[ESPN.com/Bucher]: Rockets readjusting, not rebuilding

totally agree Deuce...

it is very rare to see a article coming out of ESPN that actually sounds like the writer has paid attention to what has happened over here all year.

a couple of points....

like him or not..Cato is fairly athletic, especially for his size...a real shame about those hands and the shooting touch tho.

and this at least brings to light one of the moves they tried to do....Keon wouldnt have been perfect...but he would have been better than what we have now.

I wonder...he talks about how SHaq used to get the same kind of disrespect from the refs early on in his career...should we take that to mean that eventually Yao will start being respected and not callewd for so many stupid fouls?

I hope so.

 

Isn't Ric Bucher the guy co-write the book with Yao? This guy is a YOF.

Anyway, a good reasonable article indeed.

 

Well, Shaq was a star, a dominating player when he entered league, so he was supposedly to get calls after his rookie hat wore off. On the other hand, Yao is not a great player yet, so he will be treated as an average 7ft+ center until he becomes a true great player, then, the refs will have no choice but to give him the calls.

It's all up to Yao himself.

 

Good stuff.

 

I think after a while Shaq developed a style of play the refs "got used to" and thus started calling fouls based on that. Shaq gets away with a ton of offensive fouls with his bull rush but it only gets called minimally. Why? Because refs come to expect that from him on a nightly basis. Then if you have a "no name" do the same move they get called for the offensive foul.

Is it the chicken or the egg? I dont know. But Yao has been inconsistant with his play. Some nights he is aggressive and some nights he is not. And the refs dont know how to judge their foul calling around that. Yao would be best served to be aggressive EVERY night and then the refs would adjust and Yao would get A LOT more calls going his way just like Shaq does now.

 

Yes, Bucher co-wrote the Yao book with Yao. That's why what Bucher says holds some weight. He follows the team VERY closely and thus his analysis is much more pointed then some "general" analysis from a media figurehead that doesnt really know what is going on. Perfect example is the George Karl article from as recent as yesterday.

 

I'm sure he stole the idea from you.

 

Well, check Shaq's foul per game number this season on ESPN player profile, Shaq is having the same problem with foul calls this season. League's preference towards speed and agility has more to do with Shaq and Yao's foul problems.

 

Beyond whatever questions there are about the Jones account, this is a good read.

Seems to have a good handle on the situation to come to the conclusions he has. Solid stuff.

 

Burn!

 

Outstanding article. And the fact that the Rockets cut Damon Jones three years ago, in a surprise move, to keep Tierre Brown, lends credibility to me regarding the Rockets' opinion of him. If I recall right, wasn't the rumor back then that Jones requested the Rockets cut him, so that he could go somewhere else (Detroit) where he could get more PT, because he was told he was going the be the 3rd PG behind Francis and Moochie?

 

I couldn't give that article more praise. Dead on the money. Bucher has really written great stuff on us since working with Yao on that book.

Evan

 

So if Ric's account is accurate or close then the call must have been made by CD who was arround then and now. I will lean towards CD judgement because he remains one of the most respected GM's in the association.

I all I will say a fair piece by Mr. Bucher. He is easily becoming the only reputated voice at ESPN. Peter Gammons can be reputable if he wants to as well.

 

yea, bucher wasn't the most athetically gifted in his 'playing' days, so 99.99% of all other NBA players are more athletic than him

 

The more I read of articles written and researched by professionals, the more I realize what slobbering idiots we prove ourselves to be with unknowledgable statements such as; "trade this for that", or "they should sign so and so", or "New Jersey will want to do that because". We say it like we know it, and we just don't. So often what we are demanding has already been explored and proven unfeasable.

I am especially embarassed by our bombastic unfounded black and white statements like "CD is an idiot", "Van Gumpy is evil", or "Worst trade ever!"

BTW, "Worst trade ever!" is this years "Splash!"

 

ok, it's time...























...time for "operation Yao Fury"!

 

Never thought I would say it, but I agree with DD

One of the best articles I have read about the Rocks this year

--Tiger

 

what cato are you thinking of???