So he passed to someone that looked like they had a better shot? How come our rookie center understands this and our veteran guards don't?
There are players with bad attitudes throughout the whole league. Brown didn't play because he didn't play well on the floor, not any off the court distraction. Kwame didn't look good, but as much of a novel concept as it may be to some people, players actually do improve from their first week in the NBA and third week in the country.
It's strange. I've been watching the games too. I've seen our veteran guards pass the ball and instigate ball movement. I've seen times when they haven't too, but I've definitely seen times when they have. I've also seen Steve Francis set people up with layups and they miss the layups. He's set up people who are supposed to be good jump shooters with wide open jumpers and they miss those too.
What are you talking about???? Oh my bad, I see what your trying to say... LOL! Man give Yao and the Rox's more time... I hate that we picked him but I have to at least wait 2 seasons before I write him off. After all he is a Rocket now love it or hate it!
I just cant get past the fact that we could have had a rookie project like Skita, Hialrio, or Dunleavy and Lamar Odom on this team this year. Ming will be good in a season or two, but this team had a chance to be a contender starting this year and we blew it. I'm here in the west coast and if any of you really want trade Yao for Dunleavy, be my guest... Oh yeah, here's what he's done so far after 5 games for the Warriors... he's averaging 15 minutes per game, have shot 3 for 25 from the field (ouch!that's 12% from the field...) and averaging 3.2 pts a game. Before the draft many sports talk show hosts out here were saying he was the next Larry Bird and he should be the #1 pick, not Yao.... and that the warriors got a steal. I still believe with Yao's work ethic, skill, and physical size, he'll will be the best player from this draft. Everybody wants to win now, but if you seriously want a skilled big man down in the post to compliment Steve and Cat, you have to give Yao more time. At least come to your conclusion after the all-star break... He's not Hakeem or Shaq, but if he can be something resembling a young Sabonis in a year of two, that'd be awesome.
What do you mean what game am I watching???? I taped the damn thing. When Yao got his two or three touches in the post. seattle double teamed him and Yao passed to the open man, but instead of moving the ball around, mobley, or francis or whoever got Yao passes would just hold on to the ball and do another play. There needs to be ball movement with a center like this. and what do you mean by give the kid some time? I have never crititized' Yao Ming's play Are you stupid?
Who was it who was giving me a hard time for saying Yao might be a bust? Now it's becoming clear that Yao is not the wonder freak many people fell in love with. Some of us have been watching/playing basketball enough to understand that Yao was a project. He still is a project. And he is years away from becoming anything. He's still slow, not strong, and his basketball IQ has not developed. It takes YEARS. Yao should get less, not more minutes. He needs to earn his minutes like anyone else. He has shown us one thing: Yao Ming is not ready for NBA basketball. Actually, he's just confirmed what many of us have known even before he was drafted. Anyway, the Rockets should rest him and just let him do weight training and the occasional practice. Elsewise his body will be useless in 2 years.
I have to admit that I am little disappointed with how Yao Ming has played so far. I know he is a rookie and needs time, but I think he could make more of an impact in the game now. Obviously, he has skills. He has shown us flashes of them in the past few games. I think one thing he could do on his own is change his attitude. He needs to be more aggressive in his play. That alone would make an improvement. I think he has dunked the ball one (maybe two) times successfully since he has started playing. I have seen him near the basket where he tries to lay it up unsuccessfully. However being that close, he needs to go in aggressively and dunk the ball. Forget laying it up!! Laying it up softly only gives the defense a chance to block it. I guess aggressiveness comes with confidence. Being a rookie, he must not have that confidence. I still believe in Yao Ming's potential and enjoy watching him play. I guess time will tell.
I believe you wrote "...when Yao got the ball in the post Seattle was double teaming him (like they did to Hakeem in his years here). Yao provides open shots for his teammates." Try reading that statement again maybe try reading it out loud. If you still think that statement is accurate maybe it's just because you have a brain the size of a frozen pea.
Rudy just needs to give Yao more minutes and tell him to shoot the ball rather than be a defensive 'roamer' that covers up for other people's mistakes (see game summaries on yaomingmania.com where they document almost every play he's involved with). Those kind of minutes and emphasis will tell us where he is. He had a decent game against Toronto and proven he needs to be given the same amount of playing time, and be allowed to shoot the ball. Once he's given that opportunity, we'll find out what stage he's at. Numerous basketball experts have told us that the new international players have passed new American pro players up when it comes to baskeball skills. No longer can we be arrogant and say we have the best basketball players--witness the 6th place finish of the American team this year! They kicked our ass! I hate it when we Americans are still so self-absorbed to say that foreign players need to learn the game when they've already proven they have caught up to us, and arguably are better basketball players with better fundamentals. They may not make the highlight reels as often, but they are disciplined and learn more aspects of the game than our ballplayers who spend more time learning how to dunk and trying to get on Sportscenter's Plays of the Week.
What are you talking about... did you watch Kwame play at all last year? Kwame's "attitude" didn't get in the way in the sense that he talked back to Collins, or refused to work, or started smokin' up in the team bus. The only reason Kwame's ass sat on the bench was his poor play. He was awful in his time on the court last year, shooting an incredibly poor 38% from the floor (for a F/C?), and couldn't rebound. He wasn't exactly a stick, but he looked like he had zero skills. *NOW*, in hindsight, we can blame this lack of performance on his frustrations... although he, in his most recent comments, just keep saying that he's more "comfortable" this year. If/when Yao Ming becomes more "comfortable", then we should expect the same type of performance from him.
I can't even imagine what you guys would be complaining about if we hadn't gotten lucky as hell and gotten the #1 pick. We could have easily been sitting with a #9 or #10. Ming will be a great center. He probably will be a great center soon (2-3 years). From the posts, it appears that most of you are sensible enough to take a breath and let the guy learn the NBA game, but it blows my mind that some of you are saying that he should be an impact right now. Everyone needs to sit down, open up a beer and let this 1st half unfold itself. Don't get all disgruntled when Shaq dunks on the kid in a couple of weeks. It will happen! Shaq can dunk on anyone...period (still hate the guy though). He's a rookie for pete's sake. We have veteran's that will lead our team back into the playoffs. Yao will increasingly see more minutes as the season progresses and his teammates will slowly start to trust him. He's not getting the touches because frankly he's still lost out there on the court. 4 games! That's all the regular season games he's played....4. Let's talk about this after the playoffs this year. At least wait until mid-season to judge the guy. Oh and the report that he weighs 249. No way. I don't buy that for a second. If it actually exists I would say that it has been transposed and was suppossed to be 294 which would be down 2 lbs from this summer. Chris
I am surprise that certain buddies here demand for more plays run for Yao Ming. It's quite a norm for a rookie playing as suportive role, even he got enormous potential. Yao Ming is not showing exceptional performance at the moment, there is no reason he deserve an exception. "Respect is something you earn, not something someone gives to you,'' Yao said. Well say, be patient. He will earn the respect finally. KH
Why is everyone so anxious to win RIGHT NOW? Our core group of players are all under 27-28 years old (Rice being the exception, but I dont consider him a vitale part of this team). We have time to learn and grow as a team. Its not like our window of opportunity will only be this year and next year.
If they don't start winning now,they will get demoralized quickly.Nobody is expecting miracles but getting to the playoffs is a realistic goal.
Yao got some skills, i was really suprised when i saw him did that hop shot and that layup at last saturday night's game vs Toronto, u know that's kind of shots Hakeem made when he was at top of his career, and 22-years-old Yao made them looks so smooth!! that boy got games, just give the kid some times, he will be kicking it after few month.
