Yao played heavy minutes at the beginning of the season. Though he played great and the Rockets won several games in a row, Yao had told people if he continued playing these heavy minutes, he wouldn't last long, but he also said no matter what, if RA asked, he would play. We all know the rest, his efficiency dropped, and the team was in trouble. I understand RA has been relying on Yao more and more, and Yao has become more important to the team this season. But Overusing Yao will make him exhausted and out of sync more easily at the closing minutes of the game when the game might be on the line, and also make it harder for him to recover. I think the management wanted to win this game badly to make a point for trading Rafer away, so even when the team led big, the coach was still not comfortable to let Yao take a break. Yao was not efficient the last few minutes. Maybe it would just be an one-game thing, I would think even one game is too many. RA need utilize Yao wisely, which will be helpful for yao to avoid injuries and have more to fight in the playoff games. The Rockets organization needs to set the priority correct. Just my opinion. BTW, Rafer is still much better in control of the game. Many times the PG's don't need score a lot to make the game easy for their teams. Wafer needs to loosen up since the trade deadline has passed. All 3 of our power forwards are essential to the team.
Hopefully in the off season we can pick up a true back up for him.. Deke is a great cheerleader but not a replacement
yea ,Yao played nearly 40 minutes tonight! Pls,Rick,dont overuse Yao,he had so many turnovers tonight,hope our landry would come back soon!!!!
I would argue that Yao wasn't being inefficient for other reasons as well. I think it was mostly because Nowitski was being a prick. First of all, Yao was having issues with double-teams, but then if you look closely Dirk is practically clawing at him half the time. The time when Dirk simply took the ball out of Yao's hands and walked to the sideline like a spoiled kid was pretty telling. I think he was in Yao's head - but hell, he would've been in mine too.
you do realize a few games could put us out of the playoffs, rendering him useless in the playoffs, since we won't be in them.
