The Asian culture taught Yao that 'the man' must be the one with the highest seniority. I think he is uncomfortable of being appointed to be 'the man' when he is only looking himself as a newcomer in this team. Either we need to have a change in his mindset or we will have to wait a few more years until he has really become a senior player in the team so he can be comfortable and confident to become 'the man' by that time.
The problem is that no other Rockets are on the 1st and second team all-NBA. Yao was not the focus of offense in the series has more to do with the matchup. Shaq is not the focal point of Lakers offense in the series either. If we were playing another team in the PO, I fully expect JVG to make Yao the focal point of offense since that will be a mis-match that we have to exploit.
I know this sounds like an excuse for his rebounding, well it is, but in the lakers game there were many rebounds yao could have gotten if he didnt just let one of his teammates grab it. For a while now i havent noticed yao fumble any rebounds that should have been his or blow a crucial rebound. This probably has to due with the fact he doesnt want to waste energy in getting rebounds one of his teamates can safely get. Comon do you really think a 6-5 guard can pull down 20 boards in a game by himself. Everyone thinks since he is 7-6 he needs to pull down 10+ boards a game, if not then he sucks and is soft for not getting more rebounds, but when you look at the 4 games we played we out rebounded the lakers in 3 of them and only were out rebounded in game 2(game where yao only got 4 rebounds) by 2 rebounds. Yao will never be a great rebounder like garnet, duncan and wallace. He doesnt have the athletcism and stregnth to relentlessly go after rebounds like them. In his prime i expect yao to avg around 11-12 rebounds a game like shaq who can only uses his strenght and shear size to move people around. Guess what im trying to say is that everyone sees him grab like 7 rebounds in a game and calls him a poor rebounder, hes averaging 9 a game in only 32 minutes a game which is decent amd acceptable but not great. Thats somethign ive always wanted to say. Anyways I agree with juggie and nick and almu, that yao will never be able to dominate like we always expect him to. this is because of his respect for his teamates that have been there longer. If we got rid of steve and cat, would yao become "the man" and dominate. Maybe, maybe not, but we will never know unless steve is gone or we get a pg that will give him the ball everytime in the post. It is going to be a big risk if we trade away steve and make yao the centerpiece of this team because in my opinion Yao is not ready to take a team on his back for 82 games in a season. He stills needs a strong presence in steve to help him develop and lead the team. But the writing has been on the wall for a long time. How many times have we seen Yao and SF have superb games in the same game. Only one time that they have both scored 25 pts or more in the same game if i recall correctly. Their games do not mesh period, either one of them has a good game at the expense of the others strengths. For example yesterday when we made our run to get back into the game, yao was left on the bench while we let steve do his thing and when he did he became steve of old when he jacked up that horrible shot on our last possesion. JVG wants team ball and not 1vs5 offense. Would I be willing to trade SF for lesser talent, but for pieces that fit with yaos game. Yes I would, because the potential rewards would be greater then the risk. In this era of BBall only two types of players can lead their team to championships: people named micheal jordan and dominant low post players.
You just don't understand or appreciate the Asian/Oriental mind and ethics.If you did you would have comprhended what I said.
No, I comprehend what you said. What i am saying is while he's being a gentleman, the stars on other teams are going to be scratching, clawing, hell - even cheating, to get a leg up. Is Yao going to wait until he's the oldest man in the league to whip out his A game? And if Yao does have the ability to take over and dominate the league - which many of you seem to think - and he just chooses not to then he has completely let his team down and is a definite underachiever. I don't want a boy scout. Give me a warrior.
So, I ask you. If he don't give a crap, should we? Would you be happy with the present team the way it is if you know that Yao will be 18pts 10rbs 2blks instead of the Olajuwonesque 27pts 12rebs 3blks? With Francis on the team leading the way? With Mobley finally maturing (seemingly)? My answer to your question would be no. Unless we make some changes we won't be much better than we are now. We'll still have the same problems that we have today. Alot of people seem to think that because of the LA series, that all of a sudden we've turned a corner and solved alot of our problems. That's just not true. Francis has played great against LA, but that doesn't mean that we're suddenly better than we were two weeks ago. Playing against LA is different than playing any other team in the league. LA is one of the few teams that plays Yao straight up and they don't defend point guards very well. LA presents us with alot of opportunities to drive to the basket that we don't get against most other teams. Our guards haven't had these type of driving opportunities since the NBA changed the defensive rules. Any other team will most likely pack their defense in around Yao and when they do that, it also takes away our guards driving lanes. That's my major complaint with Francis, his game doesn't complement Yao's game. Teams scheme their defenses to stop Yao and when they do, our guards can't really make them pay. Van Gundy has said since the day that he got here, you need to surround Yao with shooters. Right now we've got a roster full of streaky outside shooters. When we're hot, we can beat anybody. The problem is that we can't depend on that outside shooting from day to day . Based on JVG's comments since the day he was hired, the offense is going to run through Yao. I don't think that's even open for debate. If we stick with a bunch of inconsistent shooters, then we'll continue to be hot and cold from game to game. One of the main traits that separates great teams from good teams is consistency. We won't become a title contender unless we can develop consistency. In recent history, in order to win the NBA title, you need to have a dominant player. For the last 14 years or so, the team that has won the title has had a player that was top 5 in the league. Will Yao become a truely great player that dominates night in and night out? He's got a chance, but we can't say for sure. But whether he does or not, he is the only player on the Rockets that has a chance to be a dominant player. If you can go out and get a dominant player like McGrady, then do it. Our best option is to build around Yao with players that mesh with his abilities. Otherwise, we'll still play LA really well, but we'll also continue to struggle with teams like Seattle,Dallas and San Antonio who pack a defense in around Yao and dare us to shoot it over the top. Anyway, that's my two cents worth. Carry on.
Yao is miles from where he started the season. Yao has been more aggressive, but still has made the occasional mistake, and gets into foul trouble. The aggressiveness was the main issue for him early on, and he continues to progress. I think he does care, and is learning. He hasn't quite found what it takes to bump it up to the next level in the playoffs, but he hasn't been a walking disaster or anything either. Before fouing out in game 4 Yao seemed to be really stepping it up in crunch time. He was looking to score and doing a good job. It's ashame about the fouls, and that he hasn't been on another level the whole series, but I would give him satisfactory marks so far, with an ey on his future.
Francis is a good player, not a great player. I don't think that anybody on this board seriously considers Francis to be a top 5 player. Francis can dominate a game here and there. But he's not even remotely close to dominating day in and day out. For that matter, Yao isn't a great player yet either. The differnce is that Yao has the potential to be a top 5 player. While that frustrates alot of people, think about alot of the other teams that don't even have a player with that kind of potential.
TMac is great, but he has not proven himself able to lead 4 guys into a title. Actually what he has proved so far is that he can lead the team deep into lottery.
The most important thing Rocket needs to do after season is to trade Yao for Malone or Pippen to make Juugie and Almu happy.
I don't understand why people think that getting rid of YAO will improve this team. Have they forgotten that we were in the lottery year after year.
I am ROLLING in laughter in my office when I see people like Shaiqia think I want to get rid of Yao. ROLLING IN LAUGHTER!! Oh my God! I feel warm liquid in my slacks!! ROLLING!!!
Still LAUGHING!! People walk in here and say "Almu, why you laughing?" And I just point to my screen and then point to the wall where I have my Yao poster. And the wallpaper on my PC and Laptop of Yao Ming!! And what about my 3 shirts for me and my two kids!! And his picture is next to Hakeems picture when he was endorsing LA GEAR!! I remember wanting to trade him too!! Oh shiznet! I can't stop!! LOL
Man please, is it too much to ask of a basketball player to box out and grab the rebound. I thought that was part of getting rebounds, too box out so that you are in good position to get the rebound. What you're thinking is a box out is probably the opposing player pushing Yao out of the way.
