you make it sound that yao staying in houston is the rockets choice. no it isnt. it's yao's. he's going to go wherever is best for him. if a team out there can promise him max money, a ring and a good team of doctors, dont you think he'd go there? sounds mighty promising for cleveland.
If Yao wants to make more money, he can easily sign more endorsement contracts with any of those large Chinese companies that have the cash. But to win the championship is Yao's more important goal.
What's wrong with Houston? It is a big puzzle (The Year of the Yao) First our 20million-dollar star said the lakes would take it all. Then our own Houston newspaper guy talked about trading Yao after Yao led the team into the second round and burned the lakers somewhat. Houston fans are the most .....
I'd only trade him for Chris Paul, Lebron, or Dwight. Dwade is usually hurt, and Pau is a Robin not a Batman. He's a 2nd option. I think Yao for Paul would be the closest to happening, since the Hornets are financially hurt and Yao Ming is a bigger draw than Paul who is not a superstar like Yao popularity wise. Meaning any random person on the street prbly knows who Yao is but not CP3. Usually only NBA fans know who he is.
Les leases a small piece of property in Houston just east of South Texas College of Law and south of the downtown Hilton. I think he maintains an office there as well. Kidding aside, Les seems to make it to most home games - he has 4 seats on the front row on the center court line. I don't know where he sits when there is a national broadcast team set up there. I've been down there a few times. It is a coincidence, but each time I have been down there he has been entertaining Chinese friends or business associates. Oddly enough, I have seen Rudy T. a couple of times down there, coming out at halftime to meet and greet.
If we look at things honestly and realistically, Yao is also a Robin and not a Batman. I love Yao, and he can dominate on some nights, but he won't on every night. He is simply too easy to take out of games. However with the right Batman, Yao would be the best Robin in the league.
i love Yao, i love rockets~however i think it would benefit both if Yao is traded~Yao doesn`t seem to a right part of coach Adelman`s system,which means Yao can`t give all his power out.Yao has the potential to get the ring, but not with Mr. Adelman.and the chance is missing when he is getting older.maybe Yao should go to a team which is really suitable for him.and rockets, since Yao is kind of fixed here, maybe we`d better rebuild the team when bat man and Luis are still young. Yao can`t get huge progress here just like Nash several years ago in Dallas. free Yao, and rockets will be free~
because he didn't play? that's the problem! no one says Yao sucks...they say he doesn't play enough. the 3 seasons prior to this season, he's missed 30 games/season at least. the concern is that he's not getting any younger...and he can be the best player on the planet, but if he is always injured it doesn't do you any good.
exaggerate much? how many times do you have to watch him be taken out of a game entirely by a fronting defense to stop saying he's unstoppable. he's absolutely stoppable. as long as you commit to front, you can deny him any part in the offense at all. see his 4 shots in game 2.
yao can be taken out of a game, but thats where tmac or some kind of playmaker comes in and takes off the pressure. every good team has a playmaker, Lakers kobe, cavs lebron, celtics peirce, ect. the rockets really need tmac to play next season, tmac is the best player we can get in houston for the 09-10 season.
ANY player can be taken out of a game. In theory, if a team wants Lebron to score zero points, they can easily triple team him all over the court and deny him the ball. But as a wing player, it puts the defense in too much of a hole because you're exposing the entire court. BUT it also depends what you define as being taken out of a game. Last night is a perfect example. Does scoring points for an individual your definition of being taken out of a game? Or does TEAM points and offensive flow a definition? Does it matter that Yao scores the bucket or his presence allowing Scola a WIDE OPEN 18 footer getting the bucket?
I know this is easier said than done, but the team must build around Yao with the known reality that if he averages more than 30 minutes a night, he will not last the season. He must also spend less time in the paint. His will to bang inside is admirable and his post moves can be unstoppable, but due to his frailness, he should limit those attempts. One of his most underused talents is his outside shot. Every time I hear Van Gundy (both when he was coaching and now in commentary) complain about Yao taking outside shots, I cringe. I feel like he has three-point range. At the very least he should be used alot in pick and pop plays. I don't see a need to trade him at all. I just feel he is used in a way that makes his injury problems predictable.
Ok Yao has been injured so many times but I still don't give up on him like that. Remember WHEN HEALTHY he is one of the best players out there, he's very tall and is practically a missmatch to everyone who guards him 1v1. Remember there are centers in the league so good as Yao, maybe only Dwight Howard and Shaq has some gas in him but that's it. Other than that there are no traditional centers left. Just to add that Rockets don't have any better player than Yao, that's why trading him would be dull from Rockets side.
Seriously, with the rules currently set up as is, which big man is a "Batman"? Even Dwight Howard is not the "Batman" on his team. Its a ball handlers' league now. But I agree, Yao is the best "Robin" in the league, even w/out the "right Batman". Whoever that may be.
i think his injuries are a bit overstated to be honest. these two stress fractures are really the only injuries that anyone should be concerned with. first he had surgery to clear out his toe (which he'd been playing on for years) and then he was injured because hayes fell on him and broke his leg. these two injuries aren't in any way chronic and its really just bad luck for it to happen to yao. these stress fractures are very worrying to me, but he still did manage to play the vast majority of the season this year. i would love to know whether the stress fractures occurred from some singular event (like someone stepping on his foot) or just from the wear and tear of the season. also, yao is pretty underrated as a defender. he doesn't guard the pick and roll that well, but then again, who does? and yao isnt even that bad of a pick and roll defender. this year he's been much more controlled in terms of taking away the lane to the basket and just contesting a shot if they shoot it. i dont know how you guys define superstar, but when yao is on the floor, he fundamentally changes the way both teams operate on both ends of the floor, perhaps more than any player in the league. if he's not a superstar, why do other teams treat him like one? finally, i would like to remember what happened when yao got this contract. if everyone forgot, thats because pretty much nothing happened. yao just quietly got an extension. some wining and dining with other teams. no ridiculous backstabbing like elton brand pulled. we should be so lucky as to have a player like this.
