The big giant has surely dunked the english language, whereas early in his career he would get stuffed by the figurative rim. I think there are probably a lot of times Yao regrets showing his cards to people. He probably wishes he had just maintained the "Great Wall". Well anyway, Yao has a new translator. He is paid for by the Rockets. He is a very smart analytical guy who has basketball knowledge and strong intelligence and humor. He knows Yao and his game well and will really be making a lot of contributions in the releasing of Yao back into the wild. Because our river surely has new salmon now. A lot of these guys (and whomever we bring in) Will have no knowledge or basis of playing with a man of Yaos size and skill. Add the unknown of his health and conditioning. Will his game be there? And all the while, your hoping to get a couple healthy years and make a run for a ring. Aaron and Kyle are point guards that have played limited time with Yao and are somtimes young in their decision making. Martin is the guy that could make Yao dangerous, and vice versa. There games seem that they will mesh and compliment each other very well. We have the firepower. But its combining that and Yao, and making that work so we can be successful next year. Just like Yao had to learn english, he has to come in and learn how these guys play. What his role will be and what adjustments he has to make to his game. The value of Shane Battier is extremely high (to the Rockets) unless we do not feel we are contenders the next two years. Shane Battier is a good post passer and he is a great team defender. I believe his knowledge and ability in regards to team defense + Yao will lead to a resurgence in our Defense next year. You could say Yao is the most unprecedented (size, skill, etc) player to ever enter the NBA. And he goes away for many moons, and comes back to a new team and partially a new philosophy. Having Shane Battier be there to "translate" as far as offense and defense and smooth the blending of Yao into the slurry is key. I think Shane had his worst year as a pro, but I am betting on him to bounce back. Championship next year.
Dude you could totally write for NY POST. You wrapped me in hoping for actual information on the new translator, and then you switched gears totally into a new topic. What happened to Colin Pine?
I thought he was going to learn to speak Spanish. ¡Ay, no! ¡El problema del pívote grande!! (es lo que ELLA dijo )
Yao- "Me gusta el "read and react defense" Shane- "Si.... pero porque, tu eres muy grande y espacio porque es bueno para ti?" Yao- " Porque cuando yo eres corrida on el piso, no nino esta alli, no nada" Shane- "Nino eres Tmac?" Dikembe- "SI, Yo quiero Galletas, Yo eres Galleta monster" Sorry, thats my restaurant spanish at work.
there is no such thing as half black. you either are or you aren't. now you can be half african american. but not half black.
I think we are really getting ahead of ourselves with the notion that Yao will totally be the answer to the Rockets problems. I believe that the Rockets management are showing their commitment to him now in order to show goodwill so he will not even think about free agency. Looking at the track record of Morey since he got here, there is always a back up contingency plan just in case a player needs to be moved or gets injured again. Putting his eggs all in one basket doesnt make any sense to a guy like him. Morey knows they need to be prepared to win without Yao, and he will make the moves to see that they are better next year even without Yao, should that be the case. Marketing Yao is the right thing for the organization to do from a business perspective. Unlike some of the other GMs in the business, these guys went to business school and know how to market their team.
Dobro- No one is saying that, and as the OP neither was that my intent. In fact, my opinion on Yao has been that he will probably get re-injured fairly quickly. Personally I think he is too big. The idea of the thread is this. If Morey is thinking that we get Yao back, for a couple years of good health @ 25 min a game and then make a run for a ring, we will need Battiers smarts on both ends and his extensive knowledge of playing with Yao, to encorporate him into the game and players we have now. Its important we hit our stride early next year, because there is a good chance we struggle at first because of Yao coming back and whatever other changes we may make. (Assuming Yao can be healthy)
