This is following on the Yao should retire thread. I don't think realistically we can expect Yao not to play for the CNT in addition to the Rockets. Given the wear on Yao I've got an idea that might let us get the most out of Yao during a full NBA season. Treat Yao like a starting MLB pitcher and only play him every 4th game for the first half of the season. Obviously the Rockets will take a bit of a hit during the first half of the season but given their propensity for big second half runs it shows that they can come back late in the season and also they've shown they can play above average NBA ball without Yao. This keeps Yao fresh for the stretch run and into playoffs and given that by the time the playoffs starts he will only have been playing 2 months full time he might just be entering his stride for the season then.
If Yao feels any significant obligation to the Rockets, he would diminish his commitment to the CNT to something close to zero after the '08 Olympics. The idea of playing Yao less than a full season has been thrown around for a while now, and even Morey had acknowledged it as an approach to keep Yao healthy through the post season. The more realistic route is to reduce Yao's minute to around 30 a game, but that involves in finding a capable backup C... which is a whole can of worms in itself.
I've been saying this since Yao got injured. Let's sit him in a third of our games with phantom injuries the way Shaq used to do in LA and Boston did this year with their three stars. It's not about slouching; it's about bodies that size not being meant to play a full 82-game schedule. It's as simple as that. I'd rather have a couple less victories and a healthy Yao than no Yao for the playoffs.
If he volunteers to tear up his deal and sign for 75% of his current contract value or whatever it takes to free up an equivalent amount of cap room - ok.
Play the Big Guy 20 minutes a game. He has to keep in NBA shape. Don't start to up his minutes until the stretch run, sometime after the All Star break. Of course, that means we'd need a backup 5 younger than 41, 45, 50, or however old Deke is. One good enough to play 20 minutes most games, more or less. (I'd limit Tracy to 30... same caveat)
you know, this would be very good idea, only if we were in the east, the west is too tough, and we might miss the playoffs. if there is a minor injury, then you can sit him, but, no injury? play him.
It will not be fair to "role players" who earn just 1/3 of his salary, if you only play him half of the games. It will also not be fair to TMac, while people still arguing about option A or option B, if you reserve Yao's energy while asking TMac to carry the team. I think reasonable options are to a) ask Yao to develop his mid range game and make sure he can shoot the mid-range jumper with a high percentage, because right now his jumpers are totally gone, even worse than Amare's. b) mix up some zone defense to reduce his energy spent guarding players one on one. Just my 2 cents.
Reduce his minutes but you can't just not play him a 1/4 or 1/3 of the games. RA didn't have a substitution strategy down in the beginning of the year but next year will be different as we'll probably have a new back up with RA having more faith in Scola and Landry. Scola came on to the scene in December but wasn't consistant until he was starting in January. Landry barely played until January. Yao will get a lot more rest next year for sure.
If the owner, GM, coaches, trainers and medical personnel don't agree that both Yao and TMac have a given number of starts left in their careers, then I doubt we will convince them. Yao physically is probably going to be a liability soon and TMac is going to be hard-put to earn 21 millions next year. TMac just doesn't do enough to make the others around him better. He makes his points, get a few rebounds and assists, has bad handles for someone who tries to handle the ball as much as he does, has trouble closing and has a poor work ethic for a leader if he is not in there practicing his shooting everyday.
yao, to my knowledge, already significantly reduced his cnt play time last year. remember the wedding, honeymoon etc.? a few training sessions with the cnt and maybe a dozen games with intensity level below the nba's the whole summer isn't gonna kill him or make a huge difference imo. now with his new injury situation, i say play him his normal minutes like ~35 per next year. all those remedies don't make sense to me. if he's gonna break down, then too bad he's gonna breakdown. then we have to rebuild. but ideas like playing him as if he's a roy o is absurd.
He cant be practicing like mad, that's just non-sense for his frame, so that needs to be monitored. Everybody has to take the responsibility, from Yao to RA, Keith Jones ,Tony Falsone and entire medical staff. His optimal playing time is around 35 minutes a night. But I dont feel playing extra several minutes is the sole contributor to his injury. However, it's part of it. Yao needs to take good care of his body, train smart, others need to watch it out for him. It's a team effort. Yao so far does not have chronic injuries, so it's still controllable.
That is why Mutombo should retire and the Rocket's Management get us a decent back up Center who can play on both ends of the court and give rest to Yao. Yao can play a full season if the coach uses him in limited playing time. This last season the coach was expecting him to do too much on the court
Play Tmac and Yao less minutes on the first half of the season. That's how Popovich played Duncan. During the first half of the season, Duncan played around 30 min (or a bit less), scoring 15-16 PPG. Duncan can take off late season, because he is fresh and healthy.
