Well I saw my first Rockets game in two years yesterday and it was an ok win. But I was blown away by Ming. You just get the feeling your watching history being made when he plays. His sizes means that even if he isnt a great instinctive player, he will grab ALOT of rebounds, block alot of shots and be tough to score against. I firmly believed that Ming was a good player to draft. We needed an ok center. Someone that could get maybe 10 rebounds and score a few points when needed. What we could have however is a scoring machine. It must be hard for Rudy T to resist just throwing the ball to Ming all day. His shooting percentage it amazing and he seems to score points with little effort. His free throw shooting is great for a big man to. For all of Shaq's trash talk....maybe he should practice his shooting from the line so he can be like Ming. I also got the feeling Stevie Franchise knows this big fella is going to be what makes him a great player. He might be great mates with Cat, but Ming will be the player that will help Francis win an NBA title. We're very lucky Rockets fans. First Olajuwon, now Ming. With the Franchise and the Dynasty.....wow! Christopher
We are even luckier than that. First Hayes, then Malone, then Sampson, then Hakeem, now Yao. We have a great big man tradition here in Houston. Think of the poor sap who comes in after Yao's career is over, assuming Yao has the career that we hope he has.
Forgive me....I was just naming our two championship winning centers. Yeah its a good tradition. Its incredible to look at Ming as a rookie and how good he is already with just a few months of top class coaching. One thing the Spurs game did prove. Robinson and Duncan are S O F T. Any self respecting center/forward would have been alot more physical then they were win Ming. I cant wait to see Ming play against Shaq. Ming should take away Shaqs physical advantage on defence by playing more of an outside game....I mean he is 7'5 but he can shoot the ball so well. Excuse me while I go off an giggle like a school girl. Damn we are luck! Christopher
I forsee a championship team. NOt this year, but perhaps next or year after. The rocks have a great squad right now, and once they find the right players to play night in and night out with out mixing starting lineups 90% of the time, LOOK OUT. Yao is amazing, it's crazy, rookie out doing former MVP. damn. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR. I hope this will help the rockets attendence woes. rocks good home record and YAO.
No the player on Lakers' team that needs FT practice is Mr. Madsen. Man did you see the 2 air-ball he threw up last night? Or Maybe it's the same shot but ESPN couldn't resist showing it twice. And it's funnier that Shaq went up to comfort him afterwards "it's okay, I understand your feeling ... very much" And SC still insisted that his FT is better than his dancing...
I too am pleased by Yao's success, but what has me even more excited is the fact that he doesnt even have a complete arsenal of moves, yet he still dominates. Usually when he posts up he either tries to spin baseline, or he just shoots a turnaround jumper. I'm looking forward to our coaches working with him so he can make moves to the middle of the lane, drawing even more defenders. Remember how Dream and Ewing would take 3 huge steps across the middle for easy hook shots? When Yao is able to that, he will be even more unstoppable.
Oh, no Madsen. Cant help laughing when he runs the floor. Have you guys noticed, he is the uglyest runner in NBA. Here in LA, he is known as the hustle man.
Nice numbers...but you have to admit he is soft. Im glad Im not the only one thinking big things for Yao's future. Im not one to get caught up in hype (Which is what 90% of the NBA is these day) but Yao is for real. If we could just get a power forward that didnt care about anything but rebounding and defence we'd have a very good team. One thing I did get from this game....we have a dumb basketball team. Alot of just dumb plays in that game. I see the 3rd quater fade is still alive and well too. Its like the team isnt sure what its supposed to be. Hopefully its just in transition for the Ming era
You don't think Griffin could be that guy? And about the dumb basketball team...do you think giving Nachbar Minutes at the expense of Kenny in the longer run could help fix that problem a bit?
Christopher, When Willis was on Yao, he was very physical with him and that limited Yao's touches during those possessions. However, I liked that Yao fought back and was bumping Kevin when trying to get positioning down on the blocks. Yao still has a way to go against big, physical players. But hes progressing. Robinson was somewhat physical with him too. Yao made alot of tough shots last night over him. Does anyone know where Rose was last night? Did he even get into the game? I dont remember. Also, why are some of you saying that Duncan is soft? I really have never gotten that impression when watching him play.
We knew he could score, but it was the rebounds that blew me away. Just a few weeks ago he looked so tenative. That turned to aggression. He is a fast learner. At this rate, do we have some 30-20-5 nights to look forward to?
Sir Jackie Chiles I would like Griffin to be that strong rebounder, but Im not sure he has that chip on his shoulder I'd like a tough rebounder to have. He's still young though so maybe NBA officials can help him develope a hatred for the world As for Nachbar I only know what I read about the guy. I know I'd rather see him starting at SF ahead of Rice who does not seem to have much left in him. There were times it looked like the Rockets were not running any sort of plays. The other thing that really hit me is that we are STILL getting killed when the opposition sets a high pick (Hope Ive called it right!). I remember back as far as 1996 when the Jazz killed up because we didnt seem to handle that situation defensivly at all. Im not going to come on and start bagging Rudy T. He has won a championship for us before....and if you got rid of him who would you replace him with. I'd take Rudy T over just about any other coach in the League right now. Atleast you know he loves this club. codell I was impressed with how Ming seemed to handle the phyiscal side of play. I was a little worried that Bigger" players would try to push him around a bit. After watching the Spurs game I think only Shaq might be a problem and even then Im confident Ming will play well. As for Duncan being soft.....he just doesnt play agressive at both ends of the floor. He is a very good player, but when you think of how someone such as Barkely played, Duncan just doesnt bring the same attitude to the floor. Thats just my opinion though. solid the thing I liked about his rebounding is that his size made it so easy for him. Like I said before, his size will mean that even if he isnt the best instinctive player he will get alot of blocks and rebounds. He did go after a few and you couldnt help but cheer when he put back the Francis miss late in the game. He could end up being one of the top rebounders in the league....and doing it easy. Francis is a great player, but Ming is something VERY special. Imagine how good he'll be in a few years time! Christopher
I really don't agree wth that mentality. It's what led to Olowokandi going #1... but I'd much rather have a more productive player. The quality of big men has declined drastically in the NBA. This has led some teams to overvalue mediocre big men. This is a mistake. There are very few occasions when it matters if you have true enter - and that's when you play the Lakers. The rest of the time, it doesn't matter. Match-up advantages? Nope. Kelvin Cato is a league-average center these day. I don't see him giving Houston an edge when the other team lacks a true center. Even with Ming, it doesn't seem to matter. Not that Ming doesn't look like an excellent true center - but he seems to have as much difficulty with the bulky 6'8 guys with low centers of gravity as he does with the likes of Kevin Willis or Shawn Bradley. I am delighted we have Ming. He's a fantastic player. But if you don't have a genuine threat from the C, I'd rather just put another good PF on the court who actually contributes. Screw Shaq, play for the other 78 games per year.
Maybe you dont understand why I mean. These days people want the number one pick to be able to score 25 points, grab 10 rebounds and overall be a superstar. However now because players are getting drafted younger and younger they very rarely are able to do this. When we drafted Ming we needed a center. We have two guards, a heap of power forwards....we were crying out for a center. We drafted what we needed and people said Ming would be a bust. We were not looking for Ming to be a 25/10 guy at center. We just needed a center that could do the basics like rebound, block and score a few points when needed. So thats where I get my 10/10 player from. Ming looks much better then that though, which is good. Christopher
