MJ "He's getting better and better,'' said Michael Jordan, who scored eight points in 30 minutes. "I think his footwork is better than people thought. He's going to get even better as he gets used to playing in the NBA and this type of competition.'' "I think (adding Yao) plugged a lot of big holes that they had last year in terms of productivity in that center spot," Jordan said. "And defensively, he can definitely block shots and plug up that center position. It's going to help them a whole lot because they have the perimeter guys and they just needed that big figure in the center. "Can they compete with the Lakers? That's a different story." SF "It's all the difference in the world," Steve Francis said. "I don't have to go out and get hammered every day. I can go out and play back to back, play 44 minutes without a struggle because we got a guy in the middle -- I'm not saying he's dominating like Shaq (O'Neal) -- but he's doing a good job holding the middle down for us. He did a marvelous job in there." YM "My confidence is growing,'' Yao said. "Of course, playing well has increased my confidence, but there's a lot of season left. I have been surprised, but it's only been 10 games. I've improved most on defense, learning the three-second rules, and my timing is getting better.'' RT "He played a team game,'' Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "He got us going early. He passed the ball real well. We're running a skeleton offense with him right now, but he still gets us really good shots.''
I especially like Francis' quote. It's definitely good for the team that Steve doesn't have to shoulder the scoring load now. Ming is making the Rockets offense more balanced. Can someone explain what Rudy said about a skeleton offense?
Me means we are running a base offense. Minimal. Nothing other than the nuts and bolts. Like the frame of a house that is not completed yet. Much more of the playbook to add. Basic and simple. No more than the fundamentals. If you had a crew of workers at your job and you were used to 10 workers for a job, but you can do the same work with 8 workers, then you have a *skeleton crew*. Minimal amount for the job. He is saying the entire playbook is not yet installed.
He is saying that they have still only managed to implement the basics of the offense. For now, Yao Ming is getting by on talent, and the fact the rest of the league doesn't have a "book" on his tendencies yet. As the year goes on, the opponents will start to catch up. However, the Rockets will hopefully have integrated their full offense by then, including plays designed to take advantage of YM's skills.
I sort of figured it was something like that. So the Rockets have toned down their offense now that Yao Ming's logging more minutes? That's pretty interesting. I'd love to see what the Rockets can do once they can use the whole playbook.
Well, anytime you start something new, you are going to make it simple. Not complex. The more you do the simple things well, the more you add. The entire playbook is going to take quite some time to fully digest. It's really just common sense. I know certain terms are a little strange sounding. I am Asain myself. My mother learned how to speak English AFTER I was born. Some slang terms always seemed to *throw her for a loop*.
