T-Man - take anything you hear on 610 or other Houston sports radio with a big grain of salt. 3/4 of the people on this site have seen more Ming footage than those "analysts" because we actually downloaded the clips clutch made available. When an analyst doesn't know what he is talking about, he generally repeats what he has heard. If you want to know more about Ming, do a search for windandsea posts, download the clips, and make your own determination. Oh, and try and give Rudy, CD, and our scouts a little more credit than you give the clowns on the radio. We try to cut the radio guys a little slack...they'll catch up eventually - if they ever try watching bball instead of the Astros and Texans.
Nachbar is no Mirsad Turckan. The team he was playing on was one of the TOP 4 European teams. This wasn't some joke second division team. The high-school all-american team would get ripped royally by Benetton. Tyus Edney was their point guard. In case you didn't know Tyus played at UCLA and led them to a championship so he isn't some joke of a player. Skitishvilli was picked #5 and hardly got to play on that team. Yes, they use a seniority system, but the talent on this team is up to par if not better than top D-I schools. This isn't a CBA team buddy. Nachbar is a "young veteran." He's been playing pro ball since he was 16 I believe. You know who else did that? TONY PARKER...a pretty impressive rookie last year who played with lower competition than Nachbar. Nachbar can shoot the lights out...Missing 8 shots out of 60 from 17ft out isn't bad is it? Oh yeah, he can handle and likes running the break. If you're infatuated with dunks, well he does that too. He probably won't start. Ming might not as well. Rudy makes players earn their spots. Rice & Cato will start but don't be surprised if Ming does start since he will be attending near 2 weeks of training camp. The only knock on Nachbar is his defensive ability. He is no sieve like Q. woods, but that was his only weakness. He is supposed to be very versatile with his height at 6'10 and his skills, so don't be surprised if this truly is a steal. About Ming being a bust...these so-called "experts" have not seen him play. I have heard plenty of bashing from ignorant journalists, but plenty of praise from others who actually seen him play or played against him. People such as Melvin Ely, KG & Mourning, Tyson Chandler all praised him. He is WITHOUT a DOUBT better than Bradley and Collier. HE has more skills than Cato and definitely knows the game better. The main reason he is deemed a bust is because almost all players near his height previously have been busts. Sure, Caron would be a safer pick, but Yao is worth the risk. The center position is extremely weak throughout the League so I don't see why he'll be able to average at least 10 & 8 this year. His only problems will be enduring the whole season and scrutiny. The competition & physical play and speed will be overwhelming but I'm sure he's up to the challenge.
T-man, I live in Dallas and there is no shortage of sports radio talk show hosts that are naturally biased against Houston. Having said that Norm Hitzgis covered the draft for 1310 sports radion in Dallas said that Houston had one of the Best drafts this year with the addition of Yao Ming and Bostjan Nachbar. Donnie Nelson an assistant Mavs coach and former coach of the Lithuanian National team is considered one of the premier foriegn talent avaluators in the league. He is the guy that discovered Dirk Nowitzki. He said that Ming would be a very good player for years. He also said that Bostjan was an exceptional talent that could shoot lights out and loved to play way above the rim. Frank Burlison of Fox Sports had this reply to a Yao Ming comment during his draft night chat: http://foxsports.lycos.com/content/view?contentId=553632 italy1stfan: I've seen Yao Ming play versus Italy National Team in Sidney, and everyone who thinks he's the next Bradley probably is out of mind!!! frank_burlison: I agree, I think its an unfair comparison. I saw Yao Ming play three years ago at the Nike camp and at a tournament in San Diego. I think he has marvelous ability and coupled with his 7'5" size, there is no reason he shouldn't be an outstanding NBA center Here is the ESPN draft grade for the Rockets by Chad Ford: http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/story?id=1399492 Houston Rockets Round 1: Yao Ming, 7-5, C, China (No. 1) Round 1: Bostjan Nachbar, 6-8, SF, Slovenia (No. 15) Round 2: Tito Maddox, 6-4, PG, Fresno State They went international and it will pay off huge. Yao is a great fit for Houston and Houston is a great fit for Yao. The Rockets will challenge for a playoff spot with Yao, a healthy Steve Francis, Glen Rice, Bostjan Nachbar and Mo Taylor. Nachbar, who is 22, will be able to step in immediately and provide sharp shooting. Tito Maddox, at No. 39, was also a steal. He was the best pure point guard in Chicago. Grade: A There are others around the country that give the Rockets draft picks big thumbs ups if you will just listen and read.
Excellent posts Crash... T-Man, I was annoyed by another negative poster so I wasn't going to post... but now I am glad you have voiced your opinion because it only makes me feel stronger about MIng... People are going to always have differences of opinion, but as many of the posters have pointed out is those people in the know that think Ming is the real deal... The people who have seen him play have nothing but high praise... Most of the negatives come from people who just don't know much about him. It's normal to be skeptical about something new. But in the end the only true way to resolve this is to just wait and see what he does on the court. I think will average 15 points 10 rebounds and 3 blocks by the time his rookie year is over with, and if that happens then I don't see how anyone can say he is a bust or even a project. But lets just wait till he puts it on the floor to see.
Sounds like to me that Kenny Smith's rant about European players has affected T-man. Clutch has reported that Glen Rice has been working out and looking great. It has been shown several times in this thread that Nachbar is NOT a project. Also, don't forget about Eddie playing some 3, too. And there is still T-Mo to consider!!:rolleyes So, no the Rockets do not need to get another SF; however, I think we might need a back-up SG as I am not sold on Maddox filling that role and I think we might could get a better back-up 2 than Oscar if we trade Kenny.
If our college guys could handle the foreign teams, we never would've sent the Dream Team to Barcelona.
They get paid and they're pros, and they can't be better then college players!? And if our McDonalds High School players can beat them, why did we have to send the Dream Team over there to beat them since they were beating our college players? Do you even know what you're talking about? I don't mean it asa shot, I mean do you REALLY know anything about these players? You know, looked up information on them and looked at clips?
Nachbar may very well turn into a player of this caliber but don't forget, all of these guys except Gasol took 3 years to develope. Gasol was the exception. To be fair to him I wouldn't expect anything from Nachbar until '04 at the earliest.
the high school all americans usually get the crap beat out of them by other national teams in global competition. just check out any previous global competitions where there weren't nba players.
I think it is meaning something. I bet a 19 Yao ming is more mature than a 24 Steve Francis. You know why? Yao Ming was playing with men. He was used to thinking like a man. There is something more important than basketball skills to help to achieve success. You are just living in an imagination world of USA basketball skills. In any game, many many other things together with skills lead to a win. You "bet" many games, that really means nothing. By the way, In a lost team, it is still very possible havin a good talent player. At this stage, I would at least want to say, because Yao and Nachbar each played 5 years against aged 30 teams , they were very mature, good team players, gained a lot experince from the games they played.
he he he Some guys in the states still live like they are in the cold war or something. I'd would really like to see the BEST college team go after Yougoslavia's national team. Best of luck to those NCAA players, they are in for good ass whipping. I'm in Europe and I can tell you this: The best american players in Europe are currently quite old. The young americans who end up here shine by they lack of: fundamentals, team play, BB IQ, low shooting percentages. They rely mostly on their athletic capabilities. Granted, these players are not the best, the best go to the NBA. One more thing: the NBA have their journey men and 10 day contract. We have a sort of equivalent: European team can take up to max three players from outside EU. so when a US player does not deliver, he is quickly booted for another one. This has happenned more and more often. They go for US player who thinks he'll have it easy and be a star because he is from the state. He then realises he needs to fit in a disciplined system, score in a zone and avoid travelling. He is often fired after 2 months because he could not adapt and still tried to take the opposing team one on one (one player versus one team that is). I'm not saying it happens for every US player, but for an increasing number of them. I won't even mention US high schoolers, I'm already laughing...
Dirk’s breakout year was his 2nd: 17.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg and he was 21 years old. Peja had a mini breakout in his 2nd year with 12 ppg and 3.7 rpg when he was 22. He really broke out in his 3rd year with 20.5 ppg and 5.6 rpg at 23 years of age. Turkoglu has not had a breakout year yet unless you consider his 10 ppg last year (his 2nd). He is 23 years old. Divac hit numbers that were about what his career avg’s are in his 2nd season at 11.2 ppg and 8.1 rpg. With the exception of two years where he avg’d over 14 ppg and 10 rpg his numbers have been around 12 points and 8 boards a game. Kucoc broke out in his 2nd year when he avg’d 16 ppg and 5.6 rpg when he was 24. His first year was pretty good too though. Just looking at those numbers it looks like Boki is likely to breakout in his 2nd year. Things to take into consideration when comparing to the others: In their first years Dirk was only 20 while Divac and Peja were 21 years old. Turkoglu has had to sit behind Peja and has not had the minutes that the others have had. Kucoc was already 25 and he had a pretty good first year although not as good as his second. Something to remember about Kucoc was that there was a ton of angst towards him from Pippen because of the high salary that Krause paid him. Boki will be 22 years old in a couple of days so he is older than the rest (at the start of their NBA careers) with the exception of Kucoc. Boki also has one advantage that should make it easier for to contribute right away, he likes to play above the rim. Even if his shot is not falling right away which is not uncommon for rookies he can still score by taking it to the basket. Peja just started taking it to the basket hard this year and Dirk was very passive and did not go hard to the basket in his first year. If Rudy gives Boki the minutes then I think 10+ points a game is realistic as a freshman. That would be very productive for a first year SF on a team that will still have Franchise, Cat, Griff and Yao scoring their share of the points.
