didn't they specially design his sneakers WITH the hardened tip to PROTECT his toe? looks like that backfired big time. at least he finally just had that damn thing removed! i look foward to a dominant, pain free, year for yao and the team now.
You guys that are blaming JVG's practices for Yao's recent toe problems are just amazing. IMO, it's borderline lunacy. But we are all entitled to our opinions but the "blame JVG for everything" mentality some have here is way over the top.
Okay so in your opinion we are supposed to assume Yao is lying. He is saying as clear as day the shoe is not the problem but he is lying? I would buy that maybe he doesn't know for sure or maybe he is considering the fact that the shoe didn't give him problems with the toe earlier in the WC's so his making an assumption. But lying? Yes Yao doesn't seem to complain, but Yao also doesn't seem to lie either. "Zero chance that 3 days of practice could have caused his toe problems." Aren't you being a bit of a psychic here? You just don't know as not even you have been in a practice. Also what was Yao's training before the official preseason started under JVG, again you don't know. Yao is already are best defensive player on the team. When he is not on the court we are a poor defensive team. And yes he will never be Hakeem so why try to mold him into that if it's going to kill his feet. As for JVG forcing Yao to play with his back to the basket on the low post... yeah I was complaining. I was complaining he took way to long to allow Yao to do it. Don't you remember a year before JVG did anything, Doc Rocket screaming get the ball to Yao and then do it again and again and when you finish do it again. Well I said that before then and was 100% in agreement with Doc. As for running around as being part of the game and big men for YEARS have suffered from the same problems no matter what the system. Isn't that a sign that maybe we should try something different. Just because all the birds are flying in one direction doesn't mean they are going the right way. Sometimes you have to think outside the box. And realistically you can't expect your big man to run around as much as your guards. The games I watched last season (all but 1) I thought JVG had Yao running around way too much. This was before the toe injury and I would say it seemed like he cut back some after. And whether you like it or not all that running effects Yao' toe. Look at Shaq he doesn't run around as half as much as Yao and he plays less minutes. As far as Yao reaching his full potential. Yes he could be a better defensive player but at what risk. Will you shorten his career so he can stop a few more pick n rolls. He is already a solid defensive player and averaged 25 and 10 the second half of the season. If that's the best he can do for us the rest of his career he will make the Hall of fame and I will be a happy camper. And this is not so much direct at you but for those who think I am blaming JVG. I am not saying he is being unfair to Yao. In fact I said he is trying to help Yao become a better player. All I said is that help may be the cause of his toe problems. There is some evidence to that effect. Agree or don't agree. But Yao's toe is suffering and wouldn't it be stupid not to at least consider the fact that Yao's added girth and harder workouts may be a contributing factor. Sure his shoe may be improved. Yao himself said the shoe was being worked on and he was waiting for the new shoe. But he also said he wasn't having a problem with the toe box area. Of course Yao isn't the expert and there maybe things that can be improved still. But there may also be other factors unrelated to shoes. And again if that is true than wouldn't it be stupid not to consider alternatives to the pounding his toe is taking. I think it would be in the best interest of the Rockets to look into it. Especially considering they are dealing with one of their franchise players. Maybe JVG should take heed to his own words, "That would not be my response. My response would be, 'That is six games, and that has little impact on what's going on now.' My response would be, 'I'm going to look into the problem, and I'm going to try to get the problem fixed.' Yes Mr. Van Gundy listen to yourself and stop this stupid bickering between Reebok and yourself and look into all possible contributors to the problem and do your part to "get the problem fixed". Perhaps he is already doing as much and if so fantastic!
I don't find it that hard to believe that Yao would lie. He is human afterall. How many times do you think Keith Jones asked him about his toe (or his general health), only for Yao to say 'it's fine'? And if Jones didn't even know about the toe, then didn't Yao mislead him by keeping it a secret? Or did Yao really think his nasty, festering toe wasn't a problem?
I pretty much agree. I don't recall anyone close to that size ever playing as much perimeter defense as Yao.
no kidding... it's pretty amazing their ability to take practically anything negative and somehow spin it onto van gundy. that's a special talent. i do mean special.
You and all your anti VG propoganda jibberish again If Yao doesn't get paid millions of dollars a year by Reebok, do you think Yao and that agent's response would have been the same regarding the shoe problem? If money wasn't involved he would have been saying the same exact thing like Tmac and VG.
To me this is a combination of different things already mentioned. THis has lingered from the WC's until now. However I believe these shoes suck and they need to fix it. WHy because the season is 82 plus games long and these damn shoes better be the best shoes Yao can get.
Defending PnR, sudden stoping and starting, will that cause more pressure on Yao's toe? I guess yes. However, no matter how hard JVG ran him these past 3 practice days, it won't exceed the pressure Yao's toe has to take in a regular season and post season. NO matter how one slices it, how little defense Yao will play in a new season. If he can't handle that little stress, both Rockets and Yao are finished. There is no way that 3 days' pressure on that toe has exceeded the first 3 heathy years in NBA that toe had taken. If Yao can't handle 3 days of practice, he's done with his career. If his shoes can't protect him for 3 days of practice, no matter what that evil JVG is running, his shoes have to be fixed. Period. Team Yao need to take some action, so does Rockets organization. They have to make it clear with Reebok that they will seek for legal action if the problem isn't solved immediately. Adidas should also gets involved, and they should be made clear by team Yao, if they don't help solve the problem smoothly, they will face losing Yao entirely. If they do help out, maybe some work can be done with Adidas and Reebok together, or even a switch to Adidas. However, that's very unlikely, for it would mean end of business for Reebok. Yao had some unpleasant memory with certain Nike people, but he also had beautiful memory with other Nike people. If the situation does escalte to legal actions and breaking of contracts, since Yao already made a point with original Reebok signing, Nike learned their lessons not to take everything granted, I would be more than happy to see them come together again in good terms. The ball is now in Reebok's court. Demage control and crisis management, that's what required from upper management; otherwise, they can forget about producing basketball shoes forever.
Whatever. This is not about Van Gundy it's about Yao. Injured toe = No Yao, got it. No Yao = no playoffs, Got it. No playoffs = No JVG, Got it. So if your desire is to keep van gundy then perhaps you should want to do whatever it takes to help Yao's toe even if that means changing Yao's workouts. I'm done. Argue with yourself.
You are surprisingly ignorant for a fan. Excellent arguments here, Old Man: - shoes are NOT the issue - If toes don't fit with the shoes, change the toes (better yet, cut them off) - If footwork does not fit the shoes, change the foot work (better yet, Yao should just stand there and look pretty - guarantee the shoes will work) - If defense isn't in line with the shoes, change the defense (better yet, ask the rest of NBA not to attack the basket at all so Yao doesn't have to play defense)
Wouldn't the PnR defense affect Mutombo even more? Mutombo is older and played more games than Yao. I wonder what kind of shoes Mutombo had for most of his career. I never hear about Mutombo's shoe problems.
I dont see any good coming from this. You know thats why i like yao, he doesnt complain, he just has his toenail removed repeatedly. Very unlike shaq who criese about a ball, cries about the defense rules and cries about the freethrow line not being 12 feet closer, which is why he cant hit a free-throw.
very good point. How about Ewing when he was under JVG then? From what I remembered he flashes out everytime to the guy with the ball just like Yao is doing now when he defends the pick and roll. He works just as hard as Yao on Defense. I think he had knees or back problems towards the end of his career...it's probably VG's fault then too...
Rather than arguing with ourselves, here are some Reebok execs you can contact. If they hear enough from the fans, I am sure they will have to do something. After all, they are counting on their fans to buy the shoes. To be precise: Yao is paid by Reebok, and Reebok is paid by us, the customers. Tom Shine Senior Vice President Sports Marketing Reebok International Ltd. 1895 J W Foster Blvd Canton, MA 02021-1099 USA tom.shine@reebok.com Peter W Burrows Chief Technology Officer peter.burrows@reebok.com Bob Munroe President North America-Sales bob.munroe@reebok.com Ceclia Paglia Chief Marketing Officer ceclia.paglia@reebok.com To contact Yao's agent (Prof. Huizinga): http://gsbportal.chicagogsb.edu/por...erson_id=164395 Please just be nice about it. It is entirely possible that the Reebok's upper management is not aware of this issue on the ground - they may not be Rockets' fans, and probably don't read Clutchfans
