I think what's going to help with Ming's conditioning and getting tired is that the Rockets have some big men off the bench (Cato, Collier, KT), so Rudy will be able to substitute him regularly, cut his minutes and keep him fresh. He also won't have to do all of the work so that's less energy to be burned.
Great post Gascon. I'll just add for heyp's sake, that the reason why this foreign born Center is going to take over the NBA so quickly, at such a young age, is because he is so much smarter basketballwise than his American born counterpart. The guy has been groomed to play basketball, he's a professional. His american born counterpart debates about girls and football until he's 18, typically. And then he says 'oh, basketball sounds okay, I can jump, and I'm fast'. The epitome of that intuition has been shown by all of these football players that still try their hands at basketball. Yao is a basketball player, he's not just a pituitary case stumbling around trying to figure out the game as he goes along. Or trying to milk an abnormality at a late age (luckily the Chinese govt decided to milk that abnormality a long time ago ) Yao is ready. Sure 5 - 10 lbs. of muscle would be great, but Yao is mentally ready for this.
Rocks... Good Point. With all the fuss, I keep forgetting a supposedly improved Kelvin Cato. He should make the load easier for Yao, but I say he still needs to improve his conditioning.
The fewer minutes we have to give Cato and Collier off the bench, the better off the Rockets will be.
Man, you guys are great! Good points all! The only thing I haven't read here is how many shots Yao changed just by being in the middle. I mean some of those US guys would drive in, see Yao, and turn around. I think we need to start work on the bigger bandwagon
Finally, we are getting beck to some good posts from real action. It has been good to read all the input. Ditto on the rebounding. i didn't get to see last night's game but I saw the same problem in the Oakland game. He could have had 20 rebounds that game if he had boxed out and been in position to rebound. Maybe we can charlest to eat some of his words and come train ming in some of the finer points of rebounding coupled with Mr. MEAN to groove him on boxing out in the paint. I also agree that his mental smarts will cure his foul troubles before mid-season. it took Hakeem a couple of years to control his problems (a lot of his fouls came from punching everybody w/i arm distance ). i am patient but pumped about his upside. I don't think any of us will be disappointed this season in his overall performance.
Wyrox, that is what stood out most to me. I loved the way the US team hesitated to take it inside when Ming was guarding the middle. At half time, Shawn Marion was being interviewed and he said it was pretty damn important that Ming was in foul trouble because when he's not in there clogging up the middle their whole offensive approach changes. Thats a pretty impressive statement, especially when one considers all the nail biters the Rockets where in last year. Most of those games they came up short. But I expect Mings defensive presence to be the deciding factor when were in them same tight games next year.
Great thread. I'm out of the States right now and don't have access to cable. I've yet to see Yao play once, and it's killing me. Thank God for this site. The section of the article talking about using guards to drive at Yao and get him in foul trouble got me thinking that this puts more pressure to get the Rocks guards to stay with their man, at least initially while Yao's very foul prone. I'm so pumped, it's crazy.
Good read. I couldn't catch the game. I wonder how fast Yao is against the US. big men. I mean can he stay with the likes of Oneal, Wallace and Davis? Is it possible to put him on the likes of Duncan or Webber? His height and weight can cause huge problems for them if he's quick enough defensively. I've seen Yao play before but not against American players so I'm just wondering.
Great posts guys. One strength that I've seen nobody mention is Yao's ability to set a big and effective pick. Did anybody see him lay Baron Davis out setting a pick for one of his guards? That along with his court leadership (directing his teammates) shows even further how he is flat out, a good basketball player, 7'6" or not.
I was rooting for China all the way. It would have been the first time NBA players lost in the championship. Im not chinese either. Im irish/american and was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I was impressed by Yao. He has an incredible soft touch. The way he shoots the ball reminds me ofDavid Robinsons. The ball just floats off his fingers.
