There have been numerous posts/discussions about Yao's killer instinct or lack there of. Is it possible that the team is following Yao's lead? What I mean is...I'm sure getting on Yao's ass isn't the popular thing to do in the Rockets locker room. After all he's our superstar and is probably treated with kid gloves. When he's not aggressive and doesn't appear to have that "I'll win at all cost" attitude, I'm betting the rest of the team, whether consciously or unconsciously, adapts that same attitude. We all know there was no way Jordan would allow any of his teammates to slack off. Yao seems to slack off at times and I'm sure the rest of the team follows his lead. We all saw how the rest of the team played when Yao was aggressive against Toronto, everyone seemed to take their game up a notch. In Yao's defense, only a few special players have the true killer instinct this early in their careers. I think with time, the attitude Yao showed against Toronto will be an every night occurence.
Yao's attitude is that of a roleplayer. That was present last year. Noone changes his personality on a dime. This is why the offense should be uptempo and run through TMac.
Charvo, I couldn't agree more...maybe we've all placed too much responsibility on Yao. The fact is he's just not ready to assume the team leader/superstar roll, yet.
