Yao just need to work through it. Oh and when the Rockets signed with Yao, they fully awared that Yao has this duty to his country and will have to play A LOT of games for his country during summer. If rockets don't like it, they can just trade him and get some quite good players in return. Otherwise, both rockets the organization, Yao himself and their fans just have to deal with it.
first, i don't think Yao say the word "tired" that many times. It is media reporters who says it again and again. second, if we saw a trend, Yao has improved his endurance in his 2nd season. I expect him to get better in his career. third, every player has some sort of injuries. They play through injuries most of the time. Cato and Cat were doing it before we secured the playoff. I believe resting them is one of the purposes JVG didn't play them in the last two games. Can you name one player in NBA history, or in THE history, who is 7-6, 310 lbs, going through the same level of physical play 82 times in 6 month, and not feel tired at all?
I'd like to think there's some kind of happy medium between "resting completely" and working hard for the entire summer. Nobody's saying Yao shouldn't play in the Olympics. Or I'm not anyway. But if the NT cares about him at all, personally or especially professionally, they will take a serious look at how their training program is threatening his career. And, again, if Yao chooses to spend his summers that way, the least he could do is stop talking about it. If you choose to moonlight, you don't use your second job as an excuse not to excel at your first one.
You know, as frustrating as it is to watch Yao lumber up and down the court after playing only 3-4 mins. it has REALLY surprised me that he's been the one consistent player in these 2 years. He's never missed 1 game. I think thats something worth noting. Granted, some games it seems like he isn't there , but thats besides the point. Bradley, Murasan, and Bol had never done that in their careers.
canoner: Your first point simply isn't true. Nine out of ten times, if anyone asks Yao how he is, you know what his answer will be. "Tired." I agree that his endurance has improved. Marginally. But the fatigue-driven (in his own words) slumps we've seen this year are not okay. He's playing some of his worst ball of the season at the most inopportune time. That is not okay. Yes, players get injured, but Yao is not injured. He's tired. Ask him why and he'll tell you. China and Yao can fix this. Van Gundy can't. I'd be frustrated too if I was coaching a team that relied on one player more than anyone else and he was playing poorly due to fatigue from an avoidable situation. No, I cannot name one player in NBA history who was 7'6 and 310 playing the physical game that Yao is. That's the best reason of all for him to take care of his health over the summer. Otherwise, as I said above, his career will be exhausting, frustrating and SHORT.
Obviously, you didn't read my post carefully before replying. I was replying to Will's "'Cause you sure ain't gettin' love" post. And JVG is lucky to have a talent like Yao to play on his team. How many GREAT coaches needed to call out his players consistently in front of the media to get his points across? In the last 20 years, only the Zzz Master and that was with Shaq/Kobe. Yep, great formula for success. Man, I don't like calling out JVG, because I do think he is a good coach. But you JOF are getting ridiculous when defending him. But the Rockets & the fans also knew that Yao was going to keep his "obligation" to play in the off-season prior to signing the contract, so why is that a big issue now? I know you don't mean it when you say "if the Chinese National team cares". Batman, "yes" you can give 110% when it comes to work. When I am going above and beyond what is asked of me, that is the 10 extra % kicking in. When Dream worked in the off-season to come up with the Dreamshake, that was the 10%. I am sure had Dream never developed that move, he would've still deamed to have given 100%.
It's called tough-love, Yao needs to suck it up and play some real b-ball. This matchup is going to come down to Yao, it's all about Yao Ming, period. Pick-N-Roll JVG!!! Pick-N-Roll
Those guys weren't number one picks or franchise players. I don't see any value in the comparison. Yao hasn't been consistent. He's been there, but his play hasn't been consistent. Just so people don't get me wrong, I'm not one of the ones who's been b****ing about Yao's play lately. You go to chat and half the people there want to trade him. I absolutely don't. I think Yao's going to change the game of basketball and I want him to be a Rocket for life. I know you were joking when you said "granted some games it seems like he isn't there but that's beside the point," but it absolutely isn't. That's the WHOLE point. If this is the guy we're building around, we sure as hell shouldn't praise him for the simple act of playing in every game he's paid to play in.
when the hell did YM whine about being too tired? The only time he said he was tired was from playing that 2OT vs the hawks. Most ppl assume he was tired from his play but YM never use that as an excuse!!!
Moonbus: 110% is like Spinal Tap turning the amp up to eleven. 110% "literally" translates to 110 out of 100. It's a cutesy, jokey phrase that has woefully found its way into the lexicon. I am fully aware of the intent of the expression -- you didn't need to explain it to me -- I'm just saying it's a dumb expression. I'm only saying that because it is. Yes, you're right and user's right that we were aware of the obligation. That's why a lot of people were skiddish about picking him #1. The ones who weren't, the ones who considered it a no-brainer (myself included), were worried he would miss training camp. We were worried he might not get all the recuperation time he'd need. We did not anticipate that the NT would be working him like he didn't have another job. And we didn't anticipate that he'd be exhausted to the point of delivering a series of subpar performances, which are unacceptable in a player you pin your team's hopes on. I don't want to trade Yao. I want to keep him. But I want him to work this out with the NT. Whether he plays for us or for another NBA team, he will never be the player he can be if he is chronically exhausted. That's what I mean when I say that if the NT cares about him they'll revise the plan.
Bradley was a number 2 pick. All I'm saying is that for a guy his stature he's proven to be very durable which is a good sign considering how many people thought he'd be injury prone. If you want to look at that negatively you go right ahead...
"accomplised so little''? "whine so much"? Who the hell are you talking about? Yao? I usually like reading your posting, but this is where I draw the line. I think YAo has accomplished alot and doesn't wine as much as other players on the Rockets.
Batman, IMHO, the NT will NEVER care and Les will not trade Yao (unless Yao becomes Bradley), so where do we go from here? Instead of using the cliche "stop being a cry baby", how about trying to find some remedy for the situation, because we all know that Yao IS tired. When a son approaches his Dad and says "I'm flunking math because I'm not good at it" Instead of just saying "Well, you just get your behind back in your room and study more.", how about the Dad evaluating the situation and maybe what the kid really needs is a tutor.
I am really disappointed by some of the posters that call Yao a whiner. Some of the comments remind me of the movie Airplane. Joey : I think you're the greatest, but my dad says you don't work hard enough on defense. And he says that lots of times, you don't even run down court. And that you don't really try . . . except during the playoffs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar : The hell I don't!! ( grabs joey by collar ) LISTEN KID! I've been hearing that crap ever since I was at UCLA. I'm out there busting my buns every night. Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lenier up and down the court for 48 minutes. First of all, how many guys that weigh over 300lbs can play basketball at a decent level. Hakeem Olajuwon only weighed 255 and Patrick Ewing was 240. Carrying the kind of weight that Yao has takes its toll. During my powerlifting years I had bulked up to 250lbs. Now that I’m older and don’t compete I’m down to 190lbs. I can stay on the basketball court a lot longer now than when I was young and heavy. Secondly, we don’t know whether his conditioning program is right for him. Every team has a conditioning coach; the rockets have Anthony Falsone as their coach. A conditioning coach is a very important member of the team. Perhaps Anthony Falsone does not know how to condition a 7’6 300lbs basketball player, and for that matter who does. What some people don’t understand is that as good as Yao is, he is still a project. It will be a couple of years before JVG, Anthony Falsone, Patrick Ewing, and Yao himself, make Yao into the player that most people think he will be. Thirdly, because we don’t have good passers on the team, Yao has to work three times as hard to get into position before he gets the ball. The guards need to get the ball into Yao a lot quicker. The last thing you want is to have your big center wrestling to get into position everynight; By the time he gets the ball he’s too tired to shoot it.
Bradley was a bust. I think Yao's play alone has earned him the right to an end to these comparisons. I don't get excited when Yao outperforms Bradley or Muresan or Bol in any fashion. If I ever thought he was going to be a bust like those guys I wouldn't have supported drafting him #1 and building around him. I did and I do. Yao has great conditioning for his size and huge strong legs to support his weight. Those other guys didn't. I think that's got a lot to do with him avoiding injuries. I don't look at any of that negatively and I really don't look at anything to do with Yao negatively. I'm totally pleased with him performance. I'm just not particularly impressed by the simple fact of him dressing for 82 games. I expect him to have ups and downs. I just wish that if fatigue was a problem (and it is -- check the google link I posted if you haven't heard it enough already from the horse's mouth), it would be addressed. We cannot put all our hopes for success on a guy who starts huffing after five minutes. We just can't. This is fixable.
When You're 7'6 300+ lbs and is the most famous athlete worldwide, how can you stop being a celebrity? Do you expect him to stay in his room and read about Jesus when he's not playing basketball? The Freaken guy has is human just like everyone of us. Which means he needs to dine&wine, sleep and eat a little pie wherever he can get some without being noticed. Yao playing for his National Team means that the guy has pride. So yeah I cant be anymore happier for the guy. I cant say the same for some of his American counter-parts.
mbiker: you make some good points. MoonBus: Who's the tutor in this analogy? The conditioning coach, like mbiker suggested? I think it's worth a look, but any player's going to be exhausted by what Yao's trying to do, no matter what their conditioning is. Yao's not saying 'I'm flunking math because I'm not good at it.' He's saying 'I'm getting a B- in math instead of an A+ because I have to stay up all night studying science.' I disagree that the NT doesn't care. I just think they want their piece of the pie. And I understand that. But don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. I said above I think there's a reasonable compromise. I didn't like Yao missing training camp (and some preseason) because I thought he needed it, but I could live with that because I understand his legal duty to his country as well as his personal commitment to his country. And I applaud that. But the NT needs to stop working him like he doesn't play in the NBA. They and the Rockets should agree to sending someone over there to oversee his summer regimen. It's in Yao's best interest, the Rockets' best interest and the NT's best interest.
Stamina is the biggest problem of Yao, which causes some sub-bar performance. He just said it straight up. I don't consider it as an excuse. Most people think Steve's biggest problem is decision-making on the court, he never said that himself, but it doesn't deny the fact bad decision-making impair his game. Of course, we have higher expectations of Yao. In the long term, he should try very hard to improve his stamina. In the short term, I believe fatigue can be, at least partly, overcome by strong desire, and mental toughness. Stop talking about whinning, Chinese MJ, overgrown baby, all the nonsense. It is very strange that some self-called true rox fans are so relentless to one of players of the team. -Littlefish
