http://houston.cbslocal.com/2011/04/21/a-special-call-from-china-yes-its-yao/ In thsi interview, Yao talks about Rick Adelman, but the thing that stood out the most is what he said about the team's chemistry.
i like what he says about each of his past coaches. otherwise he gives pretty generic answers and doesnt really answer most of the questions. my brief summary of interview: Yao on adelman leaving: i was sad. he did a great job in his 4 yrs. he was able to accomplish alot especially in the last 2 years with the injuries. did you and your teammates expect this? no, i havent talked to any of the rockets about this. Yao, you played for rudy for 1 year, then van gundy, then adelman. what do u see as the best next direction as a coach for this team? I talked with morey about this. we all agree adelman is a great coach. Rudy was the best coach for me my 1st year because he gave me lots of room to grow and took off lots of pressure. van gundy taught me never to rely on talent in this league, you have to work for your success. adelman came in and taught me alot about what i need to do and what the team needs to do to win. adelman is really like a player/coach, he makes the players do the thinking. how soon can this nucleus of the rockets compete in the western conf? besides brad miller, i'm the oldest guy on the team. we have alot of talent and have room to grow. our chemistry playing together at the end of this year will be good leading into next year. How did Rick and daryl as a team convey to you the stability of the players, developing chemistry and a camaraderie? I think both DM and coach adelman did a great job with that. I think the rockets always have good chemistry overall and are one of the best locker rooms in the league. we always play hard and love to share the ball and help a teammate. When lowry took over the backcourt, what was it like watching the rockets transformation under his direction? we all knew he was a great PG. he knows how to run a play. at the beginning of the year, he was criticized for his shooting. but he improved his confidence with his shooting. he's one of the top 10 pg in the league. who do u predict will be in the finals? yao predicts SA, doesnt end up picking an eastern conf team
Nice interview. Thanks for the link. I really liked hearing him explain his different experience with his three coaches. Much better than Dwane Casey's interview...haha
i am not sure if morey sent message to all his players. looks like les and morey treat yao as their business partner. they even discussed with yao about rox future w/o knowing if yao will play for us or not.
I know it is probably too much to hope for, but man I would really like to see the big fella get in a couple of good years before riding off into the sunset. And on an inexpensive contract too. DD
How can any reasonable person not root for Yao Ming? I feel the pain of his loss, and I'm still glad he represents 'my' team. Yao Ming - - you are a man!
Boy, I've been dreaming about him coming back strong. And not with a Barkley finish either. I still believe with a healthy Yao this season, we are playing right now and likely up 3-0 against one of the lower seeds in the West. On another note, I'm glad to see you're posting a little more now. Missed your input recently. It was a rough season. But we endured it. There's better days ahead. I want your input and specualation here. You bring up many good points. The most knowledgeable NBA basketball and Rox fans gather here.....along with a lot of not so knowledgeable fans. So, you should be here.
I've met Yao several times especially when we lived down the street from each other. Most recently I met him at an event at Lucky Strikes and I had a chance to talk to him about the Rockets. He definitely wants to come back next year. As far as how the Rockets treat him, they still treat him like a partner than a player. He was off surrounded by Rockets suits talking about business in China and marketing here. He never has an entourage but is always with businessmen. Les makes so much money just whispering Yaos name. I wanted to take a pic of Yao but I was told that the people in China are so crazy that if they see a pic of him walking around or with fans that they go crazy about him coming back and harass his family there. I guess Ill find out when I move to Shanghai in August. Btw, Anna Megan Raley love your posts in the Chron.
LOL - that depends upon whom you ask as to where I would fall, but thank you for the kind words. I am around, but not as active as before, hopefully old grudges will die down over time. DD
Seriously...Yao doesn't even have to be 100% healthy...as long as he can make it up and down the court, that would be pretty damn impressive, and helpful to the team
Aren't you the guy who has been critical with Morey sending the wrong signal to his players by not being willing to pay high dollar extensions for players because he didnt want to overpay to keep guys like Aaron Brooks next season? But with Yao the Rockets should watch what they spend? Just giving you a hard time, I do understand what you mean in some ways although I dont agree in that situation in particular.(regarding the Brooks extension situation) I agree, I would really like to see Yao come back next season with no expectations as the third string center and work his way back slowly with less pressure. I really think that the motion based offense will be transformed next season to allow the Center position to have less offensive liability in the offense. Im sure the front office would like to be able to use bigs they can actually get or already have(like Hasheem Thabeet) and allow them to have less responsibility on the offensive end to make the defensive end more effective. This could be good for having a rotation of FA C pickup/Thabeet/ and Yao. Let Yao be used in situations where he is allowed to operate in the same respect as the other Centers in rotation. In a more simplistic offensive gameplan, not only would it take pressure off of Yao, it would also give Thabeet the opportunity to get minutes to be a factor on defense without being exposed on offense as much.
Probably a Top 5 First Post on this board, and you lurked over a year before doing it. Post more and collect your greenies!
i think ppl shouldnt take differing views personally, i may not agree with some of the opinions brought up by DD but i still appreciate it because it gives us a different point of view. i think if u wanna name a player who is really an asset, Yao has to be the one as he draws so much attention from China and an ever growing market out there. Im sure Les will do what it takes to keep him here if he recovers but he should not be the focal point of the team, a good solid backup for us would be great.
