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CHRON:Unhappy Yao

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Old Man Rock, Aug 19, 2008.

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Old Man Rock Contributing Member

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BEIJING – After two critical wins that already made their host Olympic experience a success, the question was whether Yao Ming and Team China were prepared to take the next step by beating one of the traditional powers in international basketball.

With Greece still feeling the sting of the thrashing they took at the hands of the high-flying Americans, the other question was whether Vassilis Spanoulis and his pals might be willing to sacrifice (dump?) one game now for a chance to get out of Team USA’s half of the tournament bracket.

The answers were: no and no. An almost effortless win by Greece ended China’s modest two-game winning streak and sent the conspiracy theorists scrambling to find another grassy knoll.

China (2-3) will play Lithuania (4-1), the top seed in Group A, in the quarterfinals on Wednesday and Greece (2-3) will face the defending Olympic gold medalist Argentina (4-1).

All of which made Yao Ming a rather unhappy camper after his team fell behind by 24 points in the first half, he played just over 18 minutes and spent most of the second half watching from the bench.

In stark contrast to his celebrating mood from Saturday’s win over Germany, Yao stalked angrily off the court and for the first time since the tournament began, refused to talk to reporters.

“If we had been able to catch them at the beginning (of the game) and stayed close then, for sure, Yao Ming should play a long time,” said China’s head coach Jonas Kazlauskas. “But this was not a game, not a time, to have him on the court.

“For sure, Yao is a fighter. He wants to play. But he is player. I am coach. I am the guy who makes decisions.”

That left Yao frustrated on two counts. Because following the win over Germany, he’d declared: “We can challenge any team in the world if we keep the momentum.”

The China went splat.

The Greeks wasted no time asserting their superiority at both ends of the floor with the ex-Rocket Spanoulis (19 points, 8-for-10, five assists) going to the hoop to score layups or to dump off passes to set up his big men and take a 46-24 lead at halftime, ending any notion of suspense and, for the most part, prematurely ending Yao’s day.

Greece used pressure defense all over the court from the outside to forced turnovers and rattle China and reaped the dividends immediately.

Yao was working harder against the big frontline of Greece, but not having nearly the positive results that made him almost unstoppable by Angola and Germany. He scored eight points in the first half, but was never able to establish a low-post presence.

The successful 3-point shooting that had been a large part of China’s pair of wins was absent in the first half against Greece. With the 7-6 Yao launching – and missing – a pair himself, Team China was 0-for-14 in the first two quarters and the willingness to just keep tossing them up gave every indication of their committment.

China cut the Greece lead down to 10 points on two occasions in the second half, but was never a real threat and the nine 3-pointers made by the Chinese team in the second half was only testimony to the Greeks having it on cruise control.

“I take nothing from the second half,” Kazlauskas said. “I am thinking we are not ready for this game and when the game was lost we got ourselves loose and made some shots. That means nothing.”

With 2:36 left in the game, Zhang Qingpeng took Spanoulis down for a hard foul on a drive to the hoop and the ex-Rocket popped up as if to retaliate until he was held back by his teammates. It was one of the few signs of feistiness from China all afternoon.

“For four games in this tournament, we played good, Kazlauskas said. “Maybe it was the first time in Chinese basketball history that we play four games in a row so good.

“Maybe we were tired today. But this is professional basketball and we were not ready for this.”
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Yao didn't want to tank but they have a shot to beat Lithuania. If they beat Greece then they play Argentina in the first round. Much harder to get out of the quarterfinals.

#1 Old Man Rock, Aug 19, 2008

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They talked about this during the USA-Germany game, it's an athletes nature to want to play but it was better for the Chinese team to lose it

..Also if you can you should rename the thread to "Yao Unhappy about lack of minutes vs Greece" before the whiners complain about crapping their pants thinking Yao isn't happy with the Rockets..

#2 dntrwl, Aug 19, 2008
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What??? Yao is unhappy with the Rockets????

#3 MD_in_Training, Aug 19, 2008
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he's just too eager to win more games, too much expectation on him and china team, he doesnt want to disappoint people, he want to make a new best record in china team history. especially as long as china beat greece, they can lock no.7 no matter win or lose in next round, which would be the best record for team china

#4 yaorta, Aug 19, 2008
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MD_in_Training said:

What??? Yao is unhappy with the Rockets????
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i knew it. TRADE HIM!

i dont care anymore. trade him for an inknown commodity before the season starts.

#5 ndnguy85, Aug 19, 2008
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ndnguy85 said:

i knew it. TRADE HIM!

i dont care anymore. trade him for an inknown commodity before the season starts.
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you might want to put a smiley since most people here have busted sarcasm meters.

#6 Nelly, Aug 19, 2008
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Nelly said:

you might want to put a smiley since most people here have busted sarcasm meters.
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Not Smart.

#7 vcchlw, Aug 19, 2008

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Yao has a big heart.

#8 tim562, Aug 19, 2008
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ndnguy85 said:

i knew it. TRADE HIM!

i dont care anymore. trade him for an inknown commodity before the season starts.
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No kidding. I mean we won 15 games without the guy. I say get rid of him for some 2nd round picks. Thats the most we can get for him.

SARCASMMMMM

#9 bmthint, Aug 19, 2008
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******* yao really want another first round exit

#10 Emma, Aug 19, 2008
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Yao thinks exactly like JVG, winning the next game is his only goal.

#11 IamKhan, Aug 19, 2008
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Hell, nothing wrong with him wanting to get some minutes...However, not at the cost of injury...

#12 rrj_gamz, Aug 19, 2008
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tim562 said:

Yao has a big heart.
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yes, for his big size, he needs a bigger heart to pump all that blood

#13 abita, Aug 19, 2008

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I don't think we can trade him, no team would want him. We just might need to buy out his contract.

bmthint said:

No kidding. I mean we won 15 games without the guy. I say get rid of him for some 2nd round picks. Thats the most we can get for him.

SARCASMMMMM
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#14 errpac, Aug 19, 2008
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This is good. Maybe he'll be frustrated enough NOT to play international ball anymore.

#15 JBIIRockets, Aug 19, 2008
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any chance that China beats Lithuania?

#16 jason2, Aug 19, 2008
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i honestly don't care. To me the basketball olympics mean nothing.

#17 sook, Aug 19, 2008
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jason2 said:

any chance that China beats Lithuania?
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yea~ China Beat Lithuania 79-73

oh it was in 2006 and it was women's basketball

#18 abita, Aug 19, 2008

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sook said:

i honestly don't care. To me the basketball olympics mean nothing.
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Same here. Just the small fact that our star center who went out for half a season with a stress fracture is playing and putting more stress.. on the fracture.

#19 bmthint, Aug 19, 2008
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Old Man Rock said:

" The China went splat. "
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Huh?

#20 RiceDaddy7, Aug 19, 2008

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