I cant argue with the ppl saying they want to move on because honestly yaos chancr of recovery and playing again is litterally 50/50 and thats being realistic. The real question should be at what level can he perform at? Is he a spot minute player that only gets around 10 to 12 min a night or is he a legit 28-30 min player again? That should be the question but lets break down what we saw in the 5 games he played this yr. Lets keep in mind that he hadnt been on a basketball court in almost 18 months yet still managed to put up around 11/6/2 blk a game in around 18 min which shows his productivity was actually a little higher than previous seasons other than his scoring meaning his rebounding and shotblocking had gone up while his scoring stayed around the same. What im really trying to say is yaos gonna be the same player hes always been its just can he get the 28-30 min a night to be that 20/10 player again. Remember folks yao was rushed back from his last two injuries he really shouldnt have played this yr till feb. or after the allstar game and the one before he rushed back to play in the Olympics. I think given the proper rehab and taking his time to get back 100% then the rockets would be absolutly foolish not to give him a 2yr 8-12 million dollar deal with the 2nd yr non gaurenyeed. This also would have to mean no restrictions on anything just play hin by his body language and how he feels just like kevin garnett. No matter what others think yao gives us the only chance to compete next yr. The reality is dhoward, lbj, kobe ext. Are not gonna be playing for the rockets next yr. I dont know about u guys but I would rather watch this team with yao make one last run next yr with him signed for cheap leaving us with all the same options we would have had we not signed him theres litterally know risk at all bringing him back this time because theres no expectaions for him this time and who knows maybe we all would be surprised with how things would turn out.
Since the NBA has become a league that drafts based on "potential" instead of actual talent, what other player would you want to be the 12th on the team or one of the 3 players allowed to be in suits on the inactive list for the league minimum?
As long as we don't depend on him and pay him like our franchise player, I'm cool with him being taking up a cheap roster spot where we won't wait around for him but if he's ready to play it's an added bonus. Any other plans that entail hoping Yao comes back and anchors our middle for the long haul is pie in the sky thinking.
Guestimate the number of Chinese fans alone who will hope against hope that Yao will deliver a championship and will be the majority on this board on a daily basis. He will be the focus of everything Rockets. I see much more of an issue than many are anticipating. My preference is an ENDING!
I really don't notice a flood of irrational Chinese fans when Yao was active early in the season. To the extent people were hoping for Yao to make a successful comeback, the hope was tempered with an understanding of the risk of further injury. So I doubt there will be any throng of Chinese fans drawning out American fans or anything like that if he makes a comeback next year. And if there is even a 10% chance of Yao becoming a useful C for the Rockets at minimum wage, and the main cost is there will be more Chinese fans posting here, I'm pretty sure the Rockets front office will take that trade off and so would I.
I just see expectations holding the team hostage not just on this site but on the court. Maybe I am wrong, maybe the bar has been lowered. Hope so, because if the Rockets are going to still be built around Yao coming back, its a pipe dream.
I'd be fine if Yao would come back and somehow share backup duties with Miller, as long as the team has found a permanent solution to its starting center problem. But as it stands, just adding Yao to the current center rotation of Haye/Miller/Hill/Thabeet, and then hoping Yao stays healthy, spells disaster for the coming season.
this is the part you keep missing. Nobody is advocating building AROUND Yao. They are saying why not bring him back for a minimum and hope he can give us backup center minutes, while the much-hoped-for starting center who can block shots and play good D takes the bulk of the minutes in the middle....if (BIG IF everyone is acknowledging) Yao can even be 50% of what he was, that is still better than most backup centers in the league. That is all, nothing more.
I really don't get the relationship of the 2 events for resigning Yao at vet min. and the Rox stop moving forward as suggested by some people. Haters gonna hate. That's all I can think of.
I think his, and a few other folks', argument is that if we bring back Yao even though at veteran's minimum... it will inevitably bring back the hope of him becoming our starting center again... it will inevitably revive the hope that Yao will be back to form and tear up the league like he once did again... it will inevitably cause the revival of the dream of championship again... Yao will inevitably get injuried again... it will inevitably cause many folks to go through a period of depression again... and then this cycle will inevitably repeat again and again...
Yes...what I said there is not my opinion though..I just tried to interpret the argument of some posters who think Yao should not come back even at veteran's minimum.
If my team makes basketball moves based *solely* on the expectations of fans, Im finding a new team to follow. Sorry, I dont care what fans hopes and dreams are, I want the Rockets to make smart basketball decisions....and risking a minimum salary expenditure in the hopes that a 7 foot 6 backup center can be effective for more games of the season than he cant is a smart decision.
My thoughts exactly; I don't know why I couldn't communicate it as clearly as you did. That is precisely my concern. We are claiming that the expectations won't be the same, but at the first signs of success they will be reborn then dashed to pieces. It seems like the fans have been through enough disappointment.
So it's bad, because it'll hurt your feelings if/when Yao gets injured again? That's grounds for telling someone like him to take a hike? Please. You're acting like having Yao, no matter what, is a negative thing, like he's Iverson or Marbury.
Exactly. The possibility of Yao coming back, whatever it does to the fans, has not resulted in the team making decisions based on any kind of irrational hopes of his comeback. The team pursued Chandler in the offseason, went after Nene hard, and was in discussions involving centers like Omer Asik up until the deadline. Hell, they even got the tallest center available on the market: Too bad it's Hasheem Thabeet, a prospect at best at this point. As long as the team is acting rationally, who cares about the emotional state of some irrational fans. Hopes of fans get dashed every year, for every team except the 1 out of 30 that actually wins the championship.
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=6012174&postcount=133 Anything about Yao is such a touchy topic in this forum because you guys got worked up so easily. In that post, I just lay out the argument of some people who want to cut the tie with Yao no matter what. I do NOT agree with them. That's why I have repeatedly said "inevitably" in a sarcastic way. I support bringing Yao back at a bargain basement price. Have I made myself clear enough now?
