http://www.nba.com/preview2003/hou.html Man on the Spot Feelin' Francis How did Steve Francis adjust to the arrival of 2002 No.1 pick Yao Ming? He took more shots than in any of his previous three seasons, 20% of the Rockets total. That probably won’t work in new coach Jeff Van Gundy’s system. One of the most well-rounded players in the league, Francis needs to continue to adjust to a team game and work within that framework as the Rockets look to get everyone involved. Season Outlook New coach Jeff Van Gundy comes to Houston. It can be expected that Van Gundy will tweak the offense to run more through Yao Ming, much like his Patrick Ewing-focused teams in New York. “We are going to be above all that to be a team,” Van Gundy recently told the Houston Chronicle. “We are going to play team offense and team defense and gang rebound as a group, and we're going to win and lose as a group” Yao is an excellent post passer and will be able to get others involved very easily. How those others step up and hit shots will go a long way towards making the Rockets a competitor come playoff time, and not a competitor on lottery day. Scouting Report "I don't see them as dramatically better, maybe incrementally better ... They replaced an outstanding coach in Rudy Tomjanovich with another outstanding coach in Jeff Van Gundy, so I don't know if it will make a huge difference ... What will be the biggest factor is the growth of Yao Ming ... If he becomes what he can be, he could become the second-best center in the game ... The other thing they'll need to address is style of play ... They'll probably run things through Yao more ... Rudy started that whole running the offense through the post with Hakeem Olajuwon, where he would touch the ball 50 times a game ... They need to get back to that, but it doesn't fit with what Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley like to do ... So, it'll be about the same; they'll be knocking on the door of the playoffs." -- NBA general manager Also check out the Fantasy Stock Watch. Here's what they say about Ming and Mobley: Ming: No longer a mystery to the NBA, expect more minutes and production from Yao. Mobley: Don’t expect Mobley to do better than his 17 ppg last season.
Sorry, but I swear I've seen this article being posted about 2 or 3 times already... Here is one of the link: http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65572
