I think the reason the Rockets lost the last two games was because they lost focus of their game plan with Yao Ming playing. The whole notion that Yao Ming will dramatically improve the team is based on the premise that the other rockets will continue to play as well as they did before. Obviously, the rest of the team, with the exception of Griffin and Rice, was not as sharp, as alert, or as focused as they had been. I just hope they realize that just because they have a 7'6 center doesn't mean that they can give 90% of their efforts. I think this will change once they've lost their first regular season game.
The offense does stutter while he is in there. But to be honest Yao doesn't know the plays yet so I suspect they have "dummied" down the offense (sorta like what happens when a new QB enters a game) and even then its not certain Yao is in the right place. It looks like most of the time he is in there he relies on his own instincts (tough for a rookie) and the other players resort to past tendencies (iso's and one on one moves). Heck, he didn't get any practice time in between game 1 and 2, and very little time before game 1. Fortunately there is a big block of practice days between now and the season opener, so hopefully he will get a better sense of the already complex playbook soon.
Excellent points NewRox Fan, and good thread PSU. The Rocks sounded (I couldn't watch the games) like they were playing very wellgetting off to much better starts than last year and finishing well (their 2 main problems from lasy yr. IMO), and it looks like Ming's arrival has made the team lose a little focus. But once Ming gets Acclimated to the team and the offense and all the media attention and hype dies down a few games into the regular season, we'll get back on track and be fine.
