his rookie season. He has the top dance moves to play with the East's top big and former O'Neal, can buckle the best defensive center big, and can score 27 points and 18 rebounds under the Spurs twin towers.
at that time has already manifested everything that a top center needs: he has the speed and flexibility that does not match the height of 2.26 meters; he has the excellent feel and basketball IQ inherited from his parents, he He also had the footsteps of a center that had been gradually lost among NBA centers at the time, and the most important thing was that he had the ambition to dominate the penalty area that a top center must have.
Yao Ming’s hard-bar champion center in his rookie season and the four-time best defensive player "Big Ben" Wallace
’s only weakness is his body. As the rookie report said, his thin body needs time to adapt to the nba-level confrontation. , He is temporarily unable to adapt to the intensity of the NBA's 48 minutes and 82 long regular season games. And all of this was perfectly verified when he and O'Neal first confronted.
is the most powerful center in the history of the NBA. In the new century, O'Neal has no equal center opponents in the NBA, and Yao Ming just caught up with the tail of his peak period.
In the 2002-03 season, O'Neal was already triple crowned. In the first match between Yao Shark on January 17, 2003, Yao Ming, who was full of energy, gave O'Neal three big caps and won 6 by relying on his flexibility and feel. After that, when O’Neal put away his arrogance and used his body at his peak to find Yao Ming, who was declining in physical strength, his scoring ratio was a shocking 31:4. Although the Rockets won overtime by a narrow margin, at that time The gap between Yao Ming and O’Neal is still visible to the naked eye.
The opening three big hats in the first Yao Shark matchup shocked four people
, but the gap between the two has begun to shrink at an alarming rate. In the 2003-04 season, Yao Ming faced O'Neal in the regular season before the All-Star Game against the Lakers. With 29 points and 11 rebounds, he led the Rockets to a 102-89 victory over the Lakers, and justifiably participated in the All-Star Game in Los Angeles as the starting center in the West.
Yao Ming encountered O’Neal’s "f4" in the playoffs that year, but O’Neal was limited to 16.2 points and 11.2 rebounds in the confrontation with Yao Ming. The Lakers relied on Kobe’s performance at critical moments to take away 4-1. rocket. In the subsequent playoffs, O'Neal faced Duncan (22.5+12.5), Garnett (20.7+15.7) and Double Wallace (26.6+10.8) still contributing a stable output of 20+10. In 1992-2004, when O'Neal played for the Magic and the Lakers, with the exception of his body, Yao Ming was the only center who could limit O'Neal's scoring average to less than 20 points per game in the playoffs.
still said the same thing. To know how strong Yao Ming is, we must first see how strong his opponent is.
restricts the peak sharks, Yao Ming’s defensive effect is the most obvious
3. On regret-the common destiny of the giants
In the NBA, the top centers have the same fate:
These giants who once ruled the NBA will eventually be Troubled by injuries. Olajuwon suffered various injuries in his later years, and he had no choice but to retire after only one year of execution of his three-year contract with the Raptors. After Jabbar entered the 1980s, he lost his dominance on the defensive end. Ewing suffered a serious knee injury and has never left his knee in his career. O'Neill's big toes and ankles allowed him to stop and stop after entering the new century.
In the first three seasons of his career, Yao Ming missed a total of 2 regular season games. He is a rare "iron man" in the NBA center position. But with Van Gundy taking charge of the Rockets coach, Yao Ming will be trained in the direction of the NBA's traditional top center., Yao Ming’s muscles began to swell, it is difficult to be pushed out of the restricted area by those NBA blue-collars, but with weight gain and endless tossing at both ends of the ocean, injuries began to find him.
With the deepening of the NBA career, Yao Ming began to face endless injuries
2005-06 season, Yao Mai just lost seven games in the playoffs against the top Western Mavericks. But Yao Mai started to get injured alternately. Yao Ming only played 57 games, and Tracy McGrady only had 47 games. Although Yao Ming scored 20+10 for the first time in the regular season (22.3 points and 10.2 rebounds), he became the latest in the NBA after O'Neal grew old. But the Rockets stumbled all the way to 34 wins and 48 losses and missed the playoffs.
In the 2006-07 season, Yao Ming averaged 25.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game in the first month-including on November 12th, Yao Ming scored 34 points and 14 rebounds on the shark's head and completely won the latter's torch. At that time, there was no NBA. The team can really compete against the Rockets inside. Then on December 27th, Yao Ming was injured again. At that time, he was already being discussed to run for the regular season mvp. In the last season, Yao Ming only played 48 games, setting a career low. But his data is a terrible 25 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2 blocks, which is the most beautiful center data before Jokic.
Under Van Gundy's creation, Yao Ming has grown into the NBA's top center
on both offense and defense. In the 2007-08 season, the Rockets ushered in Adelman, who built that gorgeous Kings team at the beginning of the century.
As the head coach, this old man is good at everything, kind, good at communication, and tactical freehand. He completely transformed McGrady into an organization forward and used Yao Ming's power as the first center of the NBA. The only shortcoming is-fuck Yao Ming hard. Under his men, Yao Ming, who is 28 years old and has gained 140 kilograms, averaged 37.8 minutes per game. He had never played more than 35 minutes in the previous season. Although Yao Ming got the top data performance of 20+10, the player of the month in January 2008 even became a candidate for mvp.
But then we all learned that Yao Ming suffered a stress fracture that ruined his career and almost affected the 2008 Olympic Games. Before the injury, Yao Mai teamed up to play the first 12 games of the Rockets' 22-game winning streak that season. They had already found the perfect way to cooperate, and then came back with injuries.
Yao Ming and McGrady have never worked together for a full season at their peak.
In the 2008-09 season, McGrady has completely fallen out with the Rockets. Fortunately, the team found a ruthless character, Artest, who formed with Battier that year. NBA's most terrifying perimeter defense. For the first time, Yao Ming has become the core of the team’s expectations. That year, he seemed to have completely come out of the injury on the eve of the Olympics. Not only was he still the most terrifying insider killer in the NBA, but also the team qualified. The core of offense and defense. The offensive end uses him as the axis, Scola, Landry, and Brooks bloom all around him. On the defensive end, he, Scola and Battier built the team into the league’s second defensive team, and even gave it to James won his first mvp career game with 0 assists.
In the playoffs, facing the league’s "Youth Guards" Trail Blazers, facing Oden, Adelaide and Pulzbila’s flanking attack, Yao Ming shot 9 of 9 in the first game, scored 6 of 6 and scored 24 points and 9 points. Rebounds and 100% shooting set the NBA record at the time, and the Rockets also won 108-81. In the final round of the playoffs, the Rockets successfully advanced 4-2, and Yao Ming finally completed his personal breakthrough in the playoffs.
Then in the Western Conference semifinals they met the defending Western Conference champions-the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant.
Even without McGrady, the 2008-09 season was Yao Ming's strongest season in the Rockets. The top centers of
nba will more or less have contact with the Lakers with the "center superstar tradition". Three of Russell, Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Chamberlain on the "center of President Hill" in the league have played for the Purple and Golden Army and all have won the championship for the Lakers.
At the end of the 2004-05 season, but the third grade Yao Ming's strength has been recognized by the entire league. Many teams hope that after poaching O'Neal from Houston, they will be the firstA center. The Lakers, who just lost O’Neal and have the most brilliant super center tradition, are the most enthusiastic. However, Yao Ming still misses Houston’s training for him over the past few years. He gave up the opportunity to enter the free agency market and finished 5 ahead of schedule with the team. A $75 million renewal contract for the year ends in the 2010-11 season.
Out of gratitude to the Rockets and traditional Chinese loyalty, Yao Wan declined the invitation of Kobe and the Lakers.
In the words of the Lakers coach "Zen Master" Jackson, "I can hardly imagine Yao Ming would refuse our invitation. He refused." The Lakers rejected Kobe and also rejected the championship."
Then in the 2008-09 Western Conference semifinals, they stood on both ends of the court.
later used Yao Ming’s own words to say , “In fact, that year was really promising. If we could cross the Lakers, that season we played the Nuggets (the Lakers Western Conference Finals opponent) 2 wins and 1 loss, swept the Magic, it’s really great. Opportunity."
At that time, the Lakers had the league's first inside group in addition to Kobe, "Little Shark" Bynum, All-Star power forward Gasol, and left-handed Magic Odom. Bynum’s strength, Gasol’s magnificence, Odom’s comprehensiveness, in those years when the Lakers were rampant in the league, they could target different opponents with a variety of inside combinations, whether it was Spurs’ Duncan or Celtics’ Garnett. , Magic Howard is difficult to gain the upper hand in front of them.
From 2008-10, Kobe and the inside group around him are the cornerstones of the Lakers' dominance of the league.
May 4, 2009, the first game of the Western Conference Finals Rockets Vs Lakers, the peak of Yao Ming's blooming battle, the masterpiece of the NBA career.
opened the game. He patiently rolled over the hook and backed up the jumper. In front of the young Bynum, he showed all the magnificent moves belonging to the center and beat the Shark into two fouls early. Replaced by Gasol, he used his physical advantage to turn around and break through, making free throws and 2+1 to show the strength of a super center.
At that time, Yao Ming finally showed all the weapons of a dominant center in the real playoff matchup. He could not only use soft touch and unattainable height to turn over jumpers and hooks, but also rely on his body and strength to kill. Go inside to complete the kill. The Rockets in the first three quarters managed to maintain the lead under his leadership, making the 65-win Western Conference champion helpless that season.
In the fourth quarter, the Lakers started a counterattack under the leadership of Kobe. The Black Mamba started the "scoring mode of no one’s land" during the peak period, and then collided with Yao Ming in a breakthrough. The Great Wall of China held it in pain. Knee, he and the Rockets have always been tortured by injuries in those years, making everyone lift their hearts to their throats, worrying that he would fall again.
The collision between Kobe and Yao Ming made the whole world witness the tenacity and determination of a Chinese man
but he didn’t. When he was injured, fell to the ground, left the court and returned, the Lakers’ home court burst into waves. Cheers, this surpassed the opponent, surpassed the victory and defeat, only for the return of a hero. Then the Rockets struggled to keep the victory 100-92. Yao Ming had 28 points and 10 rebounds. Gasol and Bynum on the opposite side had a combined total of 24 points and 13 rebounds. They each sent a total of seven fouls on Yao Ming.
's victory in Los Angeles is the true pinnacle of his NBA career. He was injured, fell, and came back. The Lakers' three big insiders and the peak Kobe couldn't stop him. You need to know how terrible Kobe and the Lakers were that year to understand how great Yao Ming was at that time.
From O'Neal to Gasol, the Lakers and Yao Ming have always been the focus of attention.
He is China's greatest basketball center and the most influential basketball player.
He is the continuation of the Rockets' tradition of excellent centers, bringing the NBA to China.
His greatness has surpassed the court, but his greatness on the court is also worth remembering.
Only ten years after he retired did we gradually understand what height and influence he raised Chinese basketball to.
He is a talented wizard, but also a hard-working player,
, he is a great center, but also a low-key wise man,
He is a shining star and a selfless chairman. Z7z
thanks Yao Ming for giving us a wonderful basketball memory.
His wonderful journey is far from over
