1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

China vs. Canada Recap (I was in attendance)

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by asianflow, Aug 17, 2002.

  1. asianflow

    asianflow Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2002
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    I might be rambling about so here it goes. First off the scalpers outside were asking $40 for $12.50 tickets, what a rip off. The lower bowl was sold out so they had to open the upper bowl, which led to 12,000 in attedance. The Grizzlies logo was taken off centre court and I was suprised when they turned off the lights for Canada's starting line-up intoduction. Nash was miles ahead anybody else on the court in terms of talent. He got 25pts in 26 mins, fans gave him a standing ovation when he taken out mwith 40 seconds left. After the game he took the mic and spoke for about 2 minutes thanking his fans, teammates, coaches, and China, and charity organizers. He even mentioned the Grizzlies which got a loud boo from the crowd. Rowan Barrett looks like the second best player on Team Canada, he and Nash had a couple nice alley-opps. I think he went to St. Johns. Team Canada's defense was rock solid. Now on to Team China, their guards are awful. They can't take it to the rack and often they couldn't get the ball to Ming down low. It was interesting to see that the coach decided to bring Menk Bateer off the bench and not start alongside Ming. I was watching the warm-ups and Ming is huge, he was drainging 16footers with ease. But he got off to a slow start, for some unknown reason in the first half the the guards would be giving Ming the ball near the free throw line, of course because of this he would turn it over or forced to pass to another player. He needs to gain upper body strenght as he was out-muscled all game by the 6'6 260pds Richard Anderson. Ming needs to learn how to fight for position in the post. He also lacks aggresiveness. Although with 2 mins left in the first quarter he threw down a facial and even stared at the Canadian player. But in the second half was wasn't double teamed anymore and actually recieved the ball down low near the basket where because of his height he could score easily. What impresses me a lot about Ming is his abilty to reject shots and alter shots. And he does it like he didn't even break a sweat. He didn't take any outside shots. Ming looks like he has decent speed and a soft touch. He clearly has poor teammates on China, and if he could ever get the ball near the basket he will do damage. Also because of size he sets good picks. But he's real big weakness is his lack of agressiveness and upper body strenght. Pretty much anybody with muscle ie. Shaq, Malone, Sheed, Kandi, will be able to push him around in the post. Coach T has to recognize that when he gets posted up one on one, he's gonna need help down low, and on offense he needs the ball near the basket not at the free throw line. But because he's so tall he should just hover around the basket on the defensive end and this will alter opposing players shots. I can see the skill that made him a number one pick, I think he will end up being a terrific player (he has the talent), but this will take time. If anybody excepts him to enter the league and average 18pts/9rebs/2blks, there going to be disappointed. Ming is a project, Rocket fans should be patient because he's gonna be real good in 3 years.
     
  2. lovethisgametoo

    Joined:
    May 25, 2002
    Messages:
    389
    Likes Received:
    0
    You kept your word, thank you for that. But obviously Yao didn't impress you so much then you wait until late today to post. That's fine, because I am not very impressed either.
     
  3. aznlincolnpark

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2002
    Messages:
    646
    Likes Received:
    0
    So did you like the game asianflow???
    Did you chant for yao or team canada??:p
    wow, your post is long but is good..........
     
  4. guest

    guest Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2002
    Messages:
    90
    Likes Received:
    0
    not a very smart post..
    get pushed around by Shaq, Malone, Sheed, Kandi?????????

    obviously you don't watch too much basketball or probably you don't have enough basketball knowledge.... sheed 6'11 230 pounder pushing a 7'5 300 pounder Ming around??? are you out of your mind?

    shaq 350 pounds, 7'1
    Malone 256 pounds 6'9
    Sheed 230 pounds 6'11
    Kandi 270 pounds 7'0
    Ming 300 pounds 7'5

    he won't even be matched up w/ Malone or Sheed.... these two are forwards, not centers...

    w/ the exception of shaq, not too many ppl can push a 7'5 300 pounder around....

    and a 6'6 260 pounder is no doubt stronger than a 6'9 256 Malone...
    and also internationall ball allows ppl to play more physically, NOT in the NBA.. that 6'6 260 pounder would have fouled out if he pushed like that in the NBA..
     
  5. asianflow

    asianflow Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2002
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    The game was great because Canada won! Also there were lots of China fans there too! The game was for charity which is always good. I cheered for Ming and Canada. I know my post may seem more on the negative side for Ming, but it's just the truth. I hope Rox fans don't expect him to tear up the league next season because it's not going to happen. Ming will benefit from better teammates, Team China is awful. It's hard to say how good his offensive game will be next season, but one impact he will make right away is changing the opposing teams shots. This guy is a monster shot blocker and you better think twice about driving to the hoop. So when Rice and Mobley play their horrible D, Rox fans should be happy there's a monster at the end who will cover for their mistakes.
     
  6. Panda

    Panda Member

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2002
    Messages:
    4,130
    Likes Received:
    1
    Like guest said, Yao was essentially wrestling with another Charles Barkley. You know how strong Charles was when we used him to box out Shaq.

    What do you mean by Yao not being aggressive enough?
     
  7. aznlincolnpark

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2002
    Messages:
    646
    Likes Received:
    0
    I think asianflow meant that yao didn't play hard enough???... :confused:

    I recalled that charles wrestled shaq to the ground in a game..... I saw a photo of charles on top of shaq, so i think charles are stronger than shaq....:p
     
  8. RocketForever

    RocketForever Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2002
    Messages:
    5,017
    Likes Received:
    37
    A 7'6" 296 lbs guy would lose every single 2-hands pushing match to a 6'6" 260 lbs guy due to the matter of center of gravity. But get real, that's not going to happen in NBA games unless they change the "6 fouls and you are out" rule to "60 fouls and you are out".
     
  9. almostReady

    almostReady Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2002
    Messages:
    270
    Likes Received:
    0
    Thank you asianflow for the firsthand information.
     
  10. Yetti

    Yetti Contributing Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2002
    Messages:
    9,567
    Likes Received:
    508
    Thanks Asianflow for your insight. The wrestling match at the Center positiom which took place against Yao Ming will not happen in the NBA because of the rules, so we still cant make a judgement on his upper body strength yet. Though I agree with you that he can only star in the NBA if he strengthens up but not get a lot of weight gain from too much bulk.
     
  11. Old School

    Old School Member

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 1999
    Messages:
    2,844
    Likes Received:
    1
    Rudy mentioned that the spacing in the NBA will help Yao tremendously. The international game does not have that. He said Yao will be suprised by the room he has in the NBA.

    os
     
  12. coolpet

    coolpet Member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2002
    Messages:
    786
    Likes Received:
    0
    still not enough to fit Yao's bed :)
    heheheehheheh
     
  13. guest

    guest Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2002
    Messages:
    90
    Likes Received:
    0
    I wonder how many women Ming can put on his bed at the same time? :D
     
  14. aznlincolnpark

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2002
    Messages:
    646
    Likes Received:
    0

    very funny question..........:p
     
  15. Panda

    Panda Member

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2002
    Messages:
    4,130
    Likes Received:
    1
    Ask Rocketspimp. :D
     
  16. PeteChilcuttFan

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2001
    Messages:
    21
    Likes Received:
    0
    My thoughts:

    Yao rarely got the ball on the blocks, and when he did, he was double-teamed and sometimes triple-teamed right away. A few times down on the blocks he didn't protect the ball and got stripped. The times he did take a shot down low, he showed a nice soft touch, using the backboard. Most of the times he got the ball was at the elbow/high post area. Once there, he looked to continue the offense rather than show off his shooting range. Yao also set a few very good screens, giving Nash and others some difficulty getting back to China's pg.

    His rebounding was average, and he didn't seem to get good rebounding position. On D, he tended to patrol the paint rather than follow Anderson to the outside. Anderson got a few open looks from the free throw line. Yao was a very big presence to all the guys who drove. He blocked a few and changed some shots, and didn't seem to try and block the ball on every shot in the key.

    The more aggresive Yao was, the better he played. One time when Canada had a 2-on-1, Yao was the last guy back. He then signaled for Karangwa to pretty much " Bring IT". This was the play where he was called for the block/foul, and the canadian player took a while to get up. Karangwa tried to step around him to the hoop and Yao tried to take the charge, but slid over late.

    It doesn't look like Yao really knows yet how to effectively use his height to his advantage. But if he learns to utilize his height, stays aggresive and bangs/plays physical, he'll have all the tools to become a very good player, imo.
     

Share This Page