Van Gundy's goal: Making Yao more fierce By Sam Smith Tribune basketball reporter November 2, 2003, 10:19 PM CST Yao Ming—remember him? He's last year's LeBron James, and he's in town with the Houston Rockets to play the Bulls on Monday night. "Last year there was so much media at first, and having to deal with that ... will be greatly helpful toward the rest of the years dealing with the pressure and the media," Yao said during training camp through interpreter Colin Pine. The puckish 7-foot-5-inch center from China then added: "Also for Colin." Yao still seems to be enjoying life, especially now that the media pack has moved on to the Cavaliers' James. Pine doesn't live with Yao anymore and isn't at his side at practices translating the coach-speak of the NBA. But there remain major cultural issues, and not just because Yao is playing for a new coach, Jeff Van Gundy, who likes to joke that Yao is like everyone else and understands only about half of what he says. The self-deprecating Van Gundy is an excellent coach, but in Yao he has an unusual challenge: to change Yao's mind-set, one shaped by Chinese culture. "He's not as naturally aggressive and forceful as, say, [Shaquille] O'Neal or [Patrick] Ewing in his personality or his game," Van Gundy said. "We're trying to move him to, let's say he plays 25 percent force and 75 percent finesse, to get that to 50-50. He has a very strong lower body. But I'm not sure he has the disposition to be that dominant on every possession. He's more likely to find a way to pass the ball after he scores two or three times. "Let's face it. In today's NBA, to find someone who is a team player is wonderful. He's such a solid guy and a player, but we'd like to get him a little more ferocious." One day Van Gundy went to Yao and said they'll both know they're on the right track when Yao comes to Van Gundy and says, "Get me the [darn] ball, I'm going into the paint and I'm going to [kick a donkey]." Yao laughed. In the Rockets' 1-1 start, Yao is averaging 19 points and 6.5 rebounds and shooting 68.4 percent, tops in the NBA. But Van Gundy faces a cultural barrier. In China, the individual is not celebrated as in the U.S. Individuals make accommodations to the state. Here the individual is raised to think more of himself. Here it's common to hear "You the man." Van Gundy would like to hear "Yao the man." Because he'll have to be, even with talented teammate Steve Francis, for the Rockets to have the ultimate success. "Yao is a very compliant person," Van Gundy said. "He's a great player. If you give me a choice, I'd rather [try to] make Yao more dominant in his position than trying to make someone selfish more unselfish. We have it good with him." There were questions about Yao before the 2002 draft, when he went No. 1: Would he be just another lost giant, a pituitary aberration? Some said he would fail. Some said he'd change the face of basketball. He's doing neither. He's a talented player, though hardly dominant. So the public spotlight was turned off. Now he gets to learn how to play and see if he can turn a personality into an attitude. Toward that end, Van Gundy hired his former center with the Knicks, Ewing. "Sometimes people made fun of Patrick on this," said Van Gundy, "but Patrick always had a belief in himself and the team to the point people would be critical. Yao can benefit from that. Patrick never thought he wasn't going to be the best player on the floor. Being around that can be infectious. "I do believe Yao has the potential to become a special player in this league, and more so a special personality for the NBA. The first thing that attracted me to him was watching him play last year, not his game or skill, but his demeanor and humility. He got hit and knocked down and would get back up and not beg for calls. He would treat success and failure similarly. His demeanor is one that can have a huge impact on the way the fan base views NBA players." After a recent practice in which Yao wasn't at his best, Van Gundy went to him and asked Yao to rate his performance on a 1-to-10 scale. Yao said 4; Van Gundy shot back that it was a 1. Yao walked away and told the team trainer, "I think I am upsetting the coach." No. Van Gundy just continues to take Yao through the school of NBA hard knocks until Yao begins to deliver more on his own.
It amazes me how we sell more more tickets in other venues than when we play at home. Is beer cheaper in other cities? The concesion prices is what stops me from going to many games in Houston. The ticket prices don't really bother me.
Already in the game thread: http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=67454&perpage=30&pagenumber=2
I'm grateful it was put here. I don't read game threads. They're entirely too long and often about 90% garbage. I wouldn't expect to find an article in a game thread.
This article is full of awesome quotes. I mean Van Gundy has said he is waiting on the day Yao comes to him and demands the ball, thats a pretty serious statement, and tells just what a kick ass coach Van Gundy is. Also Van Gundy would rather work on turning a unselfish player into more of a selfish player than the other way around. That makes sense. This article seems to have Van Gundy leaving all this up to Yao. If Yao wants the ball more, wants to dominate, wants to be a leader, then he has to become more demanding, more selfish, more egotistica,l or he'll be just another good player, the next Rick Smits, the next Brad Dougherty, but never the great dominating player he has the potential to be.
I TOTALLY AGREE with this. I have long observed a pattern where Yao would get off to a good start at the beginning of a quarter getting 6 points or so and then suddenly dissapear in the offensive scheme. I would conjecture that he feels obliged to spread the wealth and is not yet comfortable enough to be the main offensive focus in deference to the veterans on the team. It may take awhile for Yao to get over this as there is certainly a cultural component involved but there will be a day down the road when he will be a grizzled veteran demanding the ball and dictating the offensive flow (witness the recent Asian championships with Yao acting like "THE MAN" screaming for the ball and waging pyschological warfare with those thundering dunks!). I also think this same characteristic is to blame for the way Yao often appears not to fight for a rebound when there is a team mate near by. Whereas Cato (and Eddie last year) display a single-mindedness to scoop up rebounds regardless of how many red shirts are standing next to them, Yao will often defer to team mates and not fight for the rebound even though he is six inches closer to the ball. He needs to stop doing this immediately!!
Does anyone know what season ticket prices are for the lower bowl? Seem like they range from $6000 to $8000.
*sigh* its that damn chinese equal-distribution communist mindset.... hey yao! you are now in a CAPATALISTIC country where everything revolves around yourself!! Forget about china! keep taking the ball to the hole and dont stop scoring big man!!
IMO, in order for Yao to assert himself more and become "THE MAN," we need to do the obvious...get rid of guys who will resist that, namely Mobley. I think everyone else, save Francis possibly but that is a different story for another thread, is on board with Yao being the man. I think we can all clearly see that he has the ability to dominate like the Shaq, maybe even more so given his unique skills. On his national team, he is more assertive because he's the vet with younger guys who don't question who the man is. We need to restock our team with new blood that will do the same, and in a sense Yao will become a vet of just 1+years.
