What really hit me in that article is the whole "generation of rocket fans that always think we lose." That is hard to swallow. I remember when making the playoffs was routine and expected. Oh, those were the years. Francis and Mobley represented a new era, and we were rebuilding... but everyone expected that to last only a few years. It got us guys like Rice (painful) Mo Tay (painful but only because he could never be what he was hyped to be w/ his contract ala Howard style) EG (even more painful because of the sad story and host of potential) and even some would-be solid NBA players in Posey. A dreadfully losing season (Francis was out a lot) got us Yao. There were rumors at the time that we wanted Q Woods who Clutch said scouts were calling the next Tmac. Trust me, at that time... everyone wanted a "Tmac." I remember thinking SF3 Cat Posey EG and Yao would be the new Rockets for a while. Fast and quick (both EG and Posey had rising star potential) we finally got a post player. We lost 2/3 of that lineup for nothing before the season even started (Posey left for Memphis, we didn't match. EG was kicked off the team for serious misbehavior and mental issues. No problem, as was the frustrating case we opted to go older and "quick fix it" with Jim Jackson. It was good enough for us to go the first round and bust. Then Tmac... it stripped our team so bad but with some small but vital acquisitions (Sura, Barry, James ect) we managed to make the playoffs again and looked solid until a tragic game 7 against Mavs. The next year would be like the year that got us Yao, tragic. Tmac was able to play solid following year but that season took something out of him spiritually that he never seemed to get back. Yao became a beast of sorts at the end and ended with 22 10, after he missed 30+ games with a foot injury. Add insult to injury, and Swift (our prized summer aquisition) sucked. The next season we got Wells and Battier... it wasn't Roy or Gay but we were all excited. Well, Yao came out swinging. Averaging 27/11 he owned the league... until that dreadful heart stopping Clippers game. While statistically, it was the first year that both Yao and Tmac averaged what all us Rocket fans had invisioned was the plan (ala Shaq and Kobe) with 25ppg and 24ppg... any true fan knew that this was because Tmac averaged near 28 ppg for stretches when Yao was out. Yao had many "19/8" games when he came back from the foot injury. The 25 and 24 were inflated numbers when one played well...often, to the fans confusion, at the expense of the other. We were still good enough for home court... and lost a tough game 7. The Jazz were a hard match up for us, but the Rockets played well enough to give us hope (and for many of us excuses "Jazz are just a bad matchup, if only Boozer wasn't so ugly") and we figured our time after all these years was just around the corner. Cool, we go into next season armed with an offensive minded coach, Scola, and a playing Wells. Ups and downs in the first half gave way to some serious ass kicking in the second half. Then I remember coming on to this board and an individual warned us all, beware the worst. I had plans to go out to a sports bar that night to watch us play the Grizz... the announcements before that game were all I could remember... Yao possibly out of Olympics. I couldn't even think that far ahead... WHAT about this season? So I decided Rose would be a good replacement for Alston and to my surprise.... 22. This was the first playoffs of all the recent one and outs that i just knew in my heart we didn't stand a chance. It was cathartic as a fan to watch the team, root them on, and not be so affected by the result. This summer you just knew something was brewing. We got Artest. What can I say, we were all happy. Fast forward to now and we no longer have Tmac. We are clicking like we were and Yao is looking sharper (remember the guy has had numerous surgeries) and Artest is filling in for Tmac nicely. Compared to last years team, this team is better. If we faced the Jazz, it would be more like a down to the wire game 7 of 07. I like our chances though. As a fan it feels good to once again like our chances. "Bet on these guys." I hope this season will finally give something to the younger generation to bound over and be proud of like my generation had the Dream and two rings to be proud of. Go Rockets.
It's too difficult for Brooks to pass the ball to Yao, first because Brooks is too short, second because Yao is too slow sometimes. In order to make Brooks the best player on the Rox team, may we should consider to trade Yao while he still has value (unlike T-Mac).
I think it's hilarious that this question is still being asked. The answer is obvious: Yao is not a superstar, never has been, and probably never will be.
Nope. Both players are all-stars, but not superstars. That classification is earned in the playoffs, not the regular season.
don't flame me for saying this, i read somewhere that yao declined the extension already on two occasions. i think at least he wants to keep his options open come 2010...
First off, Excuses are like A-Holes and everybody has one...... Please stop making excuses... The fact is AB is not the first short guard and want be the last... Yao is just as fast Rick Smits, so again no more excuses...
I don't think Yao wants to lead. When you're the leader, you have to be able to get on someone, friend or not, when they screw up. Everyone won't like you either and I think yao wants everyone to like him. Everyone didn't like jordan, bird, and guys like tha, but they had the respect of their teammates. I don't think that's yao's style.
