外研社辩论赛blog

The Time is Yao

The Time is Yao Oct 31, 2007 Posted by: Rob Peterson

Yao will be in the spotlight, but few think he'll be MVP.
Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
If you search (and no need, because this is a blog and we'll link to them), the experts have tabbed two players as front runners for this season's MVP race: Kevin Garnett and LeBron James. You'll also find a Duncan thrown or a Nash in for good measure.

Save for the ocassional B-Diddy or Tony Parker pick, which is just plain eccentric, there hasn't been too much shaky limb climbing this preseason. But scouring the picks, I noticed something about my MVP pick, Yao Ming: only one other person has made it.

That would be John Hollinger of ESPN.com. That makes us two crazy bastards. I'm Hall, he's Oates.

No one's asked, but if they were to do so, they may say: "Why Yao?"

Instead of answering, "Why not Yao?", Hollinger can point to his fancy pants stats about Yao (Insider, sorry folks). While you can argue for days about Hollinger's PER ratings (I like 'em, but I think they're the QB ratings of basketball), I can't argue with his sentiment about The Great Wall of Houston:

"A leading candidate until his injury last season. With health and a winning team, he'll prevail this time."

Yao tore the league to shreds last season before he broke a bone under his knee on Dec. 23, 2006.

He showed rust on his return in March of 2007 and showed flashes of his old sel. Yao, however, didn't play much this summer and turned in a stellar opening night performance against the Lakers with 25 points, 12 boards, three assists and three blocks.

Yet, the potential for gaudy stat lines wasn't the reason for my picking Yao as MVP. I think Yao and the Rockets will thrive in new coach Rick Adelman's Princeton-style offense. He is, as TNT's Doug Collins said late in the game, the Rockets' best free throw shooter. On offense, he moves well for a man his size and has astounding footwork. That, and you can't move the big lug off the box. His biggest weakness is on defense, where he's slow to recover and he's caught playing defense with his hands, which leads to foul trouble.

The Rockets showed on Tuesday against L.A. that when they're on, they'll be tough to stop. Tracy McGrady, obviously, will be a big part of Houston's success this season, but I see Yao as the cornerstone of a team that I think will win the ultra-competitive Southwest Division.

And who knows? Maybe others will see the light soon.

-- Edited by Rob Peterson at 10/30/2007 11:39 PM

姚明时代

如果你去搜索博客，行内人士会告诉你，加内特和詹姆斯是他们所认定的这个赛季MVP的最佳人选。（当然，我们这已经是博客，会与他们的连接，因此没有必要。）同时，你也会在里面发现邓肯或纳什强有力的竞争。

在这个赛季的季前赛中，除了有很令人意外地选择B-diddy(?)和帕克的外，没有什么特别让人感到出乎意料的选择。无论别人怎么投票，我关注了一下自己投的人：姚明。除了我以外，只有一个人把票投给了他。

那另一个就是 ESPN.com的John Hollinger。这一投让我们似乎很失水准。我成了霍尔，他变为了奥茨。

没有人询问过我们，但是如果有的话，肯定会质问我们为什么的。

Hollinger会提到（拒内部人士，不，他的亲人透露）姚明花哨的内裤而不是选择他的原因。尽管你会长时间去争论HOLLINGER之前的评判（但是我很喜欢，我想这就是篮球四分卫的评判准则）。况且我也不会去质疑他对休斯顿的感情。

在上个赛季姚明受伤之前，他一直是领头羊，而这次，拥有健康与战绩不错的球队，他一定会领先的。

姚明上个赛季2006年12月23号膝关节的骨折使球队陷入低谷。2007年返回赛场后虽然有几次灵光咋现，但表现也一直低迷。这个夏天，他并没有怎么上场，在对湖人的一场主要的开场赛中，以25个分，12个篮板，3个助攻和三个抢断结束了比赛。

然而，我并不是因为姚花哨的内裤而选择他的，我认为，在新帅RICK ADELMAN普林西顿式的进攻方式的指引下，姚明和火箭会兴望的。正如TNT的DOUNG COLLINS所述，姚是火箭最好的罚球选手。在进攻当中，他有这作为他那体形最快的移动和另人震惊的步法，当然，你不能不看到他的缺点，那就是他的最大缺陷：防守，在此过程中，他总是反应很慢，而且打手犯规。

火箭队在星期二对湖人的比赛中显示了当他们马力十足的时候是势不可挡的。迈克格雷迪，毫无疑问的将是火箭这个赛季的主角，但是姚作为火箭的基石将会在竞争极端激烈的西南赛区斩露头角的。

谁知道呢？也许其他人马上就会看到他的光芒的。