Looking at the recent history of the Houston Rockets, one can only wonder what's going on at the dramas played out in just one yearr. The Rockets registered 45 wins in the 2001 season. With the leadership of arguably the best backcourt in the league, they seemed to be an young and upcoming team with a bright future that pumped up lots of fans. Then dark clouds began to form over the team. Out of nowhere, the management pulled old and expensive Glen Rice into the squad in the hope of, well, some good three point shooting. Rice failed miserably. All that being done while they could pursue top talent Chris Webber and turn the franchise around. Then Maurice Taylor, an overweight and soft power forward was handed over the deal of his life. Then went out for the year on injury and got busted for drug abuse. As if it was not enough, key player Steve Francis was out of action while the Rockets went on their longest losing streak. 1-15 without Francis. Adding salt to injury, Francis was plagued with mysterious migraine headaches throughout the season. The hope of making the playoffs was like a kite flying further and further away. Not to mention frequent injuries that changed the starting lineup for 19 times in one season. Instead of making playoffs, a once legit goal for the team, the Rockets found themselves heading towards lottery at the fifth pick, with a small chance to steal the top pick. Against all odds, the Rockets pulled off a small miracle in winning the No.1 overall pick in 2002. At the chance about 1 out 10. What more can a fan ask? First it was all good, then it turned all bad, then it turned all good again. What for? On the other side of the globe, a 20-year old 7-5 Chinese boy was planning to join the NBA in 2001, while being projected by most experts as the No.1 pick, only basically to be told by his team's general manager:" No CBA Championship No Going." The kid had no choice other than working hard to fulfill his dream. He remained patient, worked on his game, absolutely dominated the professional league while putting up eye-poppying stats, carried not only his team but also his fate on his back to the 2002 CBA championship. An injury, a change of mind, or even a political turmoil could deny him the passport to the NBA. Against all odds, he found himself on the threshold of his basketball heaven, waiting to be chosen by whoever that is lucky. Not in the year 2001, not 2003, but just 2002. That lucky b*stard is of course the Houston Rockets and the Chinese boy, Yao Ming. While two sides of the coin put together, while all the twists of events put in perspective, while all the bad lucks and bad decisions turned out to be good in the end, isn't there something subtle going on quietly under the surface? And all this coincidences are geared toward getting dime a dozen, good but never great, come and go players like Lamar Odom? Dare to be great, or be a loser.
Or dare to be great and be a loser. But of course the dreamers can't fathom that situation occurring. Ming has not proven a damn thing to anyone here, including me. Expectations shouldn't be low, shouldn't be high. No one knows how good or bad he will be. But he won't be the second coming as many people predict. I can tell you that much.
....and who are you, the one to be proving things too? These are kids, young men with dreams, potential, yearnings, burning desire to play, compete, and if the stars align, win. I'm guessing you were young once also. Probably about the time they had segregated bathrooms as you write. Give them a chance. They might surprise even you. It was the fun of the game that came before the spoils of the sport. Yao will wow. Ming for King. The real excitement starts after the number 1 pick. That's when things get interesting for the Rockets and rest of league. What will they do then? Speculate on that Hasbrough.
good post panda. I think the Rocks are extremely lucky to be in this situation right now. Hopefully greatness does come out of it, instead of continued mediocrity, like a lot of teams out there right now.
Excellent post Panda !!! For all the Ming haters out there consider this. Ming may not be the next great center.....BUT......what if he is? Can't reach the summit without taking a risk or two. DaDakota
you appear to be saying look at both sides of the coin yet all you actually say is he CAN't be this or CAN'T be that. seems to me you're the one who needs to open-his mind. personally i think he has the talent to be quite dominant but i know there's still a risk he'll become only decent. who really knows, but he looks like the real deal. ming haters can't fathom he might be good, they're too quick to judge.
NYKRULE, instead of spending your time here to tell the Rockets fans not to draft Yao Ming, why dont u go to a Knicks fans message board to bash Yao and make sure your beloved Knicks not to draft him in case he slips to #7?
come on guys, let's give NYKdrool a break here.....he is still delirious of Knick's good fortune of not winning the #1 pick. LOL
your talking like that guy on TNT, he says stuff in riddles and stuff he's annying, but what you said was intresting good post.
i'm not trying to pick on you in particular, DaDakota...but I've seen this kind of thinking here regarding Ming over and over and over again. It's the most conclusive logic I've ever seen. Substitute the word Caron Butler and "next great small forward" in there... Substitute the word Jay Williams in for Ming and "next great point guard" in there... see what I mean?...just because Ming has all these risky factors around him (some not related to basketball) doesn't mean he has the potential to be the greatest center the game has ever seen...or even one of the better ones in the league today. It seems the assumption being made is that because there's so much risk involved, the reward will be greater. That's just not the case. The scouts are out there doing their homework to minimize the risks associated with the NBA draft...not to maximize them. We pay a whole team of guys to make these decisions. Ultimately, if they choose Ming, I'll have to take their word for it. I've never seen the guy play, and chances are I don't know as much about basketball as they do. But the problem is, I don't think this is as much about basketball as it is about the business opportunity of drafting Ming first and being the favorite team of a HUGE market overseas. And that's what disappoints me....
But the problem is, I don't think this is as much about basketball as it is about the business opportunity of drafting Ming first and being the favorite team of a HUGE market overseas. And that's what disappoints me.... Nail on the head right there. I was just waiting for someone else to mention it (you'll know what I mean if you were in the chat last night). And I wouldn't be very happy to see Ming drop to 7 (which he won't). That means a good player moved up. The Knicks don't need more fans, the Knicks organization would draft Ming for the revenue he would create (not the player he is), they have enough. Its ok though, I'll be anti-Ming until draft day, I won't talk about him much after that. The BUSINESS decision would be finished by then. Also, how many official NBA jerseys would Ming sell in China? Probably not many.
someone will be eating a free lunch with 50 percent of mingy poos salary in their pocket....dare to be great and then Yao Mings little tiny arms are going to fall off....
But the Rockets have scouted the guy since he was 17 years old, before he ever was a huge international star and before he ever was considered a #1 draft pick. They've wanted him for years now, not just recently that he's become such a big deal.
just because you scout a guy doesn't mean you want him. just because you want a guy doesn't mean you'd be willing to spend the very first pick in the draft on him.
Nobody is saying they want Ming because he comes with a risk, people are saying they want Ming because he's 7-5, with a lot of talent and who put up big numbers. If it was just a case of people wanting Ming because of "big risks", the same people would want Lamar Odom.
i think you're missing my point.... when confronted regarding the risks, i hear people say, "well with risk comes great return." and that's just not the case in an NBA draft, for the most part. if that were true all the teams in the league could fire their scouts. another thing...we've been scouting him since he was 17...big freaking deal!!! we scout EVERYBODY!!! I would venture to say almost every team in the league has been scouting a 7'5" guy for a while. I don't see the significance in this at all.
