Patrick Ewing has been with the Rox for 1 1/2 years. Yao's development has been questioned. The bigs are questionable, at best. For the two years prior to coming to Houston he coached Wiz and Magic. There are zero front liners from either team to have been brought here (or even rumored so) from during his tutelage. Have all his players been 'that bad, that irredeemable'? Is his relationship with all so poor that he cannot continue with them? Is he part of the MoT problem (he certainly does not appear to be the solution)? P-Ew has stated he wants to be a head coach, wants to coach in NY...but, what has he done to distinguish himself as an assistant? Loyalty is Great, with a capital G. But is this a loyalty which could get JVG run out of Houston prematurely?
Yeah, how's about we get Rudy T as special assistant in charge of Yao's development, and kick P-Ew to the curb?
Ewing might be good, however he might not be, I don't know...but Has there ever been a superstar big man (or any position for that matter) who has required so much coaching to be dominant? Look, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't teach him to drink. You can lead a 7 foot 6 guy under the basket, but you can't teach him to dunk. Fact of life guys, either he learns to have some more consistent fire and play with more intensity on his own or he doesn't, either he learns not to hack people when he doesn't have to or he doesn't, either he learns to not take charges inside the circle or he doesn't, either he learns not to pass out of one on ones or he doesn't, either he somehow gets better hands or he doesn't, either he improves his stamina or he doesn't. Don't you think he is being told not to do (or to do) these things? Don't you think he is intelligent enough to realize that he shouldn't do these things? It's a question of execution on his part. I don't know what you expect the coaches to do, there is no magic "Mr. Miyagi" technique that he has yet to learn which will unlock the key to greatness. I don't know of any coach who "made" a player into a superstar in the NBA - it's pretty much something they have to either do on their own or they won't do at all. Edit: the predictable counterexample to this is somebody saying "Well, Hakeem had Moses Malone to practice against", and to that I say a few things: 1. yes, obviously practicing against a high level of competition every summer helped Akeem back then, Yao is welcome to do the same but he goes and does CNT duty all summer. That is his right and his choice and I dont' fault him for doing so; however it is a choice he made, perhaps it would be better for him and for the CNT in the long run if he practiced at Westside over the summer against NBA big men, we shall never know. 2. Does anybody remember the rookie hakeem running up and down the court and punching people in the face? Intensity was NOT a problem for him on the court, in fact he had the opposite problem, so that comparison doesn't wash. 3. I don't know how much actual "coaching" went on between Hakeem and Moses, I imagine a lot of it was learned by imitation and trial & error on Hakeem's part. Again, that's just something Hakeem did on his own; I don't think a lack of Moses presence would have prevented him from becoming a superstar anyway - the guy was just too talented an athlete and too driven to fail. 4. Who was Wilt's big man coach/confidant who unlocked his greatness? Who was Russell's? Who was Kareem's? Who was ....etc. The answer is likely no one, these guys would have been awesome regardless.
What do you call Dream/Mo summers @Fonde? They all. big and small, require coaching and work whether they played NBA-style hoops all their lives, or not.
See my edits above. Let's not overestimate the summers at fonde. Are you saying he wouldn't have been any good but for that, or that is what made him great? I doubt it. The guy was a monster when he got here, he got better because he had the will and the ability to do so. Edit: was just looking at his old stats, during his Freshman year at UH, prior to much, if any "coaching" from Malone at Fonde, he blocked 72 shots in just 18 minutes a game for 29 games. I don't think anybody "coached" hands, aggression, shotblocking, timing, atheletcism, or all the things Yao lacked into him. He just had them. Anyway, what makes you think Yao is not getting any quality coaching? His performance? Do you think Jeff Van Gundy is happy when he makes mistakes or encourages him to make silly fouls? My observation of his demeanor on the sidelines indicates otherwise. How many times have we read articles about the Rockets telling him to dunk the ball? Do you think there's some coach who knows some special drill that will drive this lesson home to Yao in a way that the current staff can't? Doubtful.
Does the Bill Simmons "Ewing Theory" apply only to players or to coaches as well? ie if you get rid of Ewing the coach does the team that he leaves get better? Washington and Orlando seem to be doing pretty good
In defense of Yao a bit, while much of Hakeem's ability is just God-given talent, he also had the benefit of playing soccer before he picked up a basketball for the first time at 17 or so years of age. His hand-eye and foot coordination is silly. His abilities were about 10-12 years before his time for the position he played. I think we need to get out of comparing Yao to Hakeem. They're 2 different types of players. Yao just doesn't and probably will never have the explosiveness on offense and defense of Hakeem. If you keep comparing the two, Yao will always fall short until he improves - which he hopefully will do.
I believed Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, kareem all comes out of very good programs and have good coaches back when they were in college.
I don't think there's another player in the league that has a coach all to themselves. While its been said that Ewing is there to develop all the low post skills of the Rockets, it's pretty obvious he's here to coach Yao. While Hakeem is the best big man ever imo, I actually see reasons why Ewing maybe a better coach for Yao. Ewing like Yao was not very athletic and Ewing had to make up for this using smarts and hard work. Ewing wasn't as athletically gifted as Hakeem or D. Robinson but he was amongst the best centers in the league. With that said, I have no idea what if anything he is doing for Yao. I would love to see a practice or two.
Phog Allen made Wilt Chamberlain great? Doubtful. Chamberlain was a high school legend who was a dominant from the day he walked onto campus. He scored 50 points against the varsity in his very first game. (NCAA didn't allow Freshman to play back then) Same with Lew Alcindor, he was dominant by age 13 and was a star well before he ever set foot in Westwood or met John Wooden. As for Russell, you think San Francisco coach (whoever) made him great? I don't think so. Those are just three examples - you think Brian Hill made Shaq great? What about Jermaine O'Neal, he didn't go to college, was it Isiah Thomas who made him great? Rick Carlisle? Did Flip Saunders make Kevin Garnett great? Please.....coaching at this level only goes so far. There's only so much you can say or do about the right way to do things. It is the players that determine whether or not they will be able to do them and be successful.
I'm not saying that the only reason they're great is because of coaching. I do believe good coach goes a long way in terms of developing especially young players. A not so famous coach does not mean he is not a good coach. A lot of kids first discover their talents or get interested in playing the sport because of their high school coach. You sound like these guys Brian Hill, etc are not good coach and they have nothing to do with the growth of the players. The combination of the player's gift and desire to learn. They deserved more credit than you give them. Even not successful coach like Tim Floyd did something. A combination of a player's willingness to learn and gift make him great. Sam, you always sound like you think Yao's a bust. I bet you he will turn out to be a hall of fame player and bring a couple championships along with TMac.
I don't think he's a bust he is obviously a good player - but I think people are being unrealistic when they attempt to shift the focus to others for his lack of improvement. (especially since it is completely one sided - does Ewing get any credit from his improvement from year 1 to year 2? No, never - but why not?) Great players will generally become great no matter what coach you put out there - at the professional level it is rarely "coaching" which makes them great. Wilt was a great at all levels, and good to great from day 1; same with lots of players, from legends all the way on down. Of course they improved as they got more mature, but whether it was "coaching" - or the presence of one coach rather than another - that had any role rather than overall physical and mental maturation is highly dubious. Like I said, are there techniques, drills, etc that Jeff Van Gundy, who is a very well respected and experienced coach, and his staff don't know about that is taught by these guys that John Wooden or Phog Allen or Alvin Attles or Alex Hannum or Bill Fitch or Red Auerbach or Adolf Rupp knows that are being kept from Yao? That is highly, highly, doubtful. These guys write books and go to seminars - there is no secret trove of techniques that Yao is not being taught or cannot learn without access to certain coaches. If there are, I'd love somebody to fill me in, but again it is doubtful This is basketball, not rocket science, pardong the pun.
