-----Original Message----- From: Me To: Del Harris Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 07:44:47 +0000 Subject: e-mail interviews Hello Del, My name is Dan Malberg and I’m a big Rockets fan. With this e-mail I’m representing, what I think, one of the best sports fan sites around – clutchcity.net. We have many members, American, Chinese as well as other countries. As you know, the off-season is really slow for us fans and we’re really curious of how Yao and the Chinese national team are doing. For us, there is no such thing as too much information about how Yao is doing. If you don’t trust me on that one you should check out our discussions. Now for my purpose with this e-mail. If it would be ok with you I would like to e-mail you perhaps once a week during the time you prepare the Chinese national team this summer for the Olympics and ask you something like three or four short questions each time. I would prepare the questions with my fellow clutchcity.net members. What do you think? Thank you in advance. Sincerely yours, Dan Malberg ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: Del Harris To: Me Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2004 12:12:23 Subject: Re: e-mail interviews you can send them and when i get time and when the questions are appropriate, i will try to get back to you---however, there is not a lot of time to be doing these things. the time demands are far greater than that of an nba coach. as for Yao, he stopped by practice today and ran through a few plays without any defense. He will not start regular practice until June 20 in Dallas. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nice, huh? Sorry if anyone thought someone else should represent but we should be able to agree on the questions. So, let's get to it shall we? Three or four questions should be pretty easy. How does Yao look? What is the training like? How is Del changing things? How are the guards doing? I'm sure we'll come up with a few good ones. Hopefully we can get a good look into the team this summer and get Del to answer our questions a few times a month. And by the way, for those of you that think they know his e-mail address, please don't spoil the good thing we have going here. TD
1)What is Yao's current weight? 2)Has Yao been practicing a new signature move (skyhook?) 3)Has Yao been mostly weight training or doing cardio work (running and sprint drills) 4) What will be stressed first when coaching Yao, better shotblocking, or better rebounding? Those are the questions I could come up with off the top of my head. I hope that helps get the discussion going more
Nice going Trader Dan! Ask Del if he intends to give Yao more rest than the prior CNT coach. Shorter practices? Ask him to have Yao hit the weights and work on his conditioning. Ask him if Rocket management has any input in how he uses Yao. Does he stay in touch with Rocket management? What does he think the CNT's chances are in the Olympics?
Thanx. I just thought it would be better to get the info ourselves instead of having to rely on Vecsey, Sam Smith and those guys. Good questions. I think I'll wait a day or two so those that want to contribute can. Then I'll just present his answers here, unedited of course.
Thanks alot TD- 1. Ask him what he will ask Yao to do to improve his game or is he just going to let him play? 2. Ask him what has Yao determined he must work on. 3. What is his offseason program. 4. Ask Del if he is recruiting Yao for Cuban. etc, etc, etc
Yao was at 304lbs, according to pretty reliable Chinese media, right after the PO, so he actually lost a little weight from the exhausting season. And the bad news is his bones showed signs of aging from MRI--I hope I am not causing too much concerns here. At least he is having a good two months off, a first in years. He had an online chat yesterday in China for the Children's Day. He said sth like it is hard to copy other's moves. Specifically, he said when he got to Houston many suggested him to be like Dream, but he thinks Dream is too fast, he should use his own advantages, that is, height and weight.
The health is what worries me the most about Yao. We don't really have many examples of 7'6", 300+ lbs guys to compare him to. How many ~7'5" guys have there been in the NBA? Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, Yao, Shawn Bradley, Artis Gilmore, Manute Bol, Gheorge Muresan, Chuck Nevitt, Ralph Sampson, Ilgauskas, Mark Eaton, Rik Smits? Many of these guys had health problems, especially leg or foot related, that plagued them for years. Yao is one of the heaviest of this group, and he plays basketball year round, without much time for rest. He's had two seasons where he's played every game. That's gotta put a lot of stress on his body. I hope he doesn't have a career like Chris Mullin, who never missed a game his first 4 years, then was injury-plagued the rest of his career. However, I'm glad they are actively assessing his health with MRIs and other diagnostics. Yao is right about not trying to imitate Hakeem. I don't think anybody could, much less a 7'6" 300lb monster. However, some of his moves already look Dream-like, and the Houston connection just adds to this comparison.
Yao's going to get some rest this summer. Our last playoff game was on Apr. 28 and Yao won't join the national team until Jun. 20. He'll also get a month off after the Olympics.
1. Will Yao be leaving the Rockets for the Lakers in 3 years? 2. Any more pictures of Yao's girlfriend (a hot topic on the BBS)? 3. Is the Chinese market responsible for our gas prices doubling over the past year? 4. Does he think TMac would ever throw him the ball?
Ask him why we never see him and Phil Donahue together in the same place. Coincidence? I think not. They are one and the same.
Want to put in my thanks too. Thanks, TD. 1) How is Yao's health from playing year-round basketball? How are Del and his staff addressing this issue? 2) What specific parts of Yao's game or approach to basketball will he and his staff focus on?
I thought someone would ask. Have you seen the movie, Being John Malkovich? A couple of guys get to go inside the head of John and see what his life is like. Great movie. That's what this will be about.
All right everybody. Thanks for the input. After reading all of it, here are my suggestions: - As Rockets fans, we're concerned about Yao's health and little time to rest; can you talk about if and how you will deal with this? - What do you think the Chinese National Team’s chances are in the Olympics? - What specific parts of Yao's game will you and your staff focus on? I’m thinking we should wait with How does Yao look? and What does Yao weigh? since he won’t start regular practice for another three weeks almost. It seems like we will get to ask him a few times this summer so the timing of the questions becomes important. I also liked the one about if he had gotten any input from Rockets management, maybe we should switch it in? I will leave these suggestions up the rest of the day and if no one objects or comes up with something extra, I will e-mail him tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll get to do this some more this summer.
5. Is Yao going to see the fully-clothed Britney Spears when she tours China, or wait to see the R-rated show stateside?
