While Fred Carter believes that yao is just not ready, Tim Legler placed the blame firmly on Francis' shoulders. At one point a Francis quote was brought up stating that a majority of the plays were run through Yao. Yao simply doesn't shoot often was stevies implication. Legler let him have it. He seems to be one of the few "experts" that actually watch the rox. Legler couldn't believe how Yao can go 10 min without a touch while stevie and cat are waving him out of the post so they can iso. Freddy, on the other hand, seems to be in rudy's pocket. He says Yao is too young and still has much to learn (true). He stated that you must spoon full ming and this is why the offense is stuck last year mode.
And their observation is right on the money. A combination of Yao not ready for heavy duty work and SF not ready to share the ball may keep Rox out of the playoff this year.
studogg, you have good memory! Those are almost the exact words they said last night. The "Yao is not ready" thing is really mind boggling to me. I mean, if he manage to get a good position down low and calls for the ball then he is ready, if he sets a screen and rolls to a open spot under the basket then he's ready. If he makes good passes one after another then how can you say he's not ready? How long are we going to use that as excuses for ignoring the big man?
This whole Yao is not ready thing is being way overplayed. He's ready to be the #1 option now...if only he would get the ball!
He's does get the ball, he doesn't know how to etablish deep enough position yet, because HE'S NOT READY. Also, the zone has changed everything, you can basically double team before the ball gets there. Minnesota did this to the Rockets all night the last time they met.
Put it another way, whether or not Yao is "ready" is a philosophical question, not a play by play qustion. If we believe Yao is not ready for the NBA pounding, we can limit his minutes, his off court activitics and training loads etc.. But you can't leave him out on the court. Whenever a player is on the court then he is ready to do his duties. It is hard to believe the reason Yao is not getting involved enough in our offense is because Steve and Cat constantly have that "Yao is not ready" on their minds.
Maybe I should say Rox as a team is not ready to make adjustment to the double/triple team Yao is getting in the recent weeks. That and this incorrigible iso mentality are the reasons why Rudy must be replaced.
Up to this point I have to agree with their assumption. The Rockets haven't shown anything to suggest the slightest hint that they have what it takes to beat out a team like the Suns, Minn, or Utah. But because I'm but a Rocket's fan I still have that overpowering feeling that the Rockets will pull it together. I'm hoping that the All-Star game lit a fire in Steve. I mean he had a brilliant showing that makes me wonder if Steve is finally ready to bring his game to a new level, all the signs point to it. 1. High shooting percentage in the game. 2. 9 assists. 3. Played like a leader. 4. Got the big guys the ball where they needed it. 5. Asked for advice from the best PG to ever play the game, the big "O." Maybe if he takes the advice and uses it, we might see the second coming of "O."
Yao doesn't need tutoring from Moses Malone. He needs tutoring from Eddie Griffin. One good punch in Steve's noggin would do the trick.
I make it a point to always defend Steve and Cuttino, but it is getting harder and harder. I don't think that Yao is ready. Well, he might be ready but I dont see him being able to be the "man" this year. Yao tires it seems after the first half and can't bring it as hard in the second. This is probably just a combination of the rookie wall and Yao not having a rest in a long, long time. Either way he has proved that he will be the #1 option when he gets his legs. Steve and Cat on the other hand can get their own shot whenever they want and when things aren't going Yao's way they feel they have to produce. In the Steve/Big O article Steve basically said this in the "what if Yao's 1-6?" part. I dont know if you put the blame for him being 1-6 on Steve as Robertson intimated, but if you give the big man the ball in the post there is a good chance that is 2 (or 3) points. What we need is time together. Once these guys have played to gether for a while they will know better how to utilize each other. I think that Ming is ahead in this aspect b/c he has played with guards (although none near Steve's talent!) but Steve has probably never played with a big man you can give the ball to and let him work. They have to adjust and when they do everything will be much more fluid. I do think that Steve wants Yao to succeed and he knows that Yao is integral to any success we'll have, but his game has to change more than anyone's on the team for this to happen and it will be a transition for him. We have the pieces but not the chemistry which is better than many teams who have neither.
I believe the relationship between yao, steve, and cat has not mature yet. maybe it's jealousy or trust issue, but steve had no problem passing the ball to shaq when he was in the post during the all star game...
Yup, I think the zone is definitely a factor, along with this being Yao's 1st NBA season, 1st full season away from China, and the fact that he and the Rox didn't have a preseason together. Those are all factors. If these were the old man to man (allegedly) days, the Rockets playoff chances would be much improved. Also, Yao is just now seeing that he needs to develop a go to move, which IMO would be the jump hook, or sky hook, etc., some variation of that type of shot. After banging into Shaq, Nene Hilario, that post for Detroit with the hair, (I can't pull up his name in my mind right now, oh yeah Ben Wallace), and a few others Yao will develop a hook, get tougher and be much more court savvy -- just in time to take his game to LA or GS, lol. Just kidding. I hope that doesn't happen, but it could. It doesn't look good for this season though, or for RT's future as a coach.
I must say both of them are right. Yao, as a rookie,is not really ready for NBA, sometimes he drops good passing ball, sometimes he is pushed around away from basket. I think he will be better next year. SF does not pass ball to YM very often as well, he is not sure how many YM can do, sometimes he chooses to do it himself. Even if YM is Bradley type of player, SF should find a way to utilize YM, at least coach should find a way playing him. Many times I saw a game out of control, our player tried hard in a wrong way trying to win.
Well on ESPN, the guy said the Rockets are not going to make the playoffs. They will be the best team to not make the playoffs. They say that we will have to wait another year and we should definitely make it next year with Utah gone. And they said Yao should touch the ball more than 9 times...And yes. So we are not going to make it. BUT IF WE WIN THESE TWO GAMES AGAINST UTAH..we may have hope.
steve needs to encourage yao to shoot more because yao is the man. the reasonn yao is a little timid because he's new and doesn't want to upset his veteran teammates by taking over the offense. but, the rox won't go anywhere if he doesn't shoot more than 15 shots a game. i disagree with carter that i think yao is ready to take over the offense. even if he's not ready, the rox should still make him the go-to guy for 2 reasons. one, the rox will not win a championship this year. two, yao will learn to the main man by making mistakes and learning from them.
I think that says it all, He is Not Ready! He is not ready to get in the face of the guards and coach and say get me the damn ball. Malone did it, Hakeem did it, Shaq does it and that is what Ming is not ready to do "YET".
I'm sure they have access to this website like all of us do. besides, the stats can tell you that. what are we, like 27th in the league in assists as a team? Without assists most of the times means a LOSS.
