GO MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!! There! Now let's calm down a little and be rational. Cato is such a good team player, of course he won't whine. Ming should start for his development's sake, but shouldn't play a lot of minutes b/c of all the wear and tear to his body during the summer. Just a thought. In the tradition of Chinese martial art, the training of strength and posturing of the lower body is one of the most fundamental disciplines. When you do it right, you are supposed to be unmovable even by a bigger and stronger opponent. There's a good chance (just speculating) that they teach it to athletes in China, especially those in contact sports. If so, Yao won't be pushed around in the NBA from the start, as so many people predict.
Cato doesn't care i think rudy has already told him the plan. Anyway as long as cato is getting paid he won't care.
This is one of those non-serious discussion threads, I think. Oh man, I bet any minute now someone is going to come in and post a song, but with made up Rockets-related lyrics put in. I hate those! I want to start some kind of petition that puts a stop to those things.
I think it will be decided if Ming will start or not after the coaching staff sees what he can do during training camp and preseason. If Ming looks to be the better rebounder and scorer on the inside, I think Rudy will make the right decision and give him the starting position
I don't think that it really matters if he starts or comes off the bench. It might be even better for publicity if he comes off the bench, since the game starts and you're dieing for Ming to get in, then all of a sudden he stands up and heads towards the scorers table, and they announce "checking into the game for the Rockets, number 11 Yao Ming!". That will be awesome. Even though the first game isn't a home game, it will still be great.
Along the lines of the reservations of Invisible Fan and of ROXTXIA about letting Steve know it's still 'his' team: starting Ming if he shows that he's not ready would be a bad, bad move for team chemistry. As a player, I would question the brass' commitment to winning instead of to marketing and I instantly would take a disliking to the privileged rookie--at least, it would take some very good coaching to convince me it would be best for the team.
