Leslie Alexander: Rockets will retire Yao Ming's number

Yao looked OK when he played

 

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well deserved, even basketball dummies know who Yao Ming is!

 

Yao deserves to have his number retired. Kudos to Mr. Alexander for doing it.

 

those who talks about the Suns and Amare Stoudamire should know that they had a rather good roster with players like Steve Nash, Joe Johnson, Shawn Marion, Quentin Richardson and Leandro Barbosa so he was well surrounded to say atleast!

We on the other hand had our very own superstar T-Mac to go along with Yao but not so much more...

 

Yao haters just never retire

 

This thread was bumped because Daniels posted a video that possibly shows a Yao tribute coming up this season.

Anyone interested in discussing that? Just want to continue talking about a dead subject instead?

 

As the rockets fans, who cares if Amare deserves as a HOF or not when we talk Yao, it is up others to determine Amare, not the rockets people.

 

Awesome, He definitely deserves it.
He will be remembered for what he did for the club decades from now, not the same way as Olajuwon, but it still deserves to be commemorated.

 

Injuries derailed Amare's career because they stripped him of his freakish athleticism, that's something that would've happened anyway with time... Yao would've sustained a more prosperous career as long as Duncan based on his skillset, had he stayed healthy... but his injuries were putting his ability walk at risk at 7'4...

Amare had Steve Nash on his team, multiple MVP Steve Nash... Yao had the likes of Moochie Norris, Steve Francis, Rafer Alston, Aaron Brooks to feed him the ball... Steve nash could find Amare and give him a pinpoint pass in a crowded lane... Our guys often could barely get into him in the low block with his man pinned, and their defender simply waving their arms in the air... often times they'd just give up and rotate the ball around to the opposite side of the court, away from Yao... If it wasn't Tracy throwing it in, Yao was often wasting his time and energy sealing off his man and posting up...

Of course he'd have more playoff success...

Amare's stats up and down... per game, totals, advanced, you name it... show his best years were in Phoenix... there's no arguing that...

Finally, Amare wasn't fighting triple teams ever in his career... Certainly not at the frequency Yao was... Even national announcers would state their shock at seeing a team defend Yao one on one... Like game 1 of the 2009 Blazers series...

The man was battling injuries just as he was reaching his peak, triple teams, referees unaccustomed to a man his size doing the things he does, and incompetent teammates when it came to making a decently consistent entry pass... and stillaveraged 22-25ppg 9-10rbs 2blks with great effeciency... Made several all-star appearances, and was a five time All-NBA player...

As far as media scrutiny... I don't seem to recall a time where there was a "If he averages 20 points ever in his career I'll kiss your ass" bet on national media over Amare... I certainly don't remember a widely released film titled, "The Year of Amare" ever existing... or, the comparison to Jackie Robinson, not so much in civil right struggles... but in that "he's not striving to succeed simply for himself, but for an entire people"...

How many more Asian players do the NBA continue to give a chance to if not for Yao's success...?

Once again... Yes, Yao most certainly did have HOF potential... and yes, he most certainly deserves to have his jersey retired...

 

My mistake, it wasn't "if he ever averages 20 points"... It was "if he ever gets 20 points in a game I'll kiss your ass"...

 

Great basketball player, great guy and true Rockets soldier. Well deserved!

 

He deserves it. Good move Alexander.

 

The starting lineup...

Yao...T-Mac... and then...

Juwan Howard
David Wesley
Rafter Alston...

Laugh Out Loud.

It was like 2 against 5 out there.

 

If Yao had Artest and/or a stretch 4 earlier in his career, who knows how many championships they could have had.

Yao
Artest
Battier
McGrady
(Plug in any D minded PG)

Landry, Scola, etc. were all good young players at the time but they were off the bench offense guys instead of starters b/c their games did not complement Yao's. Yao needed threats on the perimeter and some nasty perimeter defender/enforcer types for playoff basketball. Guys like Artest would allow Tracy and Yao to do what they do best - score.

 

That's F-ed up man. Say what you want about McGrady, but he was no Pippen, not even close. There is only ONE Quitten, and may he rot in hell.

 

Shame he couldn't stay healthy. The big fella was truly skilled (not just for his size) and Yao Ming always synonymous with "what if" in my mind. True Rocket that bled rocket red.

 

Yao did more for the Rockets than just basketball, so well deserved I'll say.

 

The guy who played the most minutes for the Rockets in the 05-06 season was Juwan Howard. (Luther Head was fourth.)

Those were some dark days we Rockets fans endured.

 

Both pieces of ****s quit on my team. Sorry, but I don't see the difference.

 

For the 500th time, regarding the HOF...

It is the BASKETBALL Hall of Fame, not the NBA Hall of Fame. International play, college play, "impact on the game globally" all counts.

For example, if Ralph Sampson or Arvydas Sabonis never played a minute in the NBA they'd still be in the HOF.