Exactly, you just got ahead of me. I was surprised, or better to say really shocked, that so much negatives emerged after a tough win against Spurs, one of the favourite team in the league. Posts to bash T-Mac, Yao, Sura, JVG etc, and personal war between posters. What's going on nowadays? what's all this negatives about? I guess it's "in" to b**** about something.
While it goes without saying that I agree totally that they need to give the poor guy a break from those committments.... Didnt he have a period of a month or two this past summer where he wasnt training withthe CNT? I seem to recall reports that he was only doing some light training with the ROckets weight guy while on vacation. Check the dates....I believe he didnt have to report to the CNT for around a month or so after the end of the season...
Yao looks confused and lost on the court. That's not the good formula for domination. He needs to figure it out by himself to be dominant.
Unbelievable!!! We just come off of our 4th straight win, against the odds on favorite to win the championship no less, and all over this thread and the board all you hear is the same tired people ripping either Yao or Tmac. Guess what folks if Yao and Tmac sucked we wouldn't have beaten the Spurs or be a team that is starting to show signs of being a playoff contender. Honestly, some of you guys do nothing but gripe and complain.........why even bother being a Rox fan if you can't be excited about our team right now?? Beating the Spurs in a good game is what is supposed to make us happy, but alot of you still choose to piss and moan about the same old garbage. Anyway, great win Rox.........I'll see you monday in Memphis.
I honestly believe Yao's just not having any fun. Whether it's from the realization we live in a cruel world where people get traded or he thinks he isnt getting enough touches, or the refs, I rarely see him enjoying himself out there. Who knows, maybe the Franchise trade affected him a lot more than anyone thought it would. I tend to discredit the tired theory, his lack of stamina is just from the fact he's one tall drink of water.
I'm really impressed by the Rockets right now. They've been adding some spice to their offense (some of its in part by Sura) which is given T-Mac the green light to really play comfortably and to play his game. I think that part of the reason why T-Mac was having more worse games earlier this season was because that JVG was sort of stubborn of letting his own players sort of work their own game plan and their individual skills out. The team was boring and inconsistent then. Now he seems to let them play lose, and its working to a nice degree. T-Mac is getting more 30 point nights, Mutumbo is starting to show flashes of how he was a few years ago and is a defensive rebounding & shock blocking Machine. Sure and definitely Weslsey has been hitting their outside shots like its nothing. The end result is we're clicking on mostly all cylinders. This is the FIRST time in eight years that we won 2 games against the Spurs in a season series. We've been having 110-120 point games, we've held the Spurs to an average of 73.5 ppg against us, we've held Duncan to under 35 percent shooting against us, and now that the team is having fun running their offense, we've got a lot of confidence of playing with each other and we're peaking at the right time. We would've been a 4 or 5 seed if we hadn't loss to the Hawks, Knicks, and Bobcasts(twice).
Great post. Just by reading the bbs without watching the games, you would think the Rockets has lost 10 games in a row.
I agree, Yao is not getting anwhere or improving his NBA game by playing with Asian scrubs. He needs to completely change his off season training regimen, that would mean staying in the US and focusing on a personal training program that improves his stamina, playing with the best players in the world and getting some extracurricular coaching by the best coaches in the world. That said, I don't think it is going to happen. Yao has too many Asian business interests that he must attend to in the offseason and he is a product of the Chinese sports system which he is loyal to. I just wish he could focus on making the committment to becoming one of the dominant big men in the game.
So true. A point that I have played with in my head. The fella looks mentally and physically exhausted indeed. But nobody brings this up in the NBA or give give any credit. I just went over to the Spurs forum for fun and they are over there complaining that Timmy is worn out ....and I wondered from what? If he is worn out what would they say of Yao then? The Piston people also say the the Olympics wore coach Larry Brown. Nobody in the NBA has ever mentioned (save for Bill Walton) that Yao has played ball for almost 3 years straight with the littlest rest among all NBA players on 3 continents at least.
Take heart, 2K. If things continue to go the way they seem to...if the team is coming together like we believe and improvements continue...then the tides will turn. Soon the crap will be drowned by the veterans posting their joy....
I wonder if JVG has now relegated Yao to a much lower status on the team. He no longer pulls Yao out if he is in foul trouble not caring if he fouls out. Also, JVG had the quickest non foul related hook today in the 1st quarter that I have ever seen for Yao. Dikembe immediately got subbed in when JVG saw Yao was ineffective. It's almost like Yao is now the sub for Dikembe now, and Dikembe's ability to play more minutes dictates Yao's playing time.
Yao is in a funk now and it sucks yes. But I know it's not because of a lack of effort. It'll probably get worse before it gets better but as long as he keeps trying he'll eventually get it. If he lets his emotions get the better of him then he probably won't improve but he seems like the type to face up to the challenge. It's just gonna take some time. It's a rollercoaster ride that's for sure but it's one I'm willing to take. It could be worse. He could have been a complete bust. He may not play his size but you can't say he doesn't have a positive impact on the game the majority of the time. As long as the good outweighs the bad. He changes the way teams play us just by being on our roster. His prescence alone already makes it difficult for people to drive into the lane. Even our own team players
Yes, I agree. However, I don't think it was to be expected that Mutombo was going to get 15 boards. JVG just yanked Yao upon seeing any bit of ineffectiveness. Heck....Yao was benched with 6:23 left on the game clock in the 1st quarter. That's less than half a quarter. It wasn't foul related. Yao usually gets a rest around the 4 minute mark, and this wasn't an up and down tempo that would tire him out quickly. I thought it was a quick hook, but I can't blame JVG. "You play to win the game!" Herm Edwards coined that phrase.
I think the new Yao is bad. The old Yao is good. Yao is probably lacking in confidence on the court now. Yao should pull out some tapes of the games in which he was dominant last year. Figure out why he is so awkward and missing everything. I think everyone telling him to dunk everything has screwed with his mind.
We're just so much quicker as a team... quick passing, without hesitation, quick defensive rotations, guy gets a wide open shot and shoots the damn thing, instead of looking around, wondering if it's OK. I just love it. Sura, Barry and Wesley have been great additions, and McGrady makes it happen. Yes, Yao frequently looks slow as molasses, but the rest of the team can, and has been, covering for him. I hope he gets a second wind. We'll see. I gotta say it... I'm shocked at how the "minor trades" worked out, and how much the team has improved. Dike, Sura, Wesley and Barry have turned out to be perfect fits for McGrady. And Tracy has been amazing. The 4 is our biggest weakness, but we'll have to see how that plays out. Things are getting exciting again! There's oxygen in the room again!
I 2nd that. It's really annoying to see he's being everywhere in this forum and just always talking about basically the same thing. Enough is enough!!
This might have been the prettiest uglyball game I have ever seen live in my life. I mean, I never got the sense this was a terribly sloppily played game, but rather two good to great defensive minded teams going head to head. I'm thrilled they won, for the simple fact I wanted nothing more than to shut up those annoying spurs fans(those with the thundersticks especially) a few sections over from where I was sitting. Yes, I saw the people being escorted out of the arena as well. This might have been JVG's best coaching job in a long time. The defense Mutumbo played on Duncan was the key to this win, and it was a good decision to stick with him this night. Mutumbo was the player of the game, with T-Mac second. Also, anyone criticizing Tracy for shooting 28 shots needs their head examined. He is our superstar, he better be taking a majority of shots, especially when he has it working compared to everyone else on the team. I want the ball in his or Yao's hands practically every possession they are on the floor because it's them who can set up their teammates much easier than the other way around. Also, I was impressed with how much trouble he gave Bruce Bowen on the offensive end. Bowen is a top notch defender in the league, and he just took him to school more often than not. Lastly, Yao is getting jobbed out there. His 2nd and 3rd foul calls were utter BS. Especially when you consider the Spurs had just gotten away with murder in the paint on the other end. This is not to say he doesn't need to work on his offensive footwork and positioning, but the refs are partly to blame for his struggles too. They cant stand to let the guy play apparently. I mean, they did the same thing in crunch time vs NJ. Collins was pulling his jersey the entire possession but yet as Yao dunks on him, offensive foul. Not to mention the pathetic sixth foul at Dallas earlier this year. But the focus is on the win, no doubt. This was great win and was truly a team effort. Jon Barry hit a huge 3, as did Sura, and McGrady was there to close the deal. Finally, I really liked the use of Barrett on Parker this game as he is the only guy we have even close to Tony's speed.
