According to a Chinese Media source, in a recent interview Morey told that before the draft, he had asked for Yao's advice. Yao said, ZHOU is very important to us (Chinese, Chinese Team? CBA?). Yao wanted Zhou to play in a high competition league in order to develop himself and thus contribute a more competitive Chinese National Team. But of course, Yao also wants Chinese Player can play in NBA. He has a role now, he is the President of Chinese CBA Company, running the business of CBA. Hope ZHOU can play up to Yao's expectation in Houston.
Yao has confidence with this Zhou guy, and Yao also has great relationship with Houston. So he definitely wants Zhou to play for Houston.
I think after Yao and hopefully with Zhou, we will get first dibs on any potential Chinese prospects. With some wink wink help from Yao, of course. Especially with Yao so heavily involved with the CBA. Think about it, the next Chinese star, most likely grew up watching Yao on the Rockets, which is most likely their favorite team. Those kids are going to want to play for the Rockets and we will have a billion of them to choose from.
Rockets does have a home court advantage playing in China, no doubt. Just like Yao said, he has a Houston Heart, a Texan. I do hope that Houston will always keep a Chinese player on the court.
It would be so sick If this guy was even a mediocre player. I'm not sure that is ever going to happen If he stays in China. Makes me wonder If they ever had intentions of bringing him over in the first place. Pure business move?
It is not business. Zhou is a rising star in CBA, with his height and his versatility. He is even a top scorer in a CBA team where normally an overseas player would dominate the score board within a team.
Right now he has potential, like every 2nd round player. I would like Zhou to develop into a good offensive player, but like KJ and Harrell, it will have to be on the defensive side to earn solid minutes on the court. Optimally, Zhou has the type of length and step you want disrupting passing lanes when switching out on the perimeter and the length to disrupt when switching onto 5s.
He could be a really interesting player if he can get up to 240-250 lbs slowly. You can't coach someone to be 7'2" and have a 7'8" wingspan or that natural fluidity and mobility he has for his size. He has a nice shot too.
Yao's a smart guy, and loyal to the organization. If he thought we should draft Zhou, we got an inside tip. Not like we ventured much with that 2nd round pick. And I think it always makes a ton of sense to gamble on size.
If Zhou does not work out, it is still on Morey. No excuses here. Yao played a role but he is no employee of the organization.
No problem with that. It's a second round pick that could be useful in a couple of years if he adds muscle and becomes more defensive oriented.
Uncle Le$ needs to keep those Chinese $$$ coming in. Le$ is right and you can't really blame him. He took control and chose to draft a Chinese bust in the 2nd round which is better than letting Mauri draft a local bust like Samuel Dekker in the 1st round.
For a second rounder stash... I'd throw Yao a bone too. Why not at that cost? However if it was a top 10 pick and the influence was coming to serve this cause, than I'd be pretty livid. The fact is though, if he's a solid player than all of this is moot. Morey did the right thing in that case. Even if he turns out to be a dud, its such an extreme low cost that I have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. There are other second round talents (Wiltjire & GPII to name two) that they basically drafted for free without having to use a pick, and they might not even make the team. Hell the way Onuaku has looked in sparing minutes, and the fact that he can't even get garbage time in a preseason game kind of leads me to believe that he might be CONSIDERED as a cut to preserve a better prospect. I don't think its likely but if its clear that one player is significantly better now and in the future, the Rockets won't think twice in cutting bait on a 2nd rounder. Do you guys remember Terrell Bell from the mid 90's? Didn't even make it out of training camp and was a 2nd round pick. Point being to say - 2nd round picks are not worth losing sleep over. Good for Morey.
