Great player, a beast down low, nice outside touch, great at freethrows, even hit a couple threes here and there Sad to see Yao's career (offically) over.
I blame Van Gundy for his short career. Just another great athlete miss-used in Houston sports history.
How many teams in the NBA have won a title in the past 20 years. Bulls Lakers Spurs Celtics Heat Pistons Mavericks And the Rockets I can only imagine what fans on this board would be b****ing about if we had to root for the Bucks(who surprisingly have a solid, loyal fan base). Stop comparing Les Alexander to Mark Cuban please. You know what the one glaring difference is between the two owners other than their differences in personality?.. Dirk freaking Nowitzki. That's it. The surrounding cast.... I'd take the Rockets over Dallas' any day of the week. Yes they have two centers I know. Get over it. Also side note, you know what Cuban credits a lot of their success to this past year... ANALYTICS... When it comes to superstars you just have to ride it out with the one you got cause you can never get equal value back. Cuban knew this and that's why he never gave up on Dirk just like Les never gave up on Yao. Pre 2009 there was no reason to believe his body would give up on him this quick. It's a risk they had to take and guess what... Two seasons later... They already have a roster with tons of young talent, excellent salary flexibility, and some solid players who keep getting better, play really hard, and should make the playoffs next season if there is one. Two seasons removed from Yao and TMac, that's a pretty damn good turnaround.
Feigen/Justice/(Sean)Pendergast on SportsSunday(on Local 2): Sean Pendergast: Sad. Honestly, initial reaction was relief. Relief for Yao and Rockets both. Painful to watch. Team can now turn the page. Feigen: Not surprised. Yao tried to remain hopeful. Never seemed like he would return though. Felt bad we seen the end of this era but relief more for Yao. Ok, he's reached a point where he's able to let it go. I feel more relief for him Justice: He told the Rockets 6 weeks ago. Morey said take your time. Make decision when you have to. I felt sadness. Never forget his work ethic. Not an athlete who cared more for his teammates. He was everything you wanted in an athlete. Feigen: Great sense of humor. I would joke about him being a terrible GM. We would have a roster of Moochie Norris' and Mo Taylor's. He was loyal to teammates forever. Pendergast: Memories so short term now days. Our latest memories is that he has been hurt but we forget he was a great player. You remember he was adding elemets to his game. He dominated Dwight. Feigen: Has been forgotten about how dominant he could be. Saw it in Howard matchups and latter day Shaq. If you didnt send extra guys at that stage in his career, he would kill you. (Asked about whether Yao is HOFer or not): Pendergast: Yao a HOFer. Its basketball HOF, not NBA. Feigen: When in China and saw all the people, this is the pressure he knew was on him. When you vote on HOF, they encourage you to think about all that. Justice: Contributed to our understanding of China. Gave the Rockets/NBA major exposure.
Dood, The only difference between the Rockets and Mavs over the last decade is the fact that Dirk has been able to stay healthy and Yao and Tmac have not. The Rockets took a gamble on Yao and Tmac and it didnt work out, but any owner would have taken the same gamble. I think Mark Cuban is a GREAT owner, but many of his moves have been questionable at best. It took him how many roster tweaks to get the winning team? NONE of those tweaks would have meant squat if Dirk was not able to stay healthy. There is a reason why only a dozen of so teams have won an NBA championship over the last 2 decades. Winning an NBA championship requires so many aspect to fall into place. Lets not kid ourselves that a little luck isnt need along the way.
Dirk stays healthy, it's true. Cuban brought a lot more help for Dirk than Les did for Tmac/Yao, that's also true. Mavs can't win without Dirk, but they can't win without those extra help either. Cuban did make many questionable decisions, but when he spends 30 mil more than other teams, he's allowed to make 15 mil mistake per year and still have 15 mil more talent than an average NBA team. You can't say that about Les.
lol@B-Bob. I caught that immediately. Sucks to come in to work to find this out, but it's time we moved on. So sad for Yao, I've only loved one Rocket more and of course that was Hakeem.
I'm a little late to the action here but clearly this is a bittersweet moment for us Rockets fans. If Yao's situation is really is as dire as it seems (and the likelihood of him re-injuring himself is that high), then he's actually doing us a favor by hanging it up. All the false hope and promise has worn thin. Better to turn the page and COMPLETELY move on. But thanks for everything, Yao. If only life were fair.
Let's look at the bright side, he never suffered a decline in his game. He retired as an all NBA center.
Good one buddy. Did I hurt your feelings? Awww I'm sorry! FYI I respect Yao as an individual. Great, humble guy. Hard worker. I just felt he was too limited to bank all our hopes on. Don't get mad just because I don't agree with the majority.
That's not the point at all. The Rockets won their last title 17 years ago. That's 1 7 YEARS. During this time who was the owner of the Rockets? Les Alexander. Now exactly what has he done to put in place a competent basketball organization capable of building a championship caliber team? Go on - take your time answering as I am a patient man. After all, I've been patient for 17 years now as I waited for him to do this. THAT is the point I am making. Or the Wizards, Bobcats, Raptors, TWolves, Pacers, Nets, Warriors, Clippers and any other NBA that annually finds itself watching the playoffs from home. Not comparing Les to Mark because there simply is no comparison to be made. Cuban is Cuban and Alexander is the invisible man. And that guy Dirk you harped about? Well Dirk was discovered and scouted in Europe by Donnie Nelson and the Mavs organization. Imagine that: A basketball organization that went out and found superstar talent all on its own. Talent that has enabled them to win 50+ games for 10 seasons now. Something to think about while you gleep over the Rockets' roster of talented "assets" that somehow fail to get them into the playoffs. Oh and get back to me when Morey's ANALYTICS produce tangible results like say a playoff run. Cuban never gave up on Dirk because (a) Dirk was playing and producing at a high level (ex. He is a ten-time All-Star and eleven-time member of the All-NBA Teams, and is the first European-born player in NBA history to receive the NBA Most Valuable Player award. Nowitzki has led the Mavericks to eleven consecutive NBA Playoffs (2000–01 to 2010–11 and so on and on and on...)) and (b) he burned himself when he stupidly let Steve Nash walk and so he was not about to repeat that mistake with Dirk. Les never gave up on Yao because (a) His organization had no clue what to do to replace him so it was easier to keep him around and hope against hope he'll be able to walk onto the court and somehow play basketball one day and (b) Keeping Yao around opened the door to all of those nice cozy Chinese business opportunities (read $$$ or yuans). A totally different situation for sure. By "tons of young talent" I presume that you are referring to Morey's current collection of 2009 draft busts. You will excuse me if I somehow fail to approach your degree of blind enthusiasm for the likes of Thabeet, Hill, Williams, Flynn, Blakely, etc. Yes, they will play very, very hard and Kevin McHale might actually surprise us by demonstrating real coaching skills to match his TV commentating and job interviewing skills. But if you choose to actually believe that this team has achieved a "true turnaround" you are setting yourself up for a major disappointment.
