How many minutes do you think Yao will play in the 2 china games. Obviously JVG like any other coach in the league does not play his major players heavy minutes in preseason games, but since these games are in china there will be tremedous pressure from the fans to see Yao play for a good portion of the game. So how many minutes will Yao see?
Its not like VG to cave to fans expectations....but I do think Yao will see 20+ minutes since we dont really ahve any other centers to check for playing time... other positions have multiple people to check out....but we know Yao is the starter...and Deke is the backup...so VG/CD will make sure the fans get a good eyeful of Yao.
JVG just said in the first news conference in SH that Yao will play 22-28 minutes in Thursday's game.
In an earlier article in the Chinese websites, JVG came upto Yao Ming during one of those Rockets training sessions to ask him how long he wishes to play in those exhibition games in Shanghai and Beijing, saying he understood the significance of these games meant to Yao Ming. Yao Ming asked and JVG "guaranteed" to let him play his normal minutes, i.e. around 30 minutes. He wishes to have longer play minutes before his home crowd, but at the same time, he said he understood these preseason games are for the coach to test out the various players/O&D combinations. Yao Ming also wants sufficient play minutes on court that he could score double-double in both games in Shanghai and Beijing.
They're supposed to play these 2 games like it's regular season games and both team should try to win it....so that way they're entertaining the fans. If they're going to rest the starters early, then it won't be fun to watch and it will be bored. I remember when Kings play Wolves in Japan, they treated as a regular season game and they play their heart out to entertain the fans...so i expect them to do the same.
He will most likey play a total of a full Half of Basketball. I know the fans come out there to see him but i don't think we want him hurt in anyway. So Van Gundy will limit his minutes much like the first pre season game and we go from there.
