must be a bad batch of crack going round the bbs if you guys are now talking trades for Yao, damn the guy has played what 100 games
I watched the game via League Pass as well and the one thing they also noted was how tired Yao really looked out there. They said the strategy for the Cavs was going to be to try and tire Yao out. About 3 min into the game they said "Wow!, Yao is already winded!" I don't know what the Rockets can do about this. I really feel this is his major problem. Its causing him to not get down the floor on offense in time to post up, thus not allowing him to shoot. Its causing him to be lackluster with the ball, thus the turnovers, and it is causing him to not reboud at all sometimes missing the ball when it comes right to him due to the aggressive nature of other players. I think he needs some quality time away from the game to get his legs back. When you are tired 3 min into the game there are problems.
I don't think the Rockets are unhappy with Yao, but I think they are dissappointed that he has not become what they think he can be. I am positive the Rockets are dissapointed in the play of SF, but they have seen what he can do and he has proven himself. Another thing from the Cavs announcers was that they couldnt believe how little SF was being utilized this year and that he has been reduced to a guard that is solely trying to get other players, specifically Yao, more involved. They seemed to think that he needed to be more selfish and get himself involved more. SF has just been trying hard to pass the ball(very inneffectively) or settling for jump shots. I don't know about you guys but I liked the old Francis that we ran alot of ISO's for better than the SF that JVG is trying to make him become. He is too talented of an offensive player. When Yao is ready and conditioned then maybe we can run the offense through him, but it is apparent that they are not ready for that yet.
And, and most important of all, he needs some quality passes to him, so he could use his energy well for those quality time, my man.
Yeah im sure he was so winded yesterday against the Cavs that he hit his first three shots. He didnt really even get winded because he almost never got the ball after that.
>>I don't know about you guys but I liked the old Francis that we ran alot of ISO's for better than the SF that JVG is trying to make him become. Unfortunately, with the zone defense, SF cannot rely on ISO so much. Not surprised if the office was disappointed. However, it might be due to the too high expectations from Yao.
I was saying Dunleavy before he started playing really well. One thing about the draft is that you never know what is really going to happen for a prospect once you draft him aka Eddie Griffin. It's really a crapshoot unless you draft #1 and it's a slamdunk like Shaq or Duncan. Look at MJ drafting Kwame Brown. Look at Kandi Man. With that being said, Dunleavy should be a good NBA player who can fill the SF spot immediately. The draft picks can be traded up to get a great passer with good shooting ability. Yao will be a sure box office draw in the Bay Area with the demographics in San Francisco. I don't want to see the Rockets basically get left empty-handed when Yao probably leaves for the Warriors later on. They've already cleared out the cap space after Yao's contract year. Are there any doubts they will roll out the red carpet for Yao? They might even allow him to have some say in roster decisions. Eric Musselman is a better coach than Van Gundy too especially from an offensive standpoint. Are the Rockets having fun playing for Van Gundy? Is Yao having a good time?
Blame the collective bargaining agreement. Don't blame the players. It's the responsbility of management to dump payroll anchors onto the trade market as soon as possible if it doesn't work out.
Van Gundy should limit Yao's minutes to maybe 25 minutes per game for now. However, he must be adamant that Yao gets the ball when he is in the game. Wasting Yao's energy on getting position in the post if Steve is just dribbling is bad strategy. I'd rather see Yao get 12 shot attempts with 25 minutes of court time than have him try 15 attempts with 35 minutes of court time. He's more apt to make a shot when he has energy.
I agree that Yao's minutes should be limited to around 30, at about 7 to 8 minutes per quarter. He also needs to cut down on pregame drills as others have suggested earlier. Then we might see a more effiecient Yao and allow others to contribute more.
Limiting his minutes might help him short term, but eventually he’s going to run in to stamina problems again and again throughout his career. The Rockets can’t afford to have a player that hits a wall several times throughout the course of a season because he’s too fatigued. That would basically be like having an injury-prone player. They need someone they can depend on every game of every season. What if he starts having stamina problems during the playoffs? That would be disastrous. The best thing to do is continue to play him the same minutes he’s getting and let him build up his stamina. Let his body get used to playing 35+ minutes every game.
Given Yao's play in his first year, I am disappointed with Yao's play this year. It looked like he was starting to play better, but he's been slumping of late. I know that he was going to have his bad games, but I expected a few games where he scored 25-35 points. I really think Yao is still uncomfortable trying to dominate deep in the paint. In the short-term I think he'd be playing better by playing farther out, but in the long-term it would probably affect how good he can be. It's a long season, so hopefully he can pick it back up.
What did they want from Yao this season - 20/10, MVP candidate?! Gimme a break. Whats up with them publicly criticizing Yao like that? Its kinda tacky.
I think they should force Yao to do sprints or jump rope. As it is, his legs seriously don't look like that of a basketball player - they're not slender, nor built to run. They look like the legs of someone who never played basketball before in their life. The main problem, in my opinion, is not Yao's fatigue from playing non-stop, its that Yao was never properly trained to be an athlete until he got into the NBA last year, and now he's playing catchup, both endurance-wise, and in running/jumping.
