Loved it! Can't understand Rudy sitting him then. Yao just lit a fire under your team's lazy butts, and you &^%% all over it. What is up with you? I hope we see a lot more of that fire from Yao. Get Hard, Yao! Be the dragon, breathe fire. No mermaids need apply!
I like how he played after the tech. He must have been real fired up because there were a number of occasions after it that he just seemed to do a "Shaq," and began pushing Ratliff around on the offensive end. If some of those 2 foot shots had gone in, Ming would have looked great. Rather than doing turnaround jumpers, he rough housed Ratliff untill he got near enough to the basket to just "drop" it in. Hopefully this is a new attitude that Ming is going to use on the offensive end, I hate it when other NBA players toss him around while Ming just lets hit happen (Kemp going cat like and scratching Ming to scars.)
I wish he would've gone with the jump hook like Calvin Murphy said. The shot is virtually unblockable with a guy that size and plus, Theo was playing him on his right side which opens up the jump hook and makes it easier to guard the turnaround.
Fadeways are easier to block. Yao definitely needs to work on his hook shot. I play PF on our team and have a up-and-under move like Yao. At a different altitude, of course. But when I am guarded by bigger man, I often do a drop step and then spin back to the middle for a jump hook. I can put that shot over guys much bigger than me consistently. Yao should stop making more commercials and work on his game for a change.
IMO, Yao's low field percentage now is mostly due to his being tired and not being ready for the game. Think about this way, if he took some rests instead of shooting commercials; if he brought his intensity as he had against the Spurs, the Lakers... he would have shot a lot of better, he will make lots of those fade-way jumpers.
I am not sure if stamina is the reason for Yao's poor performance last night. He seems to prefer doing layups over throwing it down. Some of his misses last night were result of his not being aggressive under the basket. As far as his extracurricular activity goes, I think Yao needs to put Team Rox above Team Yao.
i didn't understand benching yao either. i know yao usually goes to the bench with about 2 min left in the 3rd quarter but rudy should have waited till at least the 4th. yao was pumped and probably was gonna throw it down again. man, i was yelling at the top of my lungs from being so excited about that "T". hell, i'm sure francis has cost us about 20 points from all the "T's" he gets. hmm, i wonder if rudy has ever benched francis after one. probably not.
You know I can't help but thinking after that play. Anyone who's playing physical, dirty or mean to Yao now will pay dearly later on once Yao get stronger and nasty.
Hey, Yao claims he didn't say anything... just a scream. Maybe Theo Ratliff has a bigger Powerbook than Yao, too...
This is another proof Rudy is one of the boys. To me, he just somehow seems to have the so-called minutes for certain players. Their minutes are guaranteed regardless. He also yanked Eddie out when he was hot, too. I guess just to make players happy regardless of the situation. The game last night tells me that all Rudy needs to do is to let the players win for him. Just stay out of the way just like he did with Hakeem & Clyde.
