I don't think you should change your statring line up when a guy had an off game. I didn't think his defense was bad at all today even though he didn't get many touch on the offensive end. I think the Rocket should run their normal offense by driving, create missmatch, etc. and then passing the ball to Ming in a position where he can do something with the ball. I think it's too early to try to run the offense through Ming at this time. Ming seems to excel more when other player created and let him finish. He is undoubtedly a good finisher. With more experience and more time for his teammates to acclimate with his passing abilities, the offense can certainly be run through Ming. But Ming need to be out there and go through the learning process. I don't think you should pull a guy aout of the starting line up after the first game when he didn't put up decent #.
This reminds me the old chinese story about a farmer and his corps. Basically he wanted the corps to grow fast very much. He wanted it so much that when the plant slowed down growing, he pulled them out a little bit so that they all looked longer than yesterday. This of course killed the corps. But just a reminder that we should not be the impatient farmer.
He had ONE freaking bad game and you think he should come off bench? you moron!!! he way better than cato... he the 2nd best player on our team
Yao did not shut down Olowokandi, but did contain him. Too bad Yao could not get his shot to fall tonite. Kandi played good d on him. However, Yao did rebound well, changed some shots, and had 2 blocks. I thought Yao did fine. I don't care if he starts or come off the bench, just as long as he plays and gets some post feeds. The Rockets had the game in the palm of their hands, but let it slip away. Gotta practice those free throws.
Yao is already 7' 5". We dont need to "pull" him up any longer, otherwise he needs to duck his head whenever he gets under the basket.
Yao Ming will be just fine! He did great work at the defensive end! I liked the way they switched 2 a zone 2 stop Brand and Kandi! I think Yao Ming should be the starter and Cato should come off the bench. The reason the ROXS lost 2 the Clipps are all those bone-head turn-overs, bad shot clock mgmt, and untimely missed free throws!! Oh well, there will be games like these, hopefully NOT MANY! This team needs 2 be more mentally tough down the stretch, it's a shame becuz this team, I feel, has alot of talent. The good thing is that they are a young team and probably won't be dismantled like the Clipps next year, bcuz of their very cheap owner ! The ROXS just need 2 gel more, and it will take time, just like the kings. mavs, pacers, etc. This team has a very bright future!!
It doesnt really matter if we start Yao first or not. More than anything else, get him INVOVLED offensively once he's in the game. What's the point to start and then forget about him in our offense.
Yao has to start. Period. Clippers is one of the very few teams that do not have problem guarding Yao. Putting Yao into the starting lineup create matchup advantage against a lot of other teams. Also, don't just look at how many points Yao scored today. He played good defense today, something we need to get back into the game after a horrible start. One problem though, other teams would start to figure out that the Rockets actually do not have a lot of plays designed for Yao. So all they need to do is to deny the path of Yao to the paint and it will be hard for Yao to counter that because there's no team strategy to help him do that.
Just because we don't want him to start, doesn't mean we think any differently. It just means it won't hurt his development to come off the bench, and it would help us as a team. If you average 25 minutes, then it doesn't matter if you start or not. We have 2 quality big men, let's get maximum efficiency out of them. Rice is starting to look great, and once Mo starts producing, then we'll have enough offense in the starting 5 to bring Yao off the bench. Cato MoT Rice Mobley Francis Then we go defensive off the bench with Yao Griffin T-Mo Hawkins Francis MoT and Rice can get us started early in games, then we go to the post with Yao while Francis starts cutting up the perimeter.
I think that Yao will come off the bench again,Rudy only started him because Cato was unavailable. Having Yao off the bench would help him avoid getting in foul trouble early in the game and prevent him from facing physical players too quickly. He would still get major minutes if he came off the bench and might not tire out easily.
I'm shocked with these replies. You must be kidding! Scoring 30pts and grabbing 16 rebound in Dallas isn't a good proof enough. The only offense game that Cato got is his hook shots. In this ZONE trend, we need players that can pass the balls. And CATO is not even half way of Yao in this department. Yetti, you disappointed me.
jlaw, What you're not getting is that we don't want him NOT to play. We want him to play the SAME AMOUNT OF MINUTES, but off the bench, against slightly weaker competition for a while. JUST FOR A WHILE, SAME MINUTES. I dont' get why people start comparing him with Cato. It's the SAME minutes, just off the bench. So he does everything you say he does ANYWAY.
Yao coming off the bench is a very good thing, and it also takes full advantage of Yao's and Cato's present abilities. I still hold that Cato can play better defense on most of the centers than Yao can, and this can be to our advantage. Cato can play good defense against the starting centers, while Yao comes in and holds a scoring fest against other team's second string centers. Both players are doing well now rebounding. Also it's good for Yao to size up the opposing team. He's got good basketball iq, so he can probly come off the bench and do a lot of immediate good, as well as keeping him out of foul trouble for now. And starting Cato at pf??? err.. dunno about that... Don't be so shocked jlaw, most who want Yao to come off the bench think the way Sane is thinking.
If you want to have Yao on the bench you shouldn't start him in the first place. Now there's no turning back.
Cato was out... who else would we have started? Yao began to get a handle on the game so there was no reason to start Collier anymore. This doesn't mean Yao can't come off the bench anymore. Bringing Yao off the bench gives the Rox the most advantage. Yao doesn't have the strength to bang down low with the best centers yet, but Cato can hold most of them better. This way we get the most out of Yao and Cato. With Cato coming off the bench, we get the risk of Yao not being able to hold the opposing team's starting center, and then bringing in Cato against the second string centers wouldn't do much good because most of the second string centers aren't really looked for to score anyways, and Cato can't take advantage of being against a less skilled center scoring wise. Cato is not a bad center, he's pretty good, and I think defensively he can hold his own against most of the centers in the league.
I think it's better for the team to continue to start Yao and run their offense through him. The offense has just looks so much better with him on the floor then when he's not out there. Starting Cato at the 4 isn't a bad idea either. Yao needs an enforcer type beside him to help him out on defense and rebounding and Cato is the closest thing we have to fill that role. Maybe when Cuttino returns, Yao can go back to the bench. But right now the team needs as many offensive threats on the floor as it can get. If you start Cato, the only go to players on the offensive end is Steve and maybe Rice. Cato offers pretty much nothing on offense, Hawkins relies on the open jumpers that Ming creates for him to score, and Eddie is so streaky offensively you really can't depend on him.
