When is Yao going to get pissed and pop some of these no names upside the temple with a well placed elbow? Yao will continue to get beat up until he takes it to them first. Potopenko? Please !!! Yao should be blasting him.... Yao needs to get meaner, and a bit more selfish for this team to take off. I want YAO MEAN !!!! I think he is coming, but I want him now !! DD
DD, don't be silly! YAO has been very angry about complaints from FANs. He refused any suggestions from FANS. Maybe some guy will translate the article about his reaction to FANs' complaints. Please read the article and make your suggestions. You would be disappointed when you heard what he said
I am disappointed with the number of bad games he has had this year! It's time for him to show up every night. This is coming from the president of the Yao Ming fan club!
How can Yao play so agressively against Shaq and then so passively against inferrior competition? I mean, it is great that he rises to the occassion. But he should be putting up solid numbers against inferrior players much like he did against Atlanta just recently and against Orlando. Yao is still young, and he is still inconsistant. He just does not bring the same intensity every night. Until he does that, this team will struggle. Everything revolves around Yao Ming as it does with other dominant players such as Shaq, Garnett and Duncan.
You can say the same for the whole team. Show up when the spotlight is on them, but for other games, they just suck.
The Lakers play Yao one on one, so he can manuever. The Sonics concentrate on making Yao give up the ball. Thus, Yao does the smart thing and passes out to the open shooters. Unfortunatly our shooters are hot and cold......and yesterday, they were FREEZING cold. DD
I agree. But it isnt always that simple or other teams would always double Duncan, Shaq and Garnett. Sometimes those guys know when to take on the double team and find ways to score, much like Yao did at the end of the Atlanta game when he was triple teamed and scoring the final basket.
I wouldn't put Yao into the same category as Duncan, Shaq, and KG. He's going to kick out of double teams more often than not, and this is why the Rockets need to have a stronger cast of perimeter shooters than what Duncan and Shaq have. Like Vlade passing it out to Bibby or Peja, this offense is going to depend on the perimeter shooters a lot.
Potapenko was absolutely murdering Yao yesterday. Literally punching him with his forarms and taking cheap shots whenever he could. What's Yao supposed to do? It's the refs job to call that crap and everyone here knows the second he so much as pushes back, he gets an offensive foul call. It seemed like Yao was frustrated yesterday and who the hell can blame him? His team wasn't passing him the ball, his defender was grabbing his arm on almost every shot and post entry pass, and he never got a call until it was too late.
The reason is Shaq is a great player, he defends Yao with basketball skills and not use amateurish tactics like the other so-called centers. You've got to give Shaq credit when Yao has good games against him. What needs to be done is refs calling fouls against the brutish amateurs.
Exactly! The fouls on the lesser Centers guarding Yao Ming are hardly being called.Also Yaao Ming plays a different way against the lasser Centers he plays more under the Basket trying to back down the man guarding him, in a traditional way for a Center. Against Shaq, his offencive Game is more open and facing the Basket.
Good point. If the other team is set on double teaming Yao, then the perimeter HAS to make them pay. If not, Yao is handcuffed. The perimeter shooters must make their baskets early, so Yao can work later in the game.
The ESPN crew had a discussion about playoff teams prepping for the playoff runs and beyond where teams are focusing on doing the right things to win. More importantly, refs are prepping for the playoffs as well by making playoff calls such as not calling ticky tacks. I'm hoping when the Rockets are showcased in the playoffs probably the most watch worldwide, when Yao airballs a two hand slam, they just might call a foul. Ideally, the amatuer centers are not gonna get will full nelson defense tactics. laughably some people actually blame Yao for missing the 2 hand slam yesterday, like the Sonics didn't smacked him in the back about 5 times.
