From the Houston Chronicle - "Yao made two of six shots, and for the second consecutive night could not get his points within the Rockets' offense. He played just six second-half minutes, finishing with six points and five turnovers, before he was benched for the night. He will have to get used to sitting. <b>Tomjanovich said he would keep Yao off the court for the next two days to "recharge his batteries." </b> Well, I guess some of us got our wish. Hope this will works out for Yao and the team. Let's also pray he doesn't do any more commercials in the next month! Rest up and bounce back big time, big boy!!
Yes, I think that is the plan to keep him out of practice and let him veg out at home and sleep in or something. I don't think that Rudy would actually start benching him in games yet before seeing whether some rest would help him rejuvenate.
How about just asking Yao to cut down on all the extracurricular activities and concentrate on basketball? Rox did not pay Yao to shoot commercials.
Believe me, Yao didn't hardly waste any energy doing those commercials...so enough of that already, it's not the reason why he is so tired.
I think you are taking about physical fatigue but I am certain that half the battle is mental fatigue. Imagine always being expected to be at the beck and call of your handlers/employers for all this PR stuff and then having to maintain the intense mental focus for the game itself. Pretty damned near impossible for a rookie. Remember that apart from his height and physical skills, Yao is hailed for his mental approach to the game. The mistakes he is making lately may very well be due to his inability to summon the total game focus he had going a month ago. This man needs to set aside B-Ball and PR distractions for a few days and truly relax.
I dont know if I agree totally with this... having to fly back and forth to the shooting locations, doing the same take over and over like is common when shooting any kind of recorded performance..being on his feet all day long while doing it.. these are not times he is resting, and make no mistake about it...he needs some rest.. but he just needs to suck it up and rest when he can and come out and play as good as he can...everytime. quit shooting the damn commercials...time enough for that after the season is over...
Mentally I'll agree, since it is hard to keep your focus in the face of tremondous media pressure, endorsement opportunities, publicity, charitable work, community work, etc - especially if you are a rookie. But Yao has yet to show any sign that he is letting his popularity get to his head, and honestly, he will most likely have to balance his "extracurricular" activities with his bball obligations for the rest of his career. So, I'd rather him get comfortable with it now than later. It's just part of playing professional sports in America. As for the physical part, I think the jetlag will get to him the most. Considering what he's had to do in his commercials, I don't think he expended that much energy on set (unless sitting in a comfortable, leather upholstered airline seat next to Verne Troyer or walking to half court at the Laptop can be considered physically draining). But I do agree, he needs to 1) regain his concentration on and off the court and 2) learn to maintain his focus despite the media attention. ....plus, I think its safe to say he's hit the wall, inevitable even w/o his other off court activities.
