Chronicle: Relaunching-While Rockets have some questions, they may also have answers

I thought it was interesting that the article didn't mention who would start at center. Not that it's the most important question facing the team (except to spare the BBS from HP's gloating ), but it will be interesting to see how Rudy handles it.

For my money, I would let Yao Ming come off the bench for a while. I think over the season that the minutes at center will be fairly evenly distributed between Yao Ming and Cato due to a number of reasons. Yao has shown a propensity for foul trouble. His conditioning is suspect. He has had an absolutely brutal game and travel schedule all summer long. He will be adjusting to a new home, new culture, and new team. He will have 10 days practice at most with the team before the opener. He will have enormous pressure on him to justify the number 1 pick and represent his homeland.

I would let Yao Ming ease into the starting position. That strategy has the added bonus of perhaps keeping Cato a little motivated, or that's how the theory goes anyway.

 

Pipe...lol

The bet is looking piss poor at this point. Of course, that's the whole reason it became a bet to begin with, because it is so iffy, due to the Asian Games. You have to make really dangerous bets around here to get any takers.

I could totally see Rudy waiting for MoT's suspension to end to get Yao in there as starter, but that would be a wussy bet. You gotta believe Rudy wants Yao in there with Francis (not the bench) as soon as possible. The "theory goes" that the most important thing this season is Francis/Mobley changing their game for a future with Yao, and Cato can't help that as much as Yao.

 

Just like small forward, it may depend on the opponent. I think Yao Ming's late arrival means he is not going to start right away. Maybe by the time MT starts he will too. In Rudy's system starting isn't everything anyway...

 

I think there are two very important goals this season -- the longterm development of the Francis/Yao/Griffin nucleus on which the dreams of Rocket reascendancy reside and the short-term goal of making the playoffs this year. I think it would be a mistake to underestimate how important it is to Rudy, to Rockets' management (given the desire to establish momentum going into the new arena), and to the players themselves to make the playoffs this season. Which would be a breeze in the East, but isn't quite a gimme in the West. This Rocket team should be able to do it, but with the Clippers' talent level, two teams are going to have to be pushed out, not just one.

Given how grueling the first year of the NBA is to a normal rookie, let alone one who STARTS the season with as much wear and tear as Yao, I think that Yao will have to be brought along fairly slowly this year. I think that Yao's PT this year will disappoint a lot of people, but the VERY LAST thing the Rockets want is to have Yao suffer a significant injury this year from being overworked. If the Rockets play Yao a lot early, he could hit the traditional rookie wall by Xmas. I think it makes a lot more sense to bring him along slowly, essentially giving him "book (and film)-learning", observation time, a focus on long-term conditioning, and a minimal amount of PT early, with an emphasis on preparing him for an increasing contribution the second half of the season. This season is for him to work on learning the basics of the NBA game and adjusting to its speed. It won't be until the next off-season and training camp that Rudy will be able to work on redesigning the offense to begin focusing it to maximize the advantages of the Francis/Yao/Griffin nucleus which represents our future.

Actually, I see Yao's role this year to be remarkably similar to Griffin's last year. I look for a greatly improved presence for Griffin this year, with Yao starting to "click" off and on next season. The year after that: look out NBA, here we come!

 

I agree with most of your points, except I think the pressure to play Yao will mean he is in the game more that you contemplate. Politics and just the fact he is that good will force the Rockets to push him more than necessary before the second half. I think we all are overstating this wear and tear thing, this isn't a forty year old Jordan, this is a wide eyed 22 year old full of excitement and energy. He can rest next summer. Why did we draft a guy that may play next spring and maybe can post Cato numbers by then? Yao Ming needs to contribute now, just like Francis did, just like Sampson did, just like Hakeem did. That's why he makes the big bucks...

 

I hope "just like Hakeem and Sampson did" doesn't mean we're looking for Yao to put up 20 and 10 numbers, because that won't happen. 14 and 8 would be great, but that might be pushing it too.

I'm actually hoping the competition for PT will light a little fire under Cato. Note that I said "little"...

 

I have a feeling Mobley won't be re-signing here after his contract expires. Mobley has proven himself to be a consistent scorer, so he won't accept one of those cheap contracts that he took a couple years ago. We just signed Steve to a fat contract, Taylor still has four years left on his deal, then we'll have to re-sign Griffin and possibly Yao after his third season (like we did with Steve), so Mobley might be the odd man out. Let's face it, shooting guard is probably the position with the most talent in the NBA, and if need be, we can get one cheaper for what Mobley will want. Or, we can get a point guard and slide Steve over to shooting guard. Mobley hired a publicist to get his name out just in case he has to test the free agent market.

 

Great article, I'm pumped about the season! Who do the Rockets play Oct. 20th? I don't think Mobley is going anywhere, money has never been an issue with the Rockets. I think people are overreacting with Mobes getting a publicist, it could be for anything, maybe he's getting media gigs, or whatever. Besides Mobley has something like 3 years left on his contract, so why would he get a publicist to help him get a bigger contract 3 years ahead of time?

 

Mobley will stay, depending on how much we offer him next time around. We'll have a dominant PG and C (the two toughest positions to fill in the NBA), and he enjoys living in Houston, so I think he'll be around.

And I could post this in a KT thread but why? I hope we can find quality minutes for him on the Rockets.

 

If Mobley's publicist actually gets him to show up at scheduled events, that would be a good start.

 

cat will never leave his partner in steve

 

He probably is looking to get more pub so that he can get more marketing deals as well as a better shot at making the All-Star team. Nothing wrong with that.

 

Whachu talkin' 'bout Jeff?

 

I find it incredibly unbelievable that people expect Yao Ming to be the starter from Game 1. He'll be tooooooooooo exhausted. Think about it like this:

Every year, American rookies coem to NBA teams fully rested. They then proceed to adjust to the game, despite playing in the same country. Then, regardless of how good they are, they hit a rookie wall. Now take that same player, make his play the World Championships, then the Asian games consecutively. Then immediately fly him to Beijing for 2 days, then send him to Houston where he would be in camp 3 days later at the most. As if that's not enough, people often say that training methods are not very good in China, and Yao may very well be in bad fitness, i.e., bad stamina and strength. Let's face it, he doesn't have the kind of training Jay Williams or Elton Brand had when they came out.

It would be risking our future to start him so early. Give him garbage minutes in any preseason games, and give him a 20-min MAX off the bench for the first 15 games of the season. Then slowly start increasing his minutes, and when he can play 25 minutes easily, without huffing and puffing, then insert him in the starting line-up. Hopefully, with Cato able to play lots of minutes, he won't hit the wall so hard and he'll help us in the playoffs.

 

I don't think Griffin or Yao will be getting the huge max-type contracts everyone seems to be expecting them to get. Griffin had a good rookie season, but is going to need a couple solid seasons with great numbers to demand a big deal. Yao's contact future isn't so clear for obvious reasons. I don't think Mobley will be going anywhere barring spectacular play from Griffin/Yao. Even then, I'm not convinced he'll bail on the Rockets.

 

Something that no one has hit on,

Feigen says we should not call him "Ming," anymore. That is not what anyone here said, but I assume Feigen is getting that from the Rockets Communications Director, Nelson Luis, who did go to China with CD and met his parents.

so, what's up???

 

HP, I think this article casts some shadow on the possibility of Yao starting right away:

Five starters with at least 3 years of experience? So he's thinking Cato as starting center. Veteran backups at every position but center? He's definitely thinking Cato is still the starter.

As for Mobley's publicist I've noticed this: no matter he is now a 20 PPG scorer, Mobley still cannot shake the rep he got by being picked in the mid-second round. Everyone recognizes that he's a second round steal, but won't give him credit for being one of the best SGs in the league. I think this is why he needs a publicist -- because he didn't get the free ride Ray Allen got by being a lotto pick.

 

I think W&S touched on this along time ago. He said you can call him Yao or Yao Ming but it was impolite to call him just Ming.