I couldn`t be happier with Yao now, but back then I confess I really wanted the Rockets to select Amare Stoudemire above anyone else.
I do want to know what if Rockets didn't pick up Yao. Chicago would pick him and became heck of a team with some many talents.
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/search.php?searchid=62404&pp=25&page=6 http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=32861&highlight=2002+draft+ming http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=33697&highlight=2002+draft+ming http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=33855&highlight=2002+draft+ming these last two are the early equivalent to this thread http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=34848&highlight=2002+draft+ming http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=35812&highlight=2002+draft+ming
I was for drafting Yao all the way, due to his freakish size and skills. I was also praying that Amare would drop to Rockets at 15 or that we would trade up to get him. Amare also had that freakish athleticism. I just was never impressed with the likes of Dunleavy due to his lack of athleticism or Jay Williams (just too small) to be great impact players.
I was on the fence, but I leaned more towards trading the pick. I remember a trade that involved the 1st for Lamar Odom and a pick. I kind of liked that trade.
I'm still confused on how the rockets ended up with the No.1 slot,it had to be the work of a higher power .
I actually wanted to trade the pick. We didnt need Williams (with the Franchise) and at the time, it seemed like to much of a gamble with red tape to spend a #1 on Yao. Glad things worked out as they did, though! GO ROX! and Bonzi... just go!
I do not know, I just hoped Yao being the number one draft. Since Houston was the one to pick first, I guess I wanted Houston to draft Yao
After watching some of his Chinese games and highlight reels, I wanted him at No.1 before the draft, predicted him collecting 14/10 in his rookie season. He ended up with 13/8.
It's funny to read through some of these old threads, what happened to all those Yao's doubters such Baqui99 and Band Geek Mobster?
honestly i only wanted yao because the other "sure-fire pick" that year in jay williams was playing a position where we had our best player, francis, playing. drafting williams would have meant either a terribly undersized backcourt or trading either francis or williams. i dont remember a lot of reasonable offers being mentioned for the pick (i dont think the odom+clippers 8pick for the #1 was a more than just a rumor) so i wanted yao based on that alone, try to get a guy who was supposedly skilled and big. my only big worry after drafting him was a)language and b)his strength. language mainly because of getting to know his teammates and obviously his strength since he was pretty weak coming into the league. now if you had told me back then what kind of player yao would become i would have done backflips knowing that he was available. actually i would hate to imagine what would have happened to the team had the rockets gone with williams and the bulls chose yao and seeing what kind of player yao has become. people still complain about passing up rashard, a marginal all-star at best, imagine if we had passed up a franchise guy like yao
I was a Dallas fan back then... so I was hoping Dallas would get Yao... and you guys would pick anyone else dammit!!!! but they didn't im not a Dallas fan anymore because no more Steve Nash... and I like to follow the players who might make a big impact... on the game... like a Bird, Magic, Jordan, Shaq etc...
This is the tape that everyone is talking about: http://www.clutchfans.net/video/yao_clips_0623.rm It was visual proof that, at the very least, Yao wasn't a stiff that didn't have any basketball sense. He was a scrawny thing, but at least he had some bball skills.
I wasn't a rockets fan back then. I didn't really want Yao to be picked at No.1 cause I didn't think he'd live up to the expectation. so I guess that means I didn't want Rockets to pick Yao. I didn't know Yao could be this good. I thought he'd be a 18/8/1 guy at best. I was wrong.
Honestly, I had just turned back on to the Rockets (mostly because of Francis). I would have still called myself a fan, but I didn't watch many games or anything. Had you asked me around draft time, I would have wanted Jay Williams, but Yao got me really interested in the Rockets again.
