I don't think your logic about his stamina still an unproven issue is correct. Please check the MPG of Yao Ming for the 4 seasons he played so far. I could say he had problems in stamina for maybe his 1st and 2nd season, averaging only 29.0 and 32.8 mpg. His 3rd season was worst for 30.6 mpg. But we all knew it was not due to his stamina, but he just had become the target for his opponents, and referees and he experienced foul troubles throughout the season, thus limiting his play minutes on court. If you checked the statistics for the previous season, his MPG had increased to 34.2 mpg with his foul per game dropped from 3.7 to 3.4. He has managed to stay longer on the court with lesser fouls and more referee respect, and played longer. I don't think that was due to the reason that he had rest because he was injured. If a player's play minutes will increase after he had sufficient rest due to injury, then I will start to worry about Tracy McGrady. He also had injuries during the previous season. But his MPG had dropped from 40.8 mpg to 37.1 mpg.
I would not be worried about McGrady. In fact, I think he should only play for 36mpg and more if necessary (i.e. close games). Then come playoff, McGrady minutes should increase.
The MPG of Tracy McGrady was used only as an analogy to rebuke linzhihao's theory that Yao Ming's stamina was still an issue, and was better only after sufficient rest after his injury. If I remembered it correctly, prior to his injury in December, except for a few games that he was in foul troubles, Yao Ming was already playing 35 ~ 38 minutes per game. And I always objected strongly that this theory that Yao Ming only had an extra-ordinary eruption only after the All Stars Break right after his return from his first injury of the ankle. He was already averaging 19/9 from the start of the season in November to December. And 19/9 is not too bad a performance at all. At least it was already better than his 3rd season. If posters still doubt it, please check the detail box scores of the full Rockets season, and you'll know Yao Ming definitely played longer minutes in the previous season regardless whether it was before his injury or after his injury. http://www.nba.com/rockets/schedule/
This is some kind of trend, where a new poster saying something very cliche' and then never post in the thread again. I see this a lot, especially when T-Mac and Yao is concern...
I don't think I have to ever worry about Yao 'cause I know he's going to work his butt off to improve every day. Right now I just pray for a healthy T-Mac and we are the team to beat.
I have seen many 'thanks Pruyen' messages on this bbs,and to be honest I had not until now taken the time to read any of the 'Yao Ming' posts. After reading Pruyen's article above I now see why he has been so appreciated. First of all his writing style is very poetic, (my previous impression reading articles from Chinese authors was not very favorable). But most of all Pruyen's writing is very enlightening, giving us glimpses into a culture that we can not fully comprehend. Or anyway, I know I had never really appreciated it. We all have known Yao Ming the 'gentle giant' who came to be part of our Rocket family, burst upon our scene and had raised our hopes high. He has delivered too (although not as fast as some would like) and he seems to just now be fully coming into his own. Yet despite all this I have always felt that there has been something missing. That we were only seeing one dimension of Yao. Pruyen helps to complete this puzzle and shows us a side of Yao that we could not see ourselves. For this I think we all owe Pruyen a huge THANK YOU. I especially like reading these insights such as Yao's 'Interpretation of Agression', his analogy of the wolfpack, and his struggles to lead a week national team. These really help to put things into perspective and to define who Yao, the person really is. This gives me great optimism for the Roxket's future. I believe Yao will grow into the 'shoes' we have all laid out for him. He will lead us to an NBA championship in time and he will at the least lead the Chinese national team to respectability and on to the next level. I also see parallels in Yao's view of agressive play and in how Shane Battier has approached the game as well. Shane has always strove to be the complete player without having to totally dominate the action. I think both will complement each other and form a synergy that is the greater than the sum of the two parts. (My opinion only). I am really looking forward seeing them play together along with all the other new Rockets, this coming season. I believe it is going to be a great one.
Yes, I'm aware Yao's mpg keeps improving every year, that proves his stamina has been improving, and I'm really glad to see that. But on the other hand, mpg is partially on coach's hand. Yao can stay on court for as long as Van Gundy like. A very obvious evidence about his stamina problem is his performance difference between the first half and second half of the game. I remember in lots of games, most of his scores came from first half. I blame it to fatigue. Of course, opponents' double/triple team deteriorated the situation, but as the team's superstar, he has to live with it. I interpret his foul decrease phenomenon as he has learnt how to play less aggressively when having 3 or 4 fouls already, and avoid unnecessary fouls. In a word, it came from the experience and familiarity to the NBA rules. I think Mutombo must have taught him on this, since he must have the same stamina problem considering his age. TMac's problem is on his mind. How great he can play really depends on how great he feel he is.
