I wanted to say Missing Yao, but Missing Ming sounded more catchy. Anyone one else just miss the guy. No one worked harder or cared as much as this guy. I was remembering back to around 04-05 or 05-06, where something just clicked inside of him to become DOMINANT and a force. It was great to see. 05-06 sadly was also the year where his injury bug started. He retired too young. Obvious wishful thinking, but maybe a couple years off and he'll come back for 1 last HEALTHY hoorah?
Get Kaman, then see what happens with Bogut at the trade deadline. Exchanging the 09 guys for Kaman's single expiring contract means less moving pieces, ie less need for a third team to work a trade. Bogut is another C teams can run their offense through. We also saw the true difference he made on the defensive end in the minutes he faced against the Rockets.
I don't miss him until I remember that unstoppable/unguardable/unblockable turnaround jumpshot he made so easily.
He lost the ball way too easily though; defenders always got a couple turnovers a game just slapping the ball out of his hands, and the Rockets were terrible at getting Yao open from being fronted. Funny we don't have that problem anymore, there's nobody on the team with a good post game. Now we just shoot jumpers. Lame....
Well, time to hope for something a little more realistic: <iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="360" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x3lo62"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3lo62_chris-kaman-s-powerful-reverse-jam_sport" target="_blank">Chris Kaman's powerful reverse jam over Yao Ming</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/Grdgez" target="_blank">Grdgez</a></i>
This guy would be arguable best center in the NBA if he was still playing right now. He was just hitting his prime...as in just hitting it. He finally got it man...the Laker series showed he was finally getting how to be a dominant "I'm going to win this game." player IMO and that year he was finally getting it...smfh Of course I miss Yao. He was the Rockets franchise and now we are left without a face to the team really.
It's over. Face it. He is not coming back. Don't worry though, we will have the #1 pick in a few years...
True. I find a lot of the Yao nostalgia out of touch with reality.... He was a very good player, but his impact was reduced many games when teams fronted him. Additionally, he had lots of difficulty guarding quick PF/C types with jump shots; players like Pau, Boozer, Bosh, Garnett, and Amare. I loved Yao's persona, what he represented to our team and his country, and wish that injuries didnt derail his career. But we'd be lying to ourselves if we didnt acknowledge his shortcomings as a player, shortcomings that became apparent in big games all too often.
Yao is the only reason I become a Rockets fan, now I still follow Rockets and sincerely hope they play well.
"Things go wrong. You can't explain it, you can't predict it. Killing yourself won't bring him back. I'm sorry that he retired, but that was a long time ago. You gotta move on. Stop living in the past, and look what you got right in front of you."
Of course he had shortcomings, every NBA player not named "Michael Jordan" or 'Hakeem Olajuwon" had shortcomings. That doesn't mean that he wasn't a dominant player and a huge asset to the Rockets. Its not lying to look back and acknowledge how much Yao brought to the team and the NBA.
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Even though people say they miss Hakeem, I don't think it's the same when they say they miss Yao. I hate to bring up the past with Yao, but I felt the same way recently. We saw what Hakeem could achieve; championships, MVP trophies, breaking records. We didn't see what Yao could of achieved and now we're at a point with any superstars. I blame that video of "Early 2000" for this rant lol.
