I am sorry guys. As long as JVG is our coach, Ewing will continue stay in Houston unless he chooses to leave. JVG not gonna fire Ewing, he is not that type of guy. As much as I dislike his system, I have to admit he is loyal to his player. So you have add one more option: Fire JVG and Ewing
See Sir Jackie Chiles' post. We are sending this to Les so we get both JVG and Ewing gone at the same time
I am very surprised that 18 people picked Moses Malone. Yao and Moses have different body types and different styles of play. Yao could never play like Moses. Kareem’s body structure and physical movement is very similar to Yao’s. Kareem could show Yao how to improve, or hide the weaknesses that they both share. The only problem with Kareem is that he has baggage. He is not a people person and can get pretty ornery at times.
Does anyone actually know if Ewing knows how to coach at all? I know he basically saved JVG's job when Riley left the Knicks, and JVG would do anything for him. But coaching, I dunno.
i love ewing, i grew up with the knicks, i saw him on my orientation day at georgetown, and my ewing gtown jersey is my favorite jersey on the wall. that said, i want him off the team, he does nothing except act as a 7ft ball boy to yao, and yao has only gotten worse. i look at yao during the summer olympics and him today and see two different people. drop ewing, get someone who understands yaos role and whos willing to actually teach something.
Firing Ewing won't help Yao all that much, he is just giving tips to Yao, not telling him what to do. That's JVG's job.
Yeah, but JVG and PE are warm fuzzies. They just exude warmth. Kareem would give his left nut to prove everyone wrong and get credit for Yao suddenly playing super deluxe. He's been begging for a real job for years. This would be perfect.
few nights ago when jvg was on 610, someone called and asked how come they havent hired kareem for yao, jvg said "yao isnt that good yet" thats kinda stupid... maybe hed BE good if youd HIRE him!
I had heard from somewhere the Kareem wanted to teach Yao. hey gundy, fire ewing. I have never seen Ewing really talking to Yao in the games. Sometimes I think he's just getting a free paycheck.
You can't teach someone to be something they're not. Kareem may be able to teach Yao a hook shot (which Yao is already using, btw), but you can't teach a 300+ pounder that rarely jumps for rebounds and can't move too quickly how to be a great rebounder or be a great defender. You can't teach Yao how to react faster to rebounds that come right to him, so he'll get the ball. Practicing a hook doesn't mean you need Kareem on the court. Watch videos. Call him on the phone. I doubt Yao will ever be the banger that Mo was or have the tenacity he did, so what's Mo going to teach him? If you tell me positioning and blocking out on rebounds, then that's basics - not something some legend should be teaching someone. Not to mention Malone was over half-a-foot shorter than Yao so translating what he did to Yao's frame may be impossible. Yao is the first 7'6" 300+ pounder, so he needs to figure it out.
It's not just the hook. Kareem really understands the game. He wasn't particularly quick, either, but he could hammer the trailer. Kareem wasn't a guy who'd slide over on d, like we ask Yao to do. Kareem was lucky to play with Magic, and to be able to play to his strengths for so long. We should use a guy like Kareem to help Yao maximize his talents and minimize his deficiencies. JVG does just the opposite. By constantly harping on the negatives, constantly putting Yao at his greatest weakness, he feeds him a steady diet of failure.
I voted for Kareem for many of the same reasons. The guy was able to play effectively for almost the entire length of his 20 year career by keeping himself in superb shape, and by being smart enough to play to his remaining strengths when some of his skills declined. There is an immense amount of knowledge he could pass on to Yao, and while Yao may be 300+ pounds, with a different body type, I think he is more like Abdul-Jabbar than anyone else I can think of who could be hired to mentor our big guy. I've been for getting him for a long time. Ewing should hit the road. The problem is our increasingly bizarre coach. I don't think he'd consider Kareem. BTW, for the person who mentioned him, Walton would be perfect, but he's too busy during the season, and Yao seems to be too busy during the off-season.
Nobody has dared to admit that they have voted for him so far, right? Or did SamFisher admit it? (he's temporarily on my ignore list...)
Exactly; it's not like theres some magical sacred scroll of post player knowledge that only certain people possess -- unless, of course, Tom Emansky has a video on it -- Keep the ball high, box out, don't fall down - that's just common sense. If we can figure it out, Yao can too.
