Bill Walton raving on about Yao

I just saw that on tv. It is so great to be a Rockets fan right now. Yao is on everyone's lips. Steve Franchise and the Ming Dynasty will have many great years together in Houston.

 

he loves the big man. Remember how much he loved Hakeem? That was the only time I could actually stand to listen to no knees

 

Nash just made a good pass, and Walton said something likes Nash has the court vision of guys like magic, sabonis, bird, and Yao Ming!
Walton really likes ming.

 

Really? He used to annoy the crap out of me back in the 90's when the Rockets were often on NBC; it seemed like he was always knocking the team.

Now that I see him commentating, though, I like his schtick. That Walton's World stuff he does is so weird it's funny.

 

Walton love Yao Ming

 

Walton was on Yao's badwagon earlier than most ppl in the US. I can refer you to this article on Dec 2000 a few month after the Olympics as evidence.

Huge Upside

 

Remember Walton was giving Ming props even when Ming was still playing in China. I think he was the first one to say that Yao will change the way today's NBA game is played. Gotta give him his due credit. I guess great big ballers can tell who the good/great ones are.

 

Great job Jing in getting that article. I actually have a copy of that magazine. After reading it back in 2000, I was really irritated by the fact that during this year's draft a lot of people/experts/whatever who have NOT seen him play were calling him a definite bust, while others who have watched him play and know a little about basketball (Bill Walton, Rick Barry) gave him great reviews. The disparity just didn't make sense...

 

Most impressive thing he said was that Yao is about 3 years ahead mentally amongst most NBA players. Don't know if he meant to say rookies but that is what he said.

 

Walton just called the Rockes a "team on the move." And this seemed like a random comment out of nowhere, although I admit I wasn't paying much attention until I heard the word Rockets.

 

Talk about name dropping.

If you've watched the game like I have, he's mentioned every player in NBA history from Bob Cousy to Yao Ming (about 600 times).

It's so bad his play by play man refuses to get baited into discussing anything other than whats on the floor.

Bill Walton shouldve been a thespian.

 

if walton likes ming and the rockets.. then national tv and afternoon games are back. About time we change some uniforms though... It would be nice to look good in front of thousands of viewers... and maybe billions... franchise dynasty that's just soundin soo good,,,

 

He knocked the team after the first championship like many others, and then he flip flopped when Dream made him eat his words with another championship. After that, he's been a Rockets supporter.

But I still don't like him...

 

I have never liked the guy. He is a teamrunner. But it is usually a good thing when he is talking about the Rockets - at least it was 9yrs ago.

He was going on and on about how good the Rockets/Ming/Francis are playing. That is scary. Hope he doesn't jinx us.

 

ive always liked walton. he gives credit where credit is do. he did love hakeem now he loves yao.

 

Yes Walton loved hakeem but he seems to love all Rocket big man, I remember when Jason Collier did a little turnaround jumper during a Clipper game and it was really a basic move, not even the Houston crowd cheered or anything and Walton yelled out Unbelievable Move JC, that was shades of Hakeem out there!

I don't know maybe he was being silly.

 

Here's another comment that Walton made during the Mav's game that I thought was interesting.

Bradley made a pretty nifty pass to Raef under the basket and Walton said something to the effect of "Great pass! shades of Larry Bird, shades of Yao Ming"

 

Bill Walton RULES!!!

Perhaps what I like most about Walton is that he is so knowledgable. Much more so than just about any other commentator out there. He's goofy as hell, but that just adds to his "charm" In terms of evaluating talent and making accurate analysis of players and games, there is no one better. If Bill Walton says someone will be a great player, I trust his judgement. He also, as others have said, seems to have a liking for the Rockets.

Here's an interesting bit of trivia -- when the Lakers GM made the trade for Lew Alcindor (Kareem), the Lakers' owner was trying to make a deal for Bill Walton instead. I forget their names. The owner didn't want to have to pay so much for Kareem, and was trying really hard to get Walton instead -- he went so far as to try to work out the details with Portland himself, rather than having the GM do it. It pretty much came down to who was able to get a deal done first . . . I suppose we all know what happened -- the GM got it worked out and Kareem became a Laker legend.

 

I like Walton.

He's melodramatic and goofy, but does actually know something about basketball (certainly managed to teach his son, well)... and was the rare player who happened to be physically gifted AND very smart.

He gets way too excited about people he likes. It's grating when he won't stop praising Shaq, but I think I could get used to it with Yao .