Yao Ming: Hero or hype?
By Chia-Chi Li
By now everyone has probably heard something about the mysterious center
from China. Standing at a towering 7’5 and commanding excellent ball
handling and shooting skills for a man his size, Yao Ming is predicted to
emerge as the number one draft pick. But accompanying the glowing reviews
and claims of his nascient dynasty are concerns about his upper body strength
and ability to adapt to the more physical and aggressive American style
of basketball.
The NBA diviners are themselves divided on whether he will dominate or be dominated.
The truth lies somewhere inbetween. I watched Yao play live against the United States’ best and undefeated college players at the 2001 Universiades. Among his opponents were Jay Williams and many of his peers in the draft. The result? In the last 4 seconds China was ahead 83-82 with the ball in US possession. The chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A” by the American contingent were drowned out by chants of “Zhongguo dui! Zhongguo dui!” (Team China) and paired with oversized flag waving fervor reminscent of the Red Guards of the Cultural Revolution.
At this point I turned to my Mainland Chinese friend and said, “Basketball to America is like ping-ping to the Chinese. No one beats Chinese at ping-pong. No one beats the US at basketball. The US teams are especially good at playing in the last few seconds.” Immediately the US moved the ball down the court and into the paint. The US shoots; a miss, but offensive rebound right under the hoop with nearly perfect position. At this point I gave up hope. “It’s over,” I whispered. The US player shoots a textbook fade away in the final second of the game.
But then a miracle happened. From nowhere a long, long arm appears, the fingers wrap around the edges of the ball, and push it down and aside. The majority Chinese audience goes insane. If the roof at Qinghua University Stadium were not bolted down it would have been blown away by sheer volume of the cheers alone. The American team is handed their first lost ever, the Chinese celebrate in fine style, and Chinese basketball ascends another degree, via a vicious “Not in my house” Yao Ming stuff.
Will Yao become a huge player in the US? Will Shaq bump him around like a rag doll? Will he be able to adapt? I really don’t know. The man has legit skills and people who know the game much better are betting on him. But for me, and other Asian Americans, only one impression surfaces: Michael Chang Who?
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The NBA diviners are themselves divided on whether he will dominate or be dominated.
The truth lies somewhere inbetween. I watched Yao play live against the United States’ best and undefeated college players at the 2001 Universiades. Among his opponents were Jay Williams and many of his peers in the draft. The result? In the last 4 seconds China was ahead 83-82 with the ball in US possession. The chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A” by the American contingent were drowned out by chants of “Zhongguo dui! Zhongguo dui!” (Team China) and paired with oversized flag waving fervor reminscent of the Red Guards of the Cultural Revolution.
At this point I turned to my Mainland Chinese friend and said, “Basketball to America is like ping-ping to the Chinese. No one beats Chinese at ping-pong. No one beats the US at basketball. The US teams are especially good at playing in the last few seconds.” Immediately the US moved the ball down the court and into the paint. The US shoots; a miss, but offensive rebound right under the hoop with nearly perfect position. At this point I gave up hope. “It’s over,” I whispered. The US player shoots a textbook fade away in the final second of the game.
But then a miracle happened. From nowhere a long, long arm appears, the fingers wrap around the edges of the ball, and push it down and aside. The majority Chinese audience goes insane. If the roof at Qinghua University Stadium were not bolted down it would have been blown away by sheer volume of the cheers alone. The American team is handed their first lost ever, the Chinese celebrate in fine style, and Chinese basketball ascends another degree, via a vicious “Not in my house” Yao Ming stuff.
Will Yao become a huge player in the US? Will Shaq bump him around like a rag doll? Will he be able to adapt? I really don’t know. The man has legit skills and people who know the game much better are betting on him. But for me, and other Asian Americans, only one impression surfaces: Michael Chang Who?
Back to Editorials
