I'm not exagarrating when I say that Yao missing training camp last season cost the Rockets' their first playoff birth in four years. There's no doubt in my mind the team would have been much more "on the same page" if they had that full month of practice to sort things out rather than trying to forge some sort of system that incorporated Yao while hopping from city to city - fitting in the practices in between games. Now, with a completely new, different coach Yao MUST be at training camp or the Rockets are going to struggle much more than they should. So, someone please tell me the good news that Yao will be at training camp in its entirety! Thank you.
Depends...when does the Rox camp start? They rescheduled the damn Asian Championships again. They start Oct 1st..Last for a week or two...so, it sounds like he may miss the beginning.. but its hard to say at this point...anything could happen.
So why can't we still have training camp? Instead, just put a 7'5 Yao cardboard cutout under the rim and teach Steve and Cat to try and throw the ball in it's direction. Problem solved.
This ROYALLY sucks! First the Asian Championships were rescheduled for late September and Yao would have missed at MOST the first week of training camp. NOW with the tourney rescheduled again starting Oct 1st, as listed above, Yao will miss the first two weeks minimum! By the time he gets here we will be doing pre-season games. This is just not right. If the Chinese want to hold him during the ENTIRE summer then we should get him for training camp. The fact he misses BOTH the summer programs AND training camp just sucks! Yao needs time here to learn the system. It sucks that Bateer and Wang get to do the summer league programs here and Yao does not!
Agreed... It is especially important this year with a new coach and a new system to learn. Hopefully, he is smart enough to pick up the system and what is expected of him quickly. Best case scenario, JVG's system will be based in fundamental basketball schemes that Yao is already familiar with..PnR's..highpost...lowpost in and out..and with no new team members to get used to...he can come in and slide right in to the practices and show us how much stronger and aggressive he will be this year.. I know..speculation, but a fellow can dream cant he?
I hope that JVG runs the offense in practice just like Yao was here only with Cato playing center while Yao is gone. That will get Cato reps that he won't get once Yao gets back and the rest of the team will already be used to playing our normal offense. I know Cato is not Yao and it won't be the same but it will be good for Cato and I can't help thinking that JVG is really gonna like Cato if he can keep him focused and motivated.
I have no problem with Yao returning to his homeland to play. I just don't understand why it is constantly rescheduled. As important as Yao to their team, I know scheduling doesn't revolver around him. On the other hand, what is it that is causing these pushbacks in the first place?
It's a conspiracy...the organizers of the tourneys know that as long as Yao is with ChineseNT, they are the favorites to win. They are hoping that if they put them back long enough, he will leave to join his NBA team...therefore giving other countries a chance. Disclaimer: the above is said with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Well, we'll just have to learn to live with this. This was a condition we agreed to when we negotiated with the Chinese in order to get Yao into the NBA. As an aside, this was a major reason why Wang Zhu Zhu stayed on the West coast last year instead of going back to China to join the National Team. He knew that to step up his game, he needed to be here playing and practicing against NBA caliber talent. Yao clearly needed to be here this summer working with the new staff but that's water under the bridge I suppose.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR I hate to say it but I wish YAO would grow some cahoonas, and Follow ZHI ZHI leads................. Yea, I know, I'm reachin
Sometimes I wonder if this all is just China's way of saying "He's still ours, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Why don't we have training camp in China? lol I think we'll be ok if he gets training camp on tape, some of it in person, and all of preseason. One thing I'm happy about is that this means the championships will be the beginning of the new season for him and he'll have rested all summer. The Asian Championships can be considered a warm up for the new NBA season I guess. Can anyone tell me exactly when training camp starts and the exact date od the Asian Championship Finals?
The most important part of training camp is not that Yao is there, but rather that JVG earns Steve's respect. He was really responcible for not getting Yao involved the way he should have been. If JVG can convice Steve that passing to a 7'5" center is a good thing, then I think we will have a good season. Yao is one of the most intelligent basketball players out there, I don't think it will take him very long to learn how to catch nice crisp passes over the !@#$ that Steve threw at him last year.
Aren't we playing preseason games against the Kings in China anyway? Hell, maybe holding training camp in China isn't such a bad idea... Yao's mom could even feed all the players her soup! Maybe it'll have some magical effect on the players, like the astrologer in that 'Fish that saved Pittsburgh' movie... Chinese soups tend to do that, you know... Werd.
I said it long time ago, Rox can't build its team around Yao because Yao can not devote 100% to the team. No matter what kind of excuses you throw, the FACT is Yao is going to miss most of the training camp two years in a row. Just deal with it.
Yao expressed earlier that he did not want to participate the summer league. (what is the benefit that you play with the scrubs that will not made the team next year?). Traning camp is different issues. The delay of the Asian game is decided by FIBA not CBA.
