Just heard the 25 minute interview with JVG...he had a lot of good points. I thought what he said about Yao was key...the #1 thing Yao needs to work on is his conditioning...we get on him for not boxing out or getting silly fouls or not asking for the ball in the post against a punishing defender...think about it...it's because of his conditioning. I remember when I couldn't run a mile...but after pushing myself...sometimes to the point of tasting blood...I was able to complete marathons...I believe great conditioning can be achieved. I'm not a 7 footer so I'm not the best example. Akeem though was a 7 footer who had conditioning problems in the 80s...he'd be lagging behind every play on the offensive end...but come early to mid 90s he was able to sustain his intensity longer. When you're well conditioned, you have freedom to excercise your will as opposed to fighting your body and the opponent. Yao needs a drill seargeant...a trainer/taskmaster or workout partner to help him achieve this...I believe improving the conditioning of Yao would impact the Rockets more than anything else, including getting another player. The time is NOW in the offseason...Please Yao, improve your conditioning please, without creating too much wear and tear on your joints.
I think this offseason should be better. Harris won't run the suicidal 3-month drills Chinese NT used to do. And Yao will have more than 1 month to rest after Athens. I think Yao has a personal trainer with him in China. Otherwise Rox should send one there.
I agree he needs conditioning, but he also needs rest in the off-season. That's causing this problem more than anything.
Everyong has been talking about Yao's need for rest... I do not think that is the case. Yao's summer so far has been pretty relaxing. He will take another break after the Olympics and come back to the camp on time (for the first time). Yao needs a mental rest more than a physical rest. He cannot stop training. He needs to improve his conditioning and develop a "skyhook". He needs to adjust his psycological clock to fit a busy NBA season so that he will have the most anergy when the playoff comes. The Olympic is a challenge in that regard. If he pumped himself up and to peak in the middle of August, he will need more time to "rest mentally".
FYI everyone. As you know, Yao and the Chinese National Team is here in Dallas working with Del Harris. Tonight they play the Mavs Summer Team over in Ft. Worth at TCU. Saturday night they play here in Dallas at SMU. I plan to be at that game to scope out Yao's conditioning. Last night Del Harris was on ESPN radio 103.3 FM talking about the condition of his team. Both the Mavs and The Chinese team were is Ft. Worth at Billy Bob's signing autographs and such. Anyway, Del made several pointed comments about how "out of shape" Yao was and how he'd sort of "let himself go" since the end of the Rockets NBA season. He also talked about how the Chinese team does not use weight training which he and the Mav trainers were introducing during their workouts. According to del, Yao is not in game shape to play in the Olympics at this point in time. If I can get tickets, I plan to get some pictures and will post them here.
Man, I hope he's not lazy like shaq....I just don't get how can he be out of shape when he nearly play basketball all year around for 2 yrs? I guess a several week's rest will get you pretty good, especially for a guy his size.
It's at Moody Colosseum. FYI, if you have Dish Network or DirectV, tonight's game at TCU will be on NBA-TV at 7:30 PM.
Sorry, one more question, what's the time for saturday's game and the internet ticket price? 7:30P.M.? I live in houston and will drive to Dallas on saturday for the game. Thanks for information
Conditioning? How about a freakin' summer off to rest. Year round play IS GOING TO F***ING KILL HIM!!!!!!!!
Remember when Hakeem used to work with that track coach that was famous for coaching Carl Lewis? They ought to track that guy down and have him work with Yao.
