RIET, I understand what you say. But if I were paid a dollar for each of the 1,000,000 questions, I wouldn't be too annoyed. Would you? These guys are paid millions to do what they do. If you are paid millions of dollars to do your job, you are obligated to be criticized for a teensy weeny thing you do wrong.
Sorry, it is true. On the nationaly televised games I have seen this year one of my BIGGEST complaints on Yao is he DOES pass when he is SINGLEY covered! This should only happen when there is a double team and someone is left open. What happens is Yao makes his initial bump/move, if the defensive player does not budge much then Yao gives up on the play and passes out. When you have that height advantage you have to take the shot! Yao DOES need to get more aggressive. This is true. It will come in time though. I agree with Mobley that they have to get everyone involved. I don't think there is anything wrong with what Mobley said. I think if you take a cynic type of view of what he said you can infer something that is negative but I don't see it there. Chris
To think just yesterday the Chinese members were yelling at each other about misinterpretations of Yao Ming's quotes. When will we realize that we as fans read too much into quotes to jump to conclusions. When disgruntledness occurs on a team, that is usually not debateable. It is much more in your face. And we all know that Rudy does not tolerate that at all. Rudy would know it before us, and Mobley would *NOT* be getting 45 minutes. If that is not a Rudy *fact*, then I don't know what is. let me get this straight. Many of you guys/gals really think this is a sign of jealousy, and Mobley is blaming the offensive woes on Yao to the point that this proves there is a chemistry problem between Rudy's 41 mpg team co-captain and the future of our franchise. unbelievable Oh, but he was twisting and looking at the floor when speaking. good grief Oh, and the Toronto media said his words meant he was blaming things on Yao. You ever try thinking for yourself? The Toronto media said that because they already bought into the ESPN attack that we do not get Yao enough touches. That's flat out not true anymore. So if you try to explain it, then some read it as blaming Yao. Guys, Rudy and Steve are on record making the very same explanation..."We can't expect to live on feeding Yao like Hakeem. We have to get everyone invovled" And if you haven't noticed, Mobley has deferred much of his game already. He just continues to not be a vision guy when he slashes to the hole. And that is true. What also is true is that if you count, the ball starts with Yao over 30 times a game now. Yao makes the first decision in the set offense as much as Francis. Remember, the question was a comparison to Hakeem, as if there's a simple answer to our offensive woes. You may dislike the offense still and want more movement (and many here agree with Mobes that we shouldn't use Yao like Hakeem on the wing solo, anyhow), but the truth is that the interviewer's question is: about the dump-it-to Hakeem offense; it can be read as disrespect for Hakeem's unique greatness; it is *outdated* about not dumping-it-to Yao; and it is annoying in its lack of current and historical facts. Mobley should handle that better like Rice or Maurice, but it was a professional affront to Mobley, his PG, and his coach by implying there was a problem with the Rockets that is easily fixable with just dumping it into Yao like Hakeem. That is not a solution, as we already start 30+ sets with Yao now. We do. Thus the question is just annoying, and both Francis and Rudy have answered that in an annoyed fashion, too. Yao cannot dominate like Hakeem, yet. That is a fact. But if you want to hate Mobley and try to say that jealousy is the reason Mobley has never been a great passer, then go for it. but imo, that makes you a conspiracy theorist. Just say Mobley needs to handle this criticism better, but don't try to tell me that Rudy, Francis and Mobley don't like Yao when they each answer that question the same. "We can't win by going to Yao like we did Hakeem; we have to involve everyone; we need more ball movement."
Two more quotes (postgame): CUTTINO MOBLEY On Yao starting slow but playing well down the stretch: "Yeah, he’s only a rookie, he’s only 20 years old (!) so things will get a lot better, they’ll get sharper – all of us. With the guys we have, I’m happy with this. We are just learning each other. Steve and I know each other, it’s just the rest of the guys. He’s (Yao) starting to find his role in the offense. Yeah, all of us are trying to find our roles, trying to build a chemistry where we know where our shot is going to come from. Between Taylor, myself Steve, Yao and the rest of the guys following, we’ll be OK." STEVE FRANCIS On Lenard’s shot going up and sitting on the rim: "I was kind of mad at Mobley for letting him get the shot off and he got it off. Sometimes that happens and we were fortunate enough he didn’t make it."
Three more quotes, postgame. Rudy on Yao coming back after a slow start and comparing him to a "Give Me the Ball" type guy (like Hakeem). On Yao coming back after a slow start: "To not give up faith and keep going at it, we’ve talked about it, a big offensive rebound late in the game … he’s not a one dimensional give me the ball guy. He’ll get dirty out there." Yao on his teammates getting him the ball: <b>Are you finding that in the fourth quarter and when it came to crunch time you are getting more touches?:</b> "I have to thank my teammates for their faith in me because I don’t think I played that well in the first half and <b>they continued to get me the ball in the second half.</b> [hence, they gave him the ball all game]. This kind of trust also builds my own self-confidence.” Lenny Wilkens on Davis defending the way Rudy uses Yao: The big thing with him (Yao) is that they set something up on one side of the floor, and then he wants to flash right in the middle because he’s so big and then they can throw it to him. You can’t be in a help position then … you’ve got to fight him and I think Tone (Davis) did a terrific job most of the game, he tried to keep him out."
Off season will be interesting. Players need time to gel, but sometimes even good players don't 'fit' together, and the deck must be shuffled. It will be interesting to watch the changes. Will this squad work? Will Cat have difficulty understanding that the ball will go through Yao? If not, will he be traded or will he be a spark off the bench? I won't make too much of his one quote, but are there more and more reasons to bring Cat off the bench for this team...regardless of his skill level? (i.e. moving Stevie over to 2)
While I don't think there is anything wrong with what Mobley said, I do find this one line disturbing. The way basketball should be played is if you can beat your man, you do it, if you can't you swing the ball and hope to catch the defense off guard. Maybe your passing it to someone else who is covered, maybe that other person has just beat his man on a backdoor cut. In either case, if Mobley has nobody at all covering him, much less singel coverage, wide open 15 feet from the basket, BUT someone else is rolling to the basket and has a jump on his man, you make the pass. Mobley, more often than not, takes the shot.
All you guys need to be cool. Is there an English word like "infight"? Do we really have to fall into certain fan camps? I don't "hate" players. I only "hate" bad, uh, never mind
I cannot agree on Mobley's view of Yao. why does he think Yao is a passive dastard? Yao is not a gaurd who can more easily get the ball than a center. We often see yao cannot get the ball when he was in good position. whose fault it is? why not the damn two guards wise up? Personally, Yao's bb IQ is more advaned than his rox teammates'. Mobley needs some change in his comprehension on how to play bb efficiently.
Mobley is a stupid young spoiled brat. His comments are just what they are - a reflection of reality immersed in frustration and jealousy. Mobley's comments is what happens when trading deadline passes by with him still in rockets gear. The sooner Mobley realizes that he and Francis are Yao's servant the longer he will remain in Houston. He better start kissing Yao's butt now otherwise Yao will make sure he leaves town by force. Dumb basketballer!
What Mobely said is absolutely right, only if taking of what he did on the court. Mobley is the guy who rarely passed the ball, and he said there are many weapons in the team, isn't a joke? Just remember Mobley was coming from RI as a second rounder, his athletic ability is not so excellent, it is Rudy T and Houston Rockets give him chance to play. I guess if he can't realize he should be a role player in the team, and start to hurt this team, he will be traded , sooner or later.
Why am I supprised any way - the other day this stupid lad said that Kobe plays lackadaisically atimes (especially when Shaq is around). It was on national TV (ESPN) for all to see on the day Kobe torched him and Posey for 52 on one leg. This is what happens when scrubs like him hire publicists instead communication tutors or simply going to back to high school. He also thinks that Yao is 20 years.
Exactly! There is NOTHING wrong with Cat's comment. Basketball is a team sport and there are lot of "weapons" on the Rockets, not just Yao.
But isn't it a bit ironic that ON THE COURT Mobley himself rarely gets the other "weapons" involved and usually only passes to Francis?
Yao just said SF is too short and stupid to guard most opposing guards. And our backcourts just cant or know how to pass him the ball. Yao just said that to his friend over the phone. PLEASE DONT BASH YAO. It is all too true of what he said. Please wake up guys. Just because it is factually correct of what Cat said on the surface, it doesnt mean it is appropriate for him to say so. There are much better answers than that. You gotta read between the lines. More importantly, action speaks louder than words. When was the last time Cat passed the ball to Yao on any penetration or PnR. You gotta be naive not to think Cat doesnt have a bit of jealousy or even bitterness of Yao's popularity, and the fact that he is no longer the 2nd offensive option on this team, AND there is good chance he will be traded in the near future.
Saying Mobley or Francis are jealous of Yao, etc. to me is just tabloid stuff--pure speculation. What irks me about Mobley's (and sometimes Francis's)comments, not just this one, is that they show his attitude: sore loser, easily annoyed by criticism, immaturity, unable to learn from failure, not willing to shoulder responsibilities, etc. This is not just tabloid juice. This lets me know some of the reasons why they play like what they play on court. I have always defended the guards against charges of selfishness. I judge them by their performance, not by my speculation of their motives. But these off court comments just make me very angry of their attitude.
