I remember a select few of the NBA predicting him as a bust. Every year, there are always a handful of NBA analysts who have predicted the #1 pick as a bust, with the exception of probably Shaquille O'Neal. Were you around when Pervison Ellison and Joe Smith were drafted?
Management's fault? What? We got McGrady. Cat was part of the deal. That had to happen. Explain to me how we keep Cat, but also get McGrady? And for your info, Yao's foul trouble is all on Yao! Period!
I sure hope he won't sign a contract extension, by the way JVG's system is going. Haven't you noticed most of Yao's fouls are on the help defense when opponents just break down Rockets perimeter defense freely? I watched many NBA games this season, 3 of our starters won't even getting bench jobs on another team. All of them are slow, poor defender/rebounder. Even the western-conference bottom feeder Clippers/Warriors have terrific players off the bench, guys like Livingston, Moore, Ross, Fisher, Cheaney, Pietrus, Sesay. Rockets have nobody. Yao's teammates are as slow as he is except TMac. If I was Yao, I were sure to be pissed by this team JVG assembled!
of course....it isnt Yao's fault he leaves his feet when blocking off someone.... tell him to keep his dang feet planted adn he'll quit getting called for those fouls. again....in the NBA...everyone is expected to help on defense..it is a part of the game..if Yao cant handle this...maybe he dosent belong in the NBA period.... you cant always get allstar defenders on every team..it doesnt work lke that. oh...and btw....JJ adn Mo can indeed hoild bench jobs on other teams...you are seriously underestimating them tryin to make your self feel better for Yao's faults.
I would agree with you to a certain extent. I agree whole-heartedly that all the bashing Yao gets is from alot of over expectations by those fans. They expect him to put up certain numbers or act a certain way, and when he doesn't meet those expectations, then he is bashed for it. ALL that matters to Yao is winning and doing whatever he can to help his teammates do that. Yao has shown that he doesn't feel like scoring 30 points is going to lead to a win, but to do whatever to get good shots by anyone, PERIOD. I think also that since he did exceed our expectations that we had when he was drafted, that the bar has been set even higher. My analogy: He benched the 100 lbs easily, which is more than we ever expected at this point so now we expect him to bench 300 lbs. Well, he is struggling to meet this on a consistent basis, so he is under-acheiving. I also agree with you that the guards need to stop letting guys penetrate by them, putting Yao in a tough spot. But, I think you went way off your point, and the deep end, with all your talk of fix the roster around him or demand a trade. So, you basically want the Rockets to get players that excel in Yao's weaknesses just so that people don't bash him for those things? Or, is it that you are really bashing Yao yourself by saying that he is not good enough and they need to bring in a more talented roster? Bottom line, Yao should NOT be dismissed of any criticism, but we all have to learn that he is still getting better and that he will eventually get to the point where he is alot better at a more consistent basis. He has shown alot of improvement this season thus far and he is gradually working his way to "lifting those 300 lbs."
lancet, You do realize that the Rockets are much better than the Clippers and that our 5-0 record against them since JVG has been our coach more than proves that whatever JVG is doing is working much better than what they are doing? The Clippers have a ton of depth because they suck every year and keep getting high draft picks that they don't know to mix together to make a winning team. lol
Jeff, there is a culture difference here. For most NBA players, they often blow things up to get attention, like asking for a trade or whatever. Management knows how to deal with it. For Yao, he won't openly say anything about the team, expecially something negative. But it doesn't mean he won't think of it. A lot of Chinese fans, I am one of them, are paying a close eye to Yao's development in the past two seasons. You can ask single one of them, he or she will tell you that Yao has way less fun this year, just by watching his body language. Do you remember that story that JVG drove to Dallas and asked Yao's opinion about SF2 trade. Yao told him:"Coach, you already made your mind." He also openly expressed concerns about " They traded away my back up." If Yao is not enthusiastic about this trade at that time, he might still have hope that the team would address the PG and PF issues. But now....... For Yao, his culture background will drag him to LA, his agents will advise him to move to LA. His parents will tell him they enjoy LA more. What Houston have to keep Yao in town? A BOND, some kind of mental attachment. But now, Rudy is gone, SF3 is gone, fans starting to be impatient with him. What is his bond left? A bond with Les Alexander? Don't get me wrong. I live in midwest, I followed MJ and Bulls, I hate LA. I would love to see Yao stays in Houston and be happy. But is he happy now?
I want Yao to play defense, quit getting into foul trouble, carry the team when needed to, rebound the ball, and learn from his mistakes. is that too much? should I set my standards lower?
Jesus Christ, what are you so pissed off about? This is nothing unusual in the NBA! Fans piss and moan! Coaches yell! It's been this way since the league was started! Jeez, you think Yao goes home crying at night?! He's a MAN! He'll either listen to the criticism or shut it out, but either way his job is to get better... end of story! If that wasn't Yao's OWN GOAL for himself, he would still be playing for the Shanghai Sharks!
Good point! I'm Polish and I could tell, last season, by Pike's body language that he is a real tight-wad with his money.
I find it particularly funny that all the sudden the very same segment of this community that were scalding Stevie for his supposed dislike and freezing out of Yao are now the ones that are sorry to see him gone... I guess they miss having someone else as the target of the complaining...
Give me a break. Please don't presume to know Yao's personal thoughts. You're just a fan like the rest of us. Just to let you know? Los Angeles' culture is nothing like China. Hell, it's nothing like anything else on the planet. You really think Yao would be free of criticism out there? You think Kobe wants to play with another star center? You think Houston is the only city with high expectations and dreams for its players? No. You're not thinking at all.
I see another extremist YOFFER making another PMS post ranting and making phoney crap excuses for the man's inherent deficiencies again. My, my, my, should I even be surprised anymore. First of all, why the Hell does T-Mac 6’8 have to stand up for a guy that is 7’6 when he gets posterized by Stoudemire. Tell me, wouldn’t you feel ashamed that a little guy has to stand up and fight for you when you are too chicken to fight for yourself. I would be profoundly embarrassed, but that’s just me. What SF did was admirable but Yao should have stood up to Admare by himself like what he should do without T-Mac or anybody else on the team having to fight his battles first. PERIOD!!! A bunch of excuses again about the team not building around him. Give me a ****in break. To any IMPARTIAL fan, this team brought in JVG, a coach that plays a half court low possession game that is absolutely suited for Ming’s Sloth like mobility and conditioning. Van Gundy is probably one of the most perfect fits for Yao’s so called “style” of play. The complaints about our guards is getting old, first we shipped off SF and Cat becus of their poor passing to Yao and we bring in 2 (Ward and Lue) that will follow JVG’s order to dump the ball to the low post like it was military command and that’s still not enough. These 2 ain’t great but if Sura comes back and Ming still struggles these extremist YOFFERs will blame him too. They probably want the Rox to bring back Magic Johnson so that he can dish out a perfect pass every time with those butter fingers hands of his. Now he can’t rebound and we have to get another PF to shore up another one of his deficiencies. When will it END. I never heard of this many bloody excuses for any pro athlete in my Life!!!!!! Amare Stoudemire came from a poor background, when he came to the NBA nobody gave him the red carpet treatment. Phoenix never went out to get an assistant coach to teach him how to be one of the best potential PFs or Center in the League –Ewing. Pheonix never went out and got a coach to design specific plays for his brand of BB and to suit his talents. Phoenix hasn’t been searching for anybody to help his rebounding, etc, etc, etc, This man has surpassed his potential and proven everything on the court through Action not Words without having to rely on charity like some people. Everything he has achieved in the NBA has been thru his sole determination, guts and will power not some organization Breast feeding him with players that hides his deficiencies. Trolls like these should go back to the YMmania dedicated forum where they can continue the ritual of smelling Yao’s Jock strap in peace. Moderate YOFFERs are cool to praise and critique their favourite players but extremist YOFFERs –you know who you are- NEED TO GO!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately for you, another thread just proved what I guessed. Please read that thread--------------Sina.com] JVG is frustrated because Yao lacks confidence This is waht I am talking about, the team makeup affect Yao's mind (well, you can call it as self-confidence), then affect his game. JVG can achieve nothing by keep yelling Yao. Can Yelling help boost a sensitive guy's self-confidence? Rudy won't do that!
You are right, maybe we need to go. But I will tell you this one more time. Under this current situation, Yao needs to go, too.
Yes, because the fact that Yao said he doesn't like being yelled at PROVES he's going to LA. NO ONE like being yelled at. But ALL players get yelled at now and again. You think Yao's Chinese coaches fawned over him and told him how great he was? Uh... sure. He's been told he'd never be great from DAY ONE. It's never stopped him. Now you think he's all of a sudden going to get his feelings hurt and cry home to mommy? You give Yao so little credit. It's obvious you're totally rooting for him to move to California, probably because that's where you live. It's sad.
