I'm calling it now. These two will develop a real chemistry on the court. They seem all buisness. I think their games will compliment each other. Yao is supposed to be a good passer for a big fella and Griffin will benefit from this. I imagine they will be on the court a bit at the same time as well. You know Rudy is goign to be loyal to Mo and give him big minutes, and like it or not, for at least the begining of the season, Yao is going to be brought on slowly. I hope they rotate in together. In the future they will occupy more and more court time. They both bave long arms and are quick shot blockers. It will be dangerous for guards to run among those trees. They should also be able to dominate the glass against many teams. I think Griff will understand the pressure more than any other player on the team and seems to be quiet himself. You have two you guys that have something to prove and lots of talent in limited minutes giving it everything they have. Sure this is based more on a gut feeling, but I these two will become a special pair on the court.
I'm calling it now. Sure, this is based more on a gut Nostradamus feeling; but as part of our monthly ritual, someone is going to tell us how to spell "complimentary" correctly in this thread.
I could imagine that the two will develop a court chemistry because their respective games will compliment each other. On the other hand, it might be hard for Yao and the rest of this team to develop off-the-court chemistry. I don't see these guys being able to hang out together, at least not right away, assuming the cultura, national, and languistic barriers that will be faced. This could hurt the team in the beginning. I think that, given a season or two, this will change, and the rest of the Rockets will notice how good he can make this team, and begin to work through the differences to build some needed chemistry.
Sorry for the typo, and the point isn't so much that I am making a "prediction". I just want to see these two play together.
Kobe and Shaq don't hang out, neither to Stockton and Malone. Cat and Francis need to feel close to people off the court. they want to be able to play and joke around. I don't think Yao and Griff (especially Griff) will need this to play well together. Our backourt's closeness has caused some players to feel left out in the past (Hakeem, Shanderson).
Man, i agree. Our interior defense will be so much better with those 2 guys in there as well as rebounding. Your "prediction" will be right but (and there's always a but) do you think griffin and ming will the stamina to last through the second half of the season and most likely the playoffs.
They are both young, so I am not too worried about them getting worn out. Yao has had more excersice this summer than any other Rocket, I imagine. Hopefully he isn't overworked on the Chinese team and will come over in good shape. One of the concers many had earlier, was that he would not be used to playing an 82 game season. Between his Chinese National team and CBA team games, I think he has shown that he can play for a long stretch. I think he will be ready for 25 minutes a night all year long. Griffin should be able to match that.
How can Yao Ming be tired? They only play him like 10-15 minutes most games. Maybe they are afraid he'll get hurt and they won't be able to cash in on him. Plus the guy is the NBA's first pick, wide eyed and 22 years old. Get some rest next summer...
Yao Ming is NOT a quick shotblocker. Yao Ming does NOT have very long arms. Fact is, I doubt Yao Ming would be a shotblocker at all if he were 7'0. He does block shots, and he's very good at it. But it's not from super quick reflexes, or a HUGE wingspan. He's good at it because he's samrt, and when he adjusts, he'll probably get 2.5-3 blocks a game because of his height. Griffin on the otehr hand is a natural. In other words, if someone slips by our permimeter defenders (how on earth ), then Ming and/or Griffin will wipe that mess up. I'm LOVING this "interior presence" thing we suddenlly have, lol.
Cato isn't bad either. If he did work with the coaches all summer and he practices daily with Yao Ming, he's going to improve as well. The overall competion on our frontline will help improve everyone...
Too be honest, I don't care if Yao blocks a shot at all as long as he makes players think twice about coming into the lane. The ability to change shots is most important to us because we can stop the layup drills. Judging from the WC's. Yao is definitely intimidating. I saw the US guards stop dead in their tracks on numerous occasion when they saw Yao in front of them.
