This. Some folks are saying that the Rockets are moving on or should move on without Yao. My question to them is- move on to where? I suppose they think that just because they play video games and, swap/trade players as they please, it is the same thing with reality. The reality is what happened in the offseason wherein DM "The Wiz" went after Bosh and every star player you can imagine, but came up empty even when he had a full deck of tradeable cards in his hands.
It has ZEROE to do with video games. And EVERYTHING to do with what players you target. Whether you get them or not has no relevance. You can't straddle the fence. And you can't make assumptions on health. Assumptions of health is precisely what got them into this mess in the first place. At this point, it is mind-bogglingly ignorant for anyone to bank on even an 80% Yao. This should be cold-shower eye-opening to anyone who watched him fall to the ground on a routine play during his "24 mpg / no back-to-backs" tour. The current NBA IMHO is about PG play and having some semblance of basket protecting shot blocking (as in what Bogut just did to them and he's not all that mobile). A handful of posters here may have knowledge of what deals have been floated. But for those of us that don't, it's not a question of "we didn't get Bosh so we won't get anybody". It's a philosophy that the Yao Train has left the platform. And it's time to catch the next one regardless of where it's headed. If you don't learn from the past, you are doomed to repeat it. And that repeat function is spelled l-o-t-t-e-r-y.
Right, excuse me. Purposely leaving out 7'3"-7'4 people is not a sample bias. Oh yeah, and picking THE ONE big guy who had THE EXACT SAME INJURY AND SURGERY is sample bias too. A special surgery and treatment process that only he and Yao have ever gone through. My bad.
Pretty much. Many people think I have a problem with yao, but I truly don't. I just think its time to move on from this in and out situation we're in. There are many who talk about his past dominance which he never was, but he was a high end player. The rockets don't need that to proceed forward and construct a team that can achieve more success than the one previously. I would rather have a younger,mobile guy like marc gasol and obtain other players at other positions than to continue to try to build player who can play with yao. Gasol is a guy who can get you 15-10-3asst-1.5 blks and shoot well enough from the field and ft line. What he can also do is allow adelman to play the style of ball he wants offensively because gasol is a good passer and doesn't clog the baseline. I'd rather have gasol at 8-10m vs yao at anything close to that price personally.
Morey seems to working under the assumption that Yao will return to peak form or at least close to it. If you believe he's absolutely wrong, being a Rockets fan can only seem like an exercise in futility for the foreseeable future.
There you spelled it. How many times, or better yet, how many more years or decades do you want to spell it? How smart or how foolish is it to take a ride on a train that is headed to nowhere? Aren't you just suggesting the historical repeat of the Rockets' journey to mediocrity since the championship years? Assumptions on health? How many people thought that Brandon Roy is just about finished as a player this early in his career? Did anybody foresee that? The long NBA season is a great crapshoot on health of every player with significant minutes so there is a lot of assumption and hoping for the best involved. You don't make any sense, and if you think getting rid of Yao makes any sense and proves your "non assumption" right then you might really be into the video fantasy games more than I would think.
From Feigen's blog... Jonathan, Any updates on Yao and AB? On the radio broadcast last night they mentioned a few weeks more for Yao and AB a little before. (Sounds about right. It's tough to guess on Yao. They want him to be stronger in that area. Tough to say how long that takes. I chatted with him yesterday and he knew nothing more than last week. Brooks has been working out pretty hard. It looked like he might be cleared to practice this week. -- Jonathan) Sounds like Yao and maybe AB will miss all of December which means the team NEEDS to get to .500 for their return to matter much this season unless it's to showcase for trades.
Yeah, exactly my point. It is easy to point to one player and dream about how he will make the Rockets the championship contenders in fantasyland. First of all, it is easier to get all of these fantasy players when you play the video games than if you play on the field of reality. Secondly, Gasol has not taken the Griz anywhere so what makes you think he will take the Rockets anywhere? Secondly, how do you even get Gasol or any significant player to play for the Rockets? Video games?
Where has Yao taken the rockets? Nowhere last I checked. To answer your other question, the rockets can let Yao walk or he retires and sign gasol in the offseason. There is something called team building in case you didn't know. When the lakers traded Shaq for grant,odom,and butler, do you think they thought those guys would lead them to a ring? They got odom(talent),butler(young talent) and the contract of grant to match. They turned butler into brown into gasol. If the rockets got gasol, their center is set for the next 5 years and they could continue building the rest of the team either via trades,draft,or free agency.
The list I used wasn't my own list. I linked to it. And it's hard and fast...the break off is entirely on height...no other criteria. It's the entire universe of players who played at 7'5" or taller. It's the discussion we had here before we even drafted him....that the career trajectories of men playing with the force they do at that height are all very similar...and Yao has been following that trajectory. I think you have to consider Ilgauskus' recovery, absolutely. I've never completely dismissed that. But you also have to consider that Ilgauskus isn't part of the universe of players who played over 7'5" who shared very distinct similarities regarding reduced minutes with careers ending in their early-30's. I get paid for my "argument skills" so don't tell anyone. shhhhh..... :grin: Why does everything get so personal in the GARM? It's like the debate and discussion thread, except the crap people get upset about there actually matters.
Yao has been given plenty of chances. He's a great guy, and makes the team better when he plays. Sadly it's been shown that we can't rely on him playing with enough regularity to have consistency. If we can get something decent for him in a trade we should do it. If there was a way to keep him at a much lower salary then do that. If he'd like to retire, I'd love to give him a different job with the Rockets. But there's no way he's worth huge money when his overall contribution to the team just doesn't warrant it. I really wish things were different. With a Yao that could play close to the top of his game for 67 or more games a year these Rockets would be a real threat. But it looks like that will never be possible.
leebigez, you are seriously underrating Yao, his injury problems give you the right to complain and advocate for the end of this era, but let's not undermine what Yao the player can or has given this team. Where has Yao taken this team? Yeah factually nowhere, but even for little he has given this team the luxury to have had the best center in the league, it's a shame nothing was accomplished on that account. Marc Gasol is nowhere near getting that good. /end of rant.
I appreciate Yao and the exposure and attention he brought the Rox but if you ask every GM in the league who they rather have for the next 5 years, Yao or M.Gasol, the answer would be pretty lopsided in Gasol's favor. Appreciate the past but move into the future or you'll get stuck in the present.
That's simply what I wanted to observe in my last post. All I'm saying is you gotta pay Yao his dues. I will rephrase: "his injury problems give you the right to complain and advocate for the end of this era, but let's not undermine what Yao is."
He "purposefully" left out all NBA players shorter than Yao. Your argument isn't invalid, neither is his. No need for you to stomp your feet and get mad about it. And as much as I've never liked the dots system....declaring that one of the most senior and one of the most highest rated posters here is worthless does nothing but make you look bad. Yao's frame is always going to make it tougher for him to stay on the court.
Well said. I think the franchise and Morey are making a huge mistake here on out building the team around Yao. Agree that he did get hurt on a routine play and thats very scary. Its delusional to think he won't get hurt like that again. This team needs some true shotblockers in the worst way.
i can't believe that no one has mentioned mark eaton yet. the guy was 7'4", about 280 lbs and played until he was 36 years old. he played about 32 mpg in his 30s and missed just 6 games in that time before his retirement season.
