In the beginning there was rumour... I'm sure I speak for many when I say that my first impression of Yao Ming was one of intrigue and incredulity. I heard about this giant Chinese freak of a man who played ball way over there and my initial reaction was along the lines of " Wow! 7'5", but can he play? Probably not...anyway, I doubt it'll ever affect me..." And got on with my desire to see Drew Gooden or Q-Woods in a Rockets uniform one day. Then I heard, and read, that there were those who claimed he was The Next Great Thing...and there were others who said not...and I listened a little more, but still didn't take it very seriously. Then draft prognosticators for last year's draft began to specualte that, were he to clear the Red tape hurdle, he might even make a run at the no. 1 pick, over guys like Curry and Eddie, and I listened a little more. " Who is this guy? Is he another ill-fated experiment in genetics, a la Bradley, Muresan, etc., or is there something else there? " Then it was announced that he wouldn't or couldn't declare, and my doubts seemed , if not confirmed, at least temporarily supported by circumstance. Then it really began...many draft previews for this year had Ming going in the top 2 or 3, with some pie-in-the-sky roundball prophets giving him the nod for the no. 1 overall, above the seemingly destined to be sainted J-Will, and the coveted Drew Gooden, and my interest was piqued. Another step in the ongoing emergence of Yao-Mania was the seemingly unrelated progress made in Memphis. As Pau Gasol put nay-sayers to bed night after night, the unspoken but rarely questioned decree that foreign-born players who haven't proven anything on American soil rarely live up to the hype, and never immediately seemed to hold less and less water. But still, there were questions...and, besides, hating the Bulls and being indifferent to the Clippers, it remained a largely academic question, whose only effect would be to potentialy push a legit-sure-fire-born-in-the-USA-prospect further down the draft board and into our laps... And then...draft lottery day.....Glory Be, the Ming's on Me-Bop!!! Amazing!! Fantastic! Incredible! er....wait a minute...now might be a time to question who, exactly, this big fella is. I mean, now it's real, and so are the questions....And there were questions...The often jingoistic but never shy Anti-Mingers swung into action..."He's proven nothing against nobody...He's soft....He's another Bradley, Bol, or at best Smits, and that ain't no no. 1 pick....He's too tall....We need an inside presence, not another jump-shooter...He's too much of a gamble, no. 1's have to be sure things....He's just a marketing ploy..." And the Other Complaint, sometimes even spoken out loud... " He's not American, wasn't born here, didn't grow up here, didin't even go to school here...hence, he's a sure-fire flop." The fact that most of these conclusions are based on second-hand knowledge of brief glimpses, some years old, does nothing to stem the tide... On the other hand, there were 'insider' rumours that the Rockets, at least, were satisfied, and that other GM's were offering the earth and moon for the rights to take that gamble themselves, and reap the financial rewards along the way. My opinion, at this time, was something like this..." Our no. 1 need is center...the player with the biggest upside is a center...the hardest position to fill is center...the center-wise Rox brass likes this guy...we have plenty of scoring, but we need rebounding and defense, which his size alone will give us....and we are in a ticket crisis, and this guy will fill seats, and thus improve the overall health of the organization...Hmmm..seems like a no-brainer, short of being offered something ridiculous.." Then the whispers began that, for whatever reason, Steve and Cuttino didn't want this guy...or J-Will...What's that about? Are they threatened? Do they know something about Ming that we don't? Are the rumours just that, rumours? Well, needless to say, the Anti-Ming camp ate this up with a baby-spoon..."See!", they cried,"..we were right all along! This guy is nothing more than a gimmick, and Steve and the Cat won't have it!" Fast forward...rumours resolved, at least temporarily, as draft day arrives, Ming is taken, and Francis and Cat publicly adopt an optimistic wait-and-see approach. Most of us do too, but the doubts still nibble away at the back of our minds, which aren't exactly all-you-can-eat buffets for most of us anyway...Well, he's ours now, remember to exhale...We pour over clips and scouting reports from China and other places abroad...we debate the relative merits of foreign leagues vs. American highs schools...we even, for a few heady days, review the career statisitics of former NBA players now playing in the CBA, and try to arrive at some sort of equivelency standard to measure Ming's stats... Now,let's fast forward again...6-6 against Canada, but rumoured to be pushed around by smaller players...and now this, 13-11-3-6 against the USA, lead by Ben Wallace and his vow to beat the rice out of Ming, or something open-minded like that, and the nibbling seems to have gotten a lot smaller...the nay-sayers don't say nay as much...and the other side woops with joy and vindication... It's been a long and interesting road so far, and I, for one, am betting there are a few more bumps in store for us to endure, and for the Anti-Mingers to delight in, but one thing's for sure...I'm sure as hell glad I'm along for the ride... JAG
Probably one of the best 1st posts ever .. . . Rocket River except mine. . .then again . . i don't even recall my 1st post
Is it really a first post? He signed it JAG, which was the name of a moniker of someone else on this board...maybe he changed his name. Are you the old JAG poster, MacBeth?
I am relatively new on this board. I wonder how many people on this board (percentage?) voted "Draft Yao Ming" on Chronicle's poll after the Rockets won the lottery? I admitted that I voted "trade the pick for veteran" mainly because I felt that Yao was too much of a risk.
yes, Raven, this is JAG...I had to re-load Windows, and lost all my passwords, so I haven't been able to get my old moniker back...Would like to, though, but so far all my E-Mails to Clutch have gone unanswered...*sniff*... But thanks for the kind words, everyone...it feels like my first post, as I've not been able to post in months... Easy...yes, I did vote draft Ming, but even a broken clock is right six times a month...er...anyways, you know what I mean...
Why do people email Clutch for a password when the BBS will generate a new one automatically and mail it to the email address that you registered with. There's a huge message about that when you try to log in.
That was a very good post. I look back at how things have fallen in place for the rockets and I am amazed. I remember reading about how Ming could've gone pro last year if he had been cleared by the Chinese league. I didnt think much about it then either, but I am amazed at how the year Ming is eligible for the draft, we get the #1 pick in the draft. I never imagined that the rockets would get the top pick. All the pieces are in place for the rockets to win a championship. Now its up to Rudy and the coaching staff to put it all together.
