I actually think that he always had a great smash even back then. His weakness is his rather poor defense/court coverage and stamina which prevented him from really living up to his talent. I had always thought that he seemed really lazy in his play style and is over reliant on his smash to win points. I also feel that he never had a good on-court attitude as well. The only times where I felt I saw him really give his all in running around was in the French Open final, the Thomas Cup final vs Takuma Ueda and of course yesterday's match (and he still feels lazy at points) His lack of stamina was very evident yesterday where he kept delaying in the third game in order to give himself time to catch his breath.
I suppose even harder to maintain outside of BAM. Fewer players and trainers in the outside environment to motivate you.
So are the Asian Games Points gainin matches or is it like Commonwealth games where no points are awarded ?