With 7-5 Chinese sensation Yao Ming the top pick in the 2002 NBA Draft to the Houston Rockets, there has been a debate about if Ming is a player to build your franhise around. The answer is no, Ming isn't one of the dominant big men, he would be a very nice role player who will be nice on the offensive end, but will struggle on the defensive end. In the NBA today, a team needs to build around a big and physical dominant center, a la Shaq or Olowakandi. Ming is not that mold of center. He is a finese center who can go out and hit a jumper like Raef LaFrentz. He's much more of a power forward than a center. I mean, he's 7-5 and isn't a good shot blocker. That's a key to being a dominant center, it allows you guards to get right up on the ball handler and put pressure on, knowing that if they get burned they have a shot-blocker behind them getting their back. He lacks the toughness to even play the post in the NBA. He got pushed around by an undrafted center in his workout in Chicago. The reason that Ming was so successful in China was because it's a much less physical game, just like in Europe. The Chinese league is about as physical as ball-room dancing, so Ming was able to get by without great physical strength and agressiveness. He was able to sit back and hit jumpers, and use his height to get rebounds. Ming could be considered to be "soft" by some NBA Executives, like Jerry West, because of the lack of strength and agressiveness.Yao Ming is an "Eastern Confrence" center. He lacks post moves, he can hit the outside jumper but isn't very physical. You think he could stop Shaq? Shaq would run him over. You have to be big enough and strong enough to not let Shaq get position. How's he gonna do that when Shaq has 100 pounds on him? He can't! Ming's scrawny build will get him pushed around by any decent center, and he lacks the shot blocking abilities to make up for some of his mistakes.In reality, Ming should be locked in the weight room so he can add strenghth. However, due to prior engagements in China, that is not possible. A team that puts him at center will be at a major disadvantage on the defensive side, but will be able to score on the offensive side.An interesting idea would be to put him at PF, because there are mobile PFs like Joe Smith, Tim Duncan and Chris Webber. Yao Ming could be a solid NBA player, but he won't be a Shaq-like dominant. -The Q
7-5 295
1st Overall Pick Houston Rockets
of Shanghai,China
