By Geoffords McClofferson Sports.ws Analyst

So you're sitting with the fifth pick in the draft wondering to yourself, should I Yao? And your thinking, wah, its WAY to early to Yao. He's good, but really not a superstar yet. And then you think, yeah, but he's a C and who the hell else do I really want. I could Jermaine O'neal it, but he's sort of a cry baby, I could get big balls and take LJ, but he bites his nails too much, it annoys me.

Suppose, Duncan, Garnett, Shaq, and Kobe go 1-4. You are in that area where the Diggler, Sleepy, AI, JOneal, PP and Lebron would all be safe picks. Maybe you throw in Baron Davis if your as gung-ho about UCLA as Walton (is this even possible?). Anyway, as you see there really isn't a safe top 5 anymore. McGrady seems like the logical pick, but he's going to Houston which has an established star in Yao, and a coach who is about as offensively minded as Switzerland.

So before you bust your wad pondering this issue, let me present you with five salacious points to help you decide.

1) Dirty South

Yao's the biggest thing in the Far East, and now also out on the West Coast. so Yao pretty much dominates everywhere (at least geographically speaking) But what about down under? Down and dirty in the lane, or as I love to hear Hubie Brown say, "painted area", which is SO explicit sometimes I can't handle it. Every time he says that I picture him with a hooker getting his Hubic hair on. Anyway, where was I.. oh yeah, Shaq's move to the Eastern Conference is like this like this conceptual plateau for Yao, like when you took one of those classes in college where there was no final exam. You're thinking to yourself, seriously, how hard can this really be? And so it is with Yao. He's thinking to himself, who's going to stop me from making the finals this season? In the West lets see, no Shaq, Vlade is back in LA making shaving cream commercials with Magic, Dikembe is 57 and joining my team, Dallas doesn't play my mormon evil twin and thinks they ripped off a premier C from GSW (didn't they learn their lesson with Fortson?), and everyone else is even worse off.
SERIOUSLY!

2) Buttman and Robin

The gay duo is no longer "blasting off" in Houston. They moved on to that Florida squad with the fairy dust sprinkled all over their unis. Say goodbye to 14.1 + 13.5 FGA/s a game. Plus, who could stand Francis masterbating with the ball at the top of the key all game long. Back and forth just dribbling his wad all over the place till the shot clock was down to one, and then tossing up some pure garbage. How many times last season was Yao perfectly open and francis or mobley just refused to throw the ball in the post. Those are the kinds of games where you wish it was accepted practice for coach's to nutt punch their players.

3) Sleepy Eyes

Some analysts are bound to say the arrival of McGrady will stunt Yao's growth. I admit it/s tempting to fall into that thinking, but just think of McGrady driving the lane and dishing off to a wide open Yao. It's gunna happen SO many times this season. Do you remember watching Magic games last season? McGrady drawing triple teams, dishing the ball to a team only to have them miss? ASSSS! No wonder he got fed up| Sure Mr. Sleepy covets the leathery nutt, and sure Juwan Howard is mr. 14.5 FGA/game, but this year Yao gets the ball more often and in better position because of McGrady's ability to penetrate, draw the double, and dish. One final word on Sleepy... if Yao were playing with Kobe, you can bet Yao would average about 2FPPG, but McGrady is an all around player. My opinion is that he is WAY more unselfish than what he gets credit for. He's going to do the right thing and find Yao when necessary.

4) The Third Year Uncurse

It's really uncanny how many players blossom during their third year in the league. It's like they just have crap figured out by then. This is Yao's third year, and really, it's no question that he is poised for a breakout. Check the guys below.

Scoring per Game vs. Years in League

	Rookie	2nd	3rd
Kobe	7.6	15.5	19.9
Diggler	8.2	17.5	21.8
Pierce	16.5	19.6	25.3
Vinsanity	18.3	25.7	27.6
Yao	13.5	17.5	??.?

Yao is ready to average 20/10. His rebounding has risen from 8.2 to 9.0 in his first two years. With extra time alone on the court he will get 10. Points may be more difficult for him, but he and McGrady will be quite a tandem. Plus, imagine a pick and roll with McGrady and Yao. Yao can hit that open long jumper which will make Houston's set pick and roll VERY difficult to defend.

5) Minutes Rising

The one really frustrating thing about Yao has been his lack of minutes on the court. The other top centers last season all averaged more MPG than Yao (Shaq 36, Duncan 36, JOneal 35, B. Wallace 37). Yao was at just 32. Factor in say 4 more MPG at his FPPM and he jumps from 25.9 PPG to 29.0 PPG. Yao is ready to go and he'll get more opportunities as the team relies upon him more.

Mr. McClofferson's views do not necessarily reflect the views of Sports.ws. However, in most cases, common sense is common sense.