by Ric Bucher Knicks GM Scott Layden, in leaping to a conclusion, thereby stumbled into the cultural divide that stands between 7'5" Yao Ming and an NBA career. Layden was told by officials from Yao's team, the Shanghai Sharks, that Yao would be free to participate in this summer's draft. Layden took this to mean Yao was free to play in the NBA next season. Not exactly. While the Sharks are not opposed to Yao leaving them and the Chinese Basketball Association, they don't consider sending him to the NBA as the no-brainer the average American hoops fan might. It could be a long time before the country produces another player of Yao's potential and they want several assurances before letting go of their Michael Jordan. One is that he will go to a team that is committed to developing him. Another is that the team drafting him will assuage the Sharks' loss by playing an exhibition in Shanghai, develop a sister city program and provide coaching clinics. Bei Gengyuan, the head of Oriental Television, which owns the Sharks, has said Yao will be released to begin his NBA career "under the right conditions, with the right club, at the right time." The time, at least, won't ever be more right. Having seen Yao play earlier this month -- along with Layden, Bulls GM Jerry Krause and Sonics assistant GM Rich Cho -- I can assure the Sharks or the CBA or anyone else that if they want him to be successful in the NBA, he can't afford to wait. A silky turnaround J from both baselines, his blind over-the-shoulder pass after diving for a loose ball and his outlet passes are proof that he has the requisite skills. He's not a leaper but he runs the floor and is agile enough to compete under the new league rules that make size meaningless without mobility. For comparison's sake, think of a young Rik Smits. But he's clearly not challenged by the CBA talent level. There were times he didn't cross half-court after making an outlet pass or dunk when he had the chance and any contact around the basket draws a whistle. Considering that it will take him at least a year or two to adjust, and that by today's standards any player out of his teens is old, the clock is ticking on the 22-year-old Yao. Chinese basketball officials seem to understand the gap between the CBA, which plays a 30-game schedule in unheated gymnasiums where foreign players are limited to two quarters, and the NBA. That's why they want "the right club," i.e., a team committed to developing him, fearful that if Yao is not a success it will be an embarrassment to Chinese basketball and a setback to its emergence as an international power. What they may not understand is that making sure he's a top pick will go a long way toward assuring a team's commitment to developing him. And for that to happen, NBA teams need to be confident he'll be available to play next season. Competing against the Shaqs and Zos in the NBA is also sure to make Yao far more of a force in international competition than if he continues beating up on CBA opponents. Li Yao-Ming, the Sharks executive vice president, was unhappy to hear Layden's comments. It's understandable why Layden made his assumption, but something clearly was lost in the translation. For everyone's sake, let's hope it wasn't Yao.
If Yao isnt successful that Chinese basketball isn't a "emerging powerhouse." They can't change what they are.
They have more to gain from his success in america than his success in the land of little people. Are they stupid? Ironically, the doubt being generated could be exactly what the Rockets need to land him. I would waste a pick on him in the hopes that he would play. It's would be a worthwhile risk. And what I consider to be a safe bet.
They have more to gain from his success in america than his success in the land of little people. ------------------------------------ boy, you sure sound like one of those idiots.
Aren't Chinese people statistically some of the smallest in the world - at least heightwise? If so, while "land of the little people" may nto be PC, it would be accurate.
Sometimes the stereotypes we hate so much are true. I don't think it would be hard to prove that China's population is generally less tall than the rest of the world. All indications to me have been that they are getting taller every year, but my impression of them is that they are 'little' people on the whole. I think you are taking that comment a little too seriously.
ok, i'm gonna be a little nit picky here... and ppl might tell me to chill but it's to make a point calling anybody little has the connotation of being deregatory. hence belittling ... and calling ideas, thing etc small in stature, reason etc ever hear of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis? it's the same reason people get away with calling women b****es when they discuss a topic and in the old day african americans black people (which originally was to nominalize them as a dirty, unpure and/or not as good race) to seperate them from other groups as a very secondary and unimportant point... height is something which easily fluctuates once nutrition and living conditions are changed... as can be seen in former agricultural and food foraging peoples. plus i expect phi and jayz to have lived in houston their entire lives... never been to china and haven't seen northern china where they're easily 6fters most places u go -- now back to the original thread, there's a thing i don't expect people here to understand and i shouldn't try to educate but it's cultural relativity. the things you might expect tracy mcgrady or kobe or other stars to achieve here isn't near the same as china wants. while you wonder about their concern for this or that and why they withhold yaoming's success, the values of america are very different. while america pushes the individual and that any ONE person can attain what he/she wants if they work hard... leaving behind loners and those not as athletic to be picked last... japan always lets everyone play and gets everyone into the game. while america might think middle eastern women are oppressed (well they are), they think american women are slutty. many countries laugh at how lazy/dirty america is and are in disgust at how sex/family and divorce are jokes. and while it might seem like it's all about Yao Ming here, it's not... to china it's about the community and let's not forget... Yao Ming is a real role model for tons of kids. you throw your non english speaking 22 yr old bball icon into a huge spotlight, i'm sure you'd want him protected, learning... and getting things done with where your values lie. in this case, china just doesn't want him to hit some culture shock and allow other things to bother him and fail.. not only in his eyes but the kids who want to grow up to be athletes. No, you can not compare his transition to the relatively easy slide into the NBA by Wang Zhi Zhi. China's bball is poor... in the literal sense. they don't get the commercialism or proper funds to push bball to a higher level (if you ever go to uni's in china and play pick up games however, you might notice there's plenty of talent) - hence they're asking the nba to provide camps... best thing they get over there is 8th string former NBA players like God Shammgod (never understood this guys name or how parents could name him that). well, guess i'm done for now
Therein lies the misunderstanding, I believe. Any team that uses a top 3 draft pick on him is going to take great strides to make sure he's an NBA success - but I doubt teams are going to use a top 3 pick on a guy who might not play next year. Note, this is different than high schoolers in that these youngsters get to play against NBA competition in practice, and in limited minutes in games. While they might not be playing, their game is being advanced by banging with NBA players in practice, and being coached by NBA coaches. Meanwhile, not playing next year is another year that Yao Ming's game stagnates, as he will NOT be playing against NBA competition, but the same competition that he has dominated for the past several years. Now, the uncertainty regarding his status will drop him in the draft, the farther down the draft he falls, the less a team will be willing to invest in Yao Ming, and the greater chance for failure. Therefore, by clouding the issue of whether or not Yao Ming will play next year, the Shangai club is actually hurting the very thing they need most - the chance for Yao to blossom into a star. This is all my opinion, and my education regarding Chinese Basketball is decidedly poor, so if I've made some mistakes, feel free to correct them.
you're right on the money puedflor but yet again, the chance of yao ming's failure, as small as it may be (i really feel it's very miniscule) is still there. you've got some old wayed and stubborn guys determining his fate... thinking they've finally got a prize and don't want to taint it... not necessarily to the outside world but to their own people too. the cost of failure is greater to them they also want to get additional benefits (nba gets that china-america link and the even more so international PC benefits) in the form of whatever camps etc they also don't understand that any team drafting him high will definitely develop him well. most likely the peeps in layden's group don't have the cultural skills to deal with the chinese officials and to communicate exactly the comforting responses they need to hear. (actually, do all nba teams do a good job of developing their draft picks? go bulls!)
a little nit-picky Just kidding. But seriously, I only asked a question. Are Asian peoplegenerally smaller than non-Asian people? Does it matter what they eat or whether or I've lived in Houston my entire life (which I havent) or been to China (which I also havent)? Phi wasn't belittling anybody, that was plainly obvious. What if he had said the land of the slanted eye people? I'm sure that would have received a similarly luke-warm response, despite the fact that the word slanted has no negative connotation to it at all.
that's weird you see nothing connotatively wrong with that Jayz it's how those words are usually used to describe people... and if you live in houston (a place which compared to a lot of places i've lived in) needs to racially catch up the tones associated and how they're usually used... "Shut up you little POS." "You slant-eyed *ucker" we don't even need to put those profanity in there.. "Hey, little man" "Yo, slant-eyed guy" do you know where ****** came from? There's a country called Niger. back then, people were just calling people Nigers... or people from Niger. inherently there's nothing wrong with it. if little and slant eyed and ****** weren't used negatively by people because of the way they're usually used with tones and phrases... it wouldn't matter too much they're all ways of commonly denotating a people in a deregatory way. --- heh, i'm gonna get a warning soon i bet. ok, yeah asian people are shorter on avg with chinese probably taller than most (koreans, japanese... south pacific asian nations) there's also a group of northern people near the mountains in china that are especially tall (probably bred a lot of the bball players) and usually 6 ft food and living is directly proportionate to height... the average american height 130 yrs ago was a lot shorter... and it can be seen everywhere in history when population per area changes, food changes etc... although i guess asians at the moment have a shorter coding that would take a few generations to change. ok done again
I just don't think the word by itself is derogatory. To me it would be the same as if my friend had a breed of dog, for example, that came from one region and had slanted-eyes, and I said to him..."You're dog is from the land of the slanted-eye dogs." I can see how some people may find it derogatory, but only because its been used in that manner before. By nature, it is not a derogatory word. When I think slanted-eyes, no negative images pop into my mind. I realize this type of stuff is generally in the eye (no pun intended) of the beholder and it shouldn't matter what PhiSlamma meant. But to me, it was obvious he wasn't acting in a racist manner and I feel sometimes being "over- PC" is just as harmful to the cause of enlightening people who still harbor racist beliefs.
Well, "slant-eyes" has a negative connotation to it - because it has been used that way for many years. But if you want to find countries full of the shortest people, go to Russia or North Korea. They are short because of the economic situations leaving them lacking of protein and milk.
