I don't know how many of you remember, but a month ago there was talk about a new offense that Rudy had created, I think it was the pentagon offense. Now we never got to see this used last season because so many players were hurt and Rudy didn't have the guys to implement it, so it was shelved. Now, this upcoming season should be the time that we see this new offense, even though Francis is out for a good chunk of time, he'll be back for training camp. We want to draft a new Center, who doesn't know English, won't be here until the season starts, and is going to be paid mad cash and have a struggling frong court and the entire Franchise depending on him to help us get to the playoffs. The Chinese think that Ming is Bhuda's gift to basketball and that he will just come in here and dominate. Well he can't dominate, but he could be a good player. Unfortunately, if he is running around on the court with the Chinese and Shanghai plays deep in his mind plus a last minute cramming of the Rockets offense, he is going to have a very bad year. What's he going to do when Steve, Moochie, and Rudy call plays and he doesn't understand them? So many people here are drooling over the belief that Ming will dominate. Well he could if he was a 7'5" power player, but he isn't. Ming is a finese player and he needs to have plays called for him to be able to get open for jumpers and 3 pointers. He's not Olajuwon, we can't dump the ball down low and expect him to dream shake his way to a pretty layup. He's not Shaq, so we can't expect him to just muscle his way to the basket for an easy dunk. Do we really want to use the #1 on this guy, he's not going to be Rookie of the year, infact, it's pretty rare for the #1 to be ROY. Did anyone expect Vince Carter to be ROY? Where did Mike Miller get picked? What about Gasol? If we trade the pick, we will get a guy who will be a part of this team when we need him here to learn. A guy who has a shot to be ROY and added to that we will get a good veteran player. I wish you Ming lovers would stop thinking he will dominate this league because he can't. I would like to here other reasons, besides the financial one's the makes Ming a #1. Let's get realistic, what can he really do in the NBA? His avg in the Asian championships was like 13.4 ppg and only 10.5 ppg in the olympics. I hope Ming supporters will give me some straight answers and not some dumb one liners because I really want to know why you guys think he is going to be so good and really worth the #1 pick.
I will add to this reasoning. For those that believe that Ming is going to step foot on the NBA floor and dominate, we have a case study to look at in comparison. For the purposes of our example, if Ming is considered the #1 player in China then Wang ZhiZhi has to be the #2. Look at were Wang is now after 1 1/2 seasons in the league: he got no more than about 10 min. per game, he doesn't understand defensive/offensive formations, there is still very much a language barrier, and he sucks at D. He did show that he has some offensive skills but that wasn't enough to get him off the bench more. Now, apply this to Ming. Granted Ming will get more playing time than Wang but other than that, how can you expect anything different than Wang's learning curve? By the time Yao can play NBA basketball as a difference-maker, that will be several years down the road. Can the Rockets afford that kind of development time? Do you think Franchise and Cat are going to take kindly to missing a few more years for Yao to develop?
Thank you for posting a very reasonable well thought out post. Ming will not fit, I'm sorry but he won't. The strings are too much to surmount and at best he will be a very good role player. Trade down, pick the next Tracy Macgrady, Vice Carter, or Elton Brand. Ming is tall but he is not a post player and thats what we need. From a sell ticket, be in the spotlight standpoint, draft Ming and be in the lottery for years to come or draft someone like Butler, Gooden, Wilcox, Hilario, Dunleavy, or one of th Euro guys and be on the road to building a dynasty type team. If we aren't lookin for wins but lookin for attention then by all means draft Ming. If we are lookin for a solid team that will eventually bring us a championship, trade the pick and get a true franchise player. C
I am in support of Ming as our #1, if there is not a veteran player(s) for pick type scenario out there. Here are my thoughts: 1. English skills: He is the translator for American players on the ShangHai team, so I am not concerned about him understanding pick, over the top, pass, cross court, block, baseline, wassup, word up, gimme the ball, hit your shot, take it, screen...etc. He is no English major, but apparently he can speak broken english and understand Rudy and the boys. 2. Next Season Arrival - Hhe will make it for the whole season, just not all of the pre-season 3. Our perception of Ming's dominance - I think most would agree that he will not dominate in the near term. Hhe may contribute, but not dominate. I think most agree on this board that he is a project, but still one of the best prospects in the draft. 4. Comparisons to Hakeem and Shaq - a) Remember that it took both at least 5 years in the league to win a championship b) Hard to compare to the top 50 of all time. c) Outside of these two and Ming and Ewing...what other dominate center is there or was there in the past 15 years? My point here is that if Ming is even in the top 5 of centers in 2-3 years that will be enough for most with the talent on this current team.
I believe it's actually the trapezoid offense. If I remember correctly, the offense is based on Steve having the ball at the top, with two players on either wing. Steve is meant to create off the dribble, and as he moves the players on the wings adjust to either screen for him or set up for a shot. With this offense (which I don't necessarily like), a 7'5 shooter does more good than a lumbering post-up threat. If Rudy insists on running this offense, then Ming is easily the best choice, especially considering he could end up being a major defensive presence. However, if Rudy isn't too insistent on the Trapezoid offense then we might want to get a post player (Kandi) and run a more traditional offense.
I'm pretty sure that was said in jest. BTW, NBA rules state that at least 1 player is to be below the free throw line extended. I know you're against drafting Ming, which is fine, but you're pulling things out your posterior, now.
<i>I don't know how many of you remember, but a month ago there was talk about a new offense that Rudy had created, I think it was the pentagon offense</i> Wow, the pentagon! That's got to be even more complicated than the triangle offense, it must be good! Maybe it's called the pentagon because our offense has about as much movement as a large government office complex. <i>We want to draft a new Center, who doesn't know English, won't be here until the season starts, and is going to be paid mad cash and have a struggling frong court and the entire Franchise depending on him to help us get to the playoffs. them? </i> Here's a quote for you: <b>Yao understands a lot of English, certainly anything that would be said on a basketball court, and he can speak some, but right now he prefers a translator. </b> http://www.espn.go.com/magazine/vol3no26ming.html <i> What's he going to do when Steve, Moochie, and Rudy call plays and he doesn't understand </i> You doubt that after a couple of weeks, he'd know the playbook better than Kelvin Cato? <i>So many people here are drooling over the belief that Ming will dominate. Well he could if he was a 7'5" power player, but he isn't. Ming is a finese player and he needs to have plays called for him to be able to get open for jumpers and 3 pointers. He's not Olajuwon, we can't dump the ball down low and expect him to dream shake his way to a pretty layup. He's not Shaq, so we can't expect him to just muscle his way to the basket for an easy dunk</i> That's the beauty of it, he doesn't have to dominate to be a great help to us. Offensively, he can flat out shoot and that's one of the things that we need. We don't neccessarily need him to create his own shot in order to be effective. Olajuwon had to create his own shot because nobody else on the team could. We have Francis and Mobley. If Ming can hit an open 15 to 18 footer, then opposing centers will have to come out and play him and open up lanes for Francis and Mobley to penetrate. If our guards had a reliable shooter to kick the ball to on penetrations, then our offense would be much better. <i>Do we really want to use the #1 on this guy, he's not going to be Rookie of the year, infact, it's pretty rare for the #1 to be ROY. </i> Pretty rare, huh? Let's see '90 Robinson, '92 Coleman, '93 Johnson, '94 Webber, '97 Iverson, '98 Duncan, '99 Brand. So, 7 out of the last 11 rookie of the year winners were #1 overall choices. If you think that 7 out of 11 is rare, then I need to invite you to my next poker game. <i> Did anyone expect Vince Carter to be ROY? Where did Mike Miller get picked? What about Gasol? If we trade the pick, we will get a guy who will be a part of this team when we need him here to learn. A guy who has a shot to be ROY and added to that we will get a good veteran player</i> What difference does it really make if he's rookie of the year or not? It's not like we're going to challenge for a title next year,no matter who we acquire. We're building for 2 to 3 years down the road. It doesn't really matter who has a better rookie year. Mark Jackson ('88), Derrick Coleman ('91), Damon Stoudamire ('96) and Mike Miller ('01) were all rookies of the year. Hakeem, Kobe, Garnett, Barkley, Nowitzki and Paul Pierce weren't rookie of the year. So, what does that mean? <i>His avg in the Asian championships was like 13.4 ppg and only 10.5 ppg in the olympics. </i> Only 10.5 ppg, man...he must suck, anybody any good should average more than that! Here's a few more scoring averages from the Sydney Games: Vince Carter 14.2 Kevin Garnett 10.8 Alonzo Mourning 10.2 Antonio McDyess 7.6 Sharif Abdur-Rahim 6.4 Jason Kidd 6.0 Gary Payton 5.5 Hopefully, we won't acquire any of those bums either.
Actually... if the Rockets take Ming, I'm sure I'll argue he's among the greatest centers in the game... if the Rockets don't take Ming, I'll say I told you so when he sucks for some other team. Either way.....I WIN!!! see how it all evens out for me???
aelliot: Impressive. Nice job. I heard recently from several different people that Rudy has already changed a big chunck of the offense. The word is that his playbook will be dramatically different than in previous years to accomodate the changes in defenses around the league as well as the skills of the players. I have no idea what that means, but it should surprise no one. As bad as they were last year, injuries or not, everything should be up for re-interpretation.
aelliott made a number of very good points. It takes most great players a number of years to lead their teams to championships... as a fan I'm not asking Ming to LEAD us to a championship, I'm asking him to be a part of the puzzle, I'm asking Steve and Cat to lead since they assume this is their team. I'm hoping they can take us to the next level now that we have a goalie playing D and a offensive center who has some court sense and a nice touch.
Do any of you Ming haters have any real reasons to pass on Ming that is based on facts and not opinion? You know like he has a history of injuries? No wait that's Odom. How about he has off court issues. No that's Odom too. How about his contract is up next year and he will want big money. Dam that's Odom too! Well let’s see what can we find wrong with Ming? Let's look at the facts. He is 7'6" around 300 lbs, only 21 years old, he's very athletic and mobile for a big man, already has a well developed shot with range out to the three point line, passing is considered one of his strength's, he is very humble and intelligent, has not only a good work habit but a love for the game. I'm sorry but when was the last time there was a center with this many positives in the draft? I wish just one of you would come up with a legitimate reason to pass Ming. All your silly arguments are based on speculation. Nellie, Wang is reaching the prime of his career and Ming is still just a kid. Ming is already considered the better player of the two and he is 4 years younger. Oski, common comparing him to Shaq and Hakeem? PLEASE…… you have a lot learn. Outcast you should get a job working for Miss Cleo. You know since you know how to pick the next Tracy Macgrady, Vice Carter, or Elton Brand.
And you point is what exactly? Ming will get accostomed to the NBA faster than Wang because he is younger? If anything that will slow him down even more.
I think the offense was the HEXAGON offense if I remember correctly. AS for MING, we've gotta give the big fella a chance.I like Butler too but this guard oriented bull crap will kill us in any playoffs to come.If he can change shots, get rebounds and outlet for a break and draw the defense out, then that is what this team needs most.We have scorers and if Ming can become a halfway low post threat, the rockets will become a better team.
Good points aelliott, but I have a problem with your ppg stat comparison. I don't know how many minutes Yao played per a game, but I do know that with the U.S., players were rotated in much more often so obviously one player won't average 30 ppg even though any one of them could have. China didn't have as much talent level obviously, so if you could find out how many minutes Yao played that would help. Also, I agree that his ability to make jumpshots to pull out centers will help greatly, but we still need inside toughness. He doesn't have an inside game as of now. That is one of his biggest faults. If he can't bang down low offensively, how will he defensively. Don't just point at his legs and say that'll will help him keep position. The game is much more physical and even if he can help on the offense, his one-on-one defense will be a liability. He will help with weak-side shot blocking, but we still need a consistent inside presence to clog up the lane on the defensive end. Agree???
Open your mind a little and release some of that negativity and maybe you will get it. Mings game has already progressed past Wangs and he is 4 years younger. How any 21 year old 7+ footers are out there that are better basketball players than Wang?
Actually, ya'll are all wrong. It was the Tetrahedron offense, and this is how it works: You have a passing big man (Yao) at the top of the key, surrounded by three Rockets, two on the wings and one fighting for position in the low post. The fifth is on the sidelines b****ing at the ref about a bad call.
