The Dallas and Utah series: where was Yao? Ever wonder why the Rockets lost to so many bad teams last season? We did better with Yao on the bench last year in the 4th. A great 1st half player but definitely not the guy to get over any hump. Dumping Yao and picking up Amare would put us up there at championship level.
One of the players with the injury is the hardest working players in the NBA, while the other is not and has known to have the opposite tendency.
From a basketball standpoint, we should have dumped him long ago. It shows that he's a scrub when a 100 year old mutombo can replace him with no dropoff. Yao is not worth anywhere near his salary even when he does play. From a business standpoint, it won't happen. If you were the owner, why would you give up all that money to have a somewhat better shot at winning the title? The Rockets are a perennial playoff team with or without Yao. It's a lot smarter for him to bill the Rockets as a contender while cashing in on the azns than it is to make the moves that would actually make the Rockets a contender. Unless Yao signs a sweetheart deal with an already stacked team, he's NEVER getting a ring.
To trade Yao Ming--Our Franchiser Player we would of course indeed have to have another Franchise Player in return!! So will the Cavs trade us Le Bron or will Orlando trade us Howard? Trading Yao would demand at least a player at this level as one would not only be trading Yao Ming but also China itself and all that goes with it. Of course if I had my say Yao Ming would not even be mentioned as a trade possibility. I still thnk that his best is yet to come! PS It will require a coach who can incorporate the assets of Yao into his team plan. Possibly Adelman might not be able to do this!
I love Yao personally. Humble and subtly funny, a great ambassador for Houston maybe as good in that capacity as Dream. However he is 7'6 and has bad feet, so if someone who Yao would be marketing GOLD for like Golden State offers you a ton for him, you listen, period.
Pull your head out of your buttocks. What does Pau have to do with anything? He is a 10 X better than Yao as in he's mobile and is a perfect fit for the triangle. Nobody wants to drive around with you in a mercedes that totaled, meaning the Lakers would have to be stupid to do it. And the Game 1 ex.? wth dude? You do realize that the only reason it went to 7 games was B.C of Yao getting injured. Game 1 Yao was matched with Bynum not Pau. Portland example: Yea we won a playoff series, i don't know about you but 8 teams get past the 1st round every year, and Aaron Brooks, Ron Artest, Landry, Lowry, Wafer had more to do with it. And are you seriously going to say this? It seems common sense is not very common. You see, if we lead by your example, and Yao is watching the games instead of PLAYING in them, as has been the case time after time...nothing you are saying is worth a damn. Yao Ming is a not an elite player. He is an injury prone player who we might assimilate into our offense later on, off the bench or w.e. But he is not in our plans for a championship due to the sporadic nature of his health.
My point exactly. But Yao does make this team better if he remians healthy. But then unicorns live on the moon also. Besides, this is an evoloving game, there is no room for rigid, immobile big men like Yao. Teams find a way to shut him down so we never hear from him again... I don't know what I'll do if I ever have to watch a game where I see us dribbling up the court and spend the entire shot clock trying to get the ball to Yao.
I wonder what Mediocrity truly is then. The Phoenix suns of 07 made it to the conf finals, and they argue that they were mediocre since they couldn't make it to at least the finals. Yet alone First round exits, and please don't say that Yao was the reason. Penetration from Aaron Brooks/Artest and bench play were the only things that changed.
It's a good question and we will probably discuss this further down the line but it's too early. He is not an expiring contract until next season; this season is still in its early stages. I don't understand why he keeps popping up in threads when he isn't relevant at all until next season. We still have a long ways to go before this season ends.
Yao is so soft. He's had the ball stripped by a point guard way too many times. And he is a non-factor on offense and defense in the 4th quarter. Those are not hallmarks of a franchise player. The team lost so many games to bad teams when McGrady couldn't muster the strength in the 4th to close out games and eventually once he left. The team played better without Yao in the 4th.
You haven't been observing many Rocket's games, because if you had you would have noticed one of our weeknesses has had been our inability to get the ball into Yao Ming. The reason for this is because most of our Point Guards have been shoot first and pass late.( For example Steve Francis). So we have never have spent the whole time trying to get the ball to Yao. Infact the only decent playmaker since Robet Hory is Tracy McGrady. Mc Grady is the only Rocket's Guard since the start of Yao's career who has the ability to pass the ball into Yao. (I have observed the Rockets for 27 years and every Yao Ming Game)
Where was Landry? Where was Luis? Yao is a much better player, and in your original post, you said nothing of Amare. Obviously he is a better fit... Yao can be 100% dominant. Don't forget how damn good he really is when healthy... That said, I am fine with a youth movement of sorts.
"should" the world have peace and never have war? "should" everyone in the world be rich and not even know hunger exists? this is as meaningless as it gets. if you're gonna put up a poll, at least put up some thoughts or proposals. if there is no plausible trading scenarios, asking "should they" is as empty as a wanderer's stomach.
Um, at this point any one who calls Yao a "franchise" player is leaving in dreamland. I'm not a Yao hater by any means (he and Tmac are my two fav players in the league), but a franchise player is someone who gets you over the hump and carries the team, not someone who always watches from the sideline because he's injured. A healthy Yao would no doubt help this team a lot, however what would the chances of this be happening? I hope that Yao won't demand the max, and just resign for an amount between 10-12 mill a year. He's just not worth more IMHO.
If you had been watching you would finally realize that cascades of players and 2 diff coaches aren't the problem no matter how long you try to project it on them. And this isn't a knock on you friend, kudos to your rocket pride but at a certain point you can't remain in denial and ignorance any longer. And I believe it stems from the fact he can't seal his man properly, gets mutilated by the player that guards him and doesn't get the calls, and that he is too slow. And the reason tracy can do it is because he holds the ball the entire time and: A.) Jacks up a fadeaway B.) Passes it to Yao He is a ball stopper and it kills the offense.
Yao deserves a lot of criticism but his playing level shouldn't be one of them. I originally thought Yao was a complete bust when we picked him and he performed way beyond my expectations. His health on the other hand drives me crazy. By the way, I always believed Tmac was the better player than Yao. How much we pay them reflect this as well (23m for Tmac) and (16m for Yao) this year. 20/10 7"6 center for 16m isn't a bad price if he was healthy.
Would you rather have decent food every night that is guaranteed. Or Pizza/Cake that you may get a number of months through out the year? And you are looking at it too linear, Carl/ Luis add to the Style of play and system. Yao castrates it.
