Foolish officials demands Yao Ming to play in 2005 summer

this makes more sense. i thought he had cut his tie with the shanghai sharks by paying them millions of dollars last year so he shouldn't have any obligations to them. however if the city of shanghai asks him to play that's another story.

 

it does indeed make more sense......kinda

but a lot of cunfusion could have been avoided if the original poster had been more clear about what they meant.

to us average american guys with very little understanding about what teams are a part of what organization in China, it is easy to get us ocnfused when you say that " the team frim Shanghai wants him to play for them"

this is a totally new team that we never have heard about previously...we knew about the CBA SHanghai team and the National Team....but where did these smucks come from?

 

Yao needs rest. NO MORE YEAR ROUND BASKETBALL! Can't the Rockets step in here and make a stand against China?

 

I doubt that Yao would ever defect. It's pretty apparent that he loves his country.

But if he wanted to defect, what's so bad about that? Don't you believe in freedom? Since when do Americans so readily accept the concept that a country 'owns' it's citizens?

 

No we didn't........Yao turns into a big tub of lard in the offseason. Thats why Del Harris didn't play him in Dallas because he was out of shape and also why the Rockets sent Anthony Falsone to China to work with Yao to ensure he would be in better shape this year. There was a halftime show during one of the games early in the season where they covered his summer training with Falsone. Yao was a big baby....lol...throwing water bottles, getting upset when Falson would ask for one more rep or set. He did the work but it took Falson pushing him the whole way.

 

I didn't know they had teams representing cities. That's pretty cool. It'd be cool if they had something like that in the States where you had teams made up of hometown players. I suspect there'd be a couple of cities dominating the competition, but it'd still be cool.

As for Yao, ya'll are getting your panties all in a wad over nothing. I doubt these games are going to be any more strenuous than a regular offseason.

 

Rockets2K,

I know it's hard to understand for someone born and raised in the State, or even the new generation in China today. The sports system in China is a lot like a high school competition system here, say you send students from your school to compete in the math tournement vs other schools in your city. Once the result is out, the city will form a team with the top individual finishers to compete against other cities in the county; then a county team formed to compete in the state, then a state team formed to compete for the national title. Finally, a team represent the US to compete in the math olympics.

In China, every sports team functionas like this before, when there was no professional sports leagues. Untill a few years ago, China started having professional sports teams, but the old system still in place, and even bigger than ever before.
All sports teams organized by providences, then cities under providences. So the small cities train their athlets, compete against other cities in the same province, the best athletes will be drafted to the providence's level teams. There is a national grand tounement every 4 years(?), sort of like a national olympics. Every providence forms a delegation to compete against each other in this tournement, it was the biggest event for an athlete & the city/providence level officials outside of Olympics. To city of Shanghai officials, this event is even more important than Olympics because the olympics only brings glory to individual athlets, but this event will bring the glory to the entire city/providence, as well.

Shanghai Sharks came from former Shanghai Men's Basketball team, although it's a private team now, but the city still has a big claud over it due to its history. Yao can cut his tie with Sharks, but not to Shanghai Men's Basketball team, he won't even have an option of retirement. They call this an "obligation" for a local resident, just like the "obligation" to represent your country in Olympics. We don't have it here because we only care about individualisn, not the glory of the city, state, or the coutry.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, one cannot play basketball year round and it not affect their performance... Yao needs to play for one team and one team only... whether it's the Rocket or China, he should pick just one... this double duty is going to kill him.

 

I disagree! Think about how tough the NBA season is, then compare that to his other duties. It's like a short training camp. The Rockets ended their season before the end of April in the past two years. Just think about the possibility of advancing two more rounds, that's ONE additional month of basketball, which is far more gruel than anything he'll encounter with his other duties.

If he cannot handle that, then he won't be able to survive the NBA anyway!

 

From whom?

Everybody in China wants to see Yao in action.

 

Or simplier, he won't even have to win

 

In China the national games are big. A lot of people who do not watch basketball at all will be forced to follow some actions.

Besides, it's my understanding that Yao wants to play for his hometown. (He can always choose not to----Chinese basketball association is not involved in this.) In the last national games 2 years ago, his Shanghai team lost to the Army by 1 point in the Finals. It's time for revenge.

 

Not really. I dont think anyone would enjoy Yao dominating
weaklings. Right now 99% of the internet comments are
cursing the Shanghai Sports Authority, and you can bet
if this news is verified, others sports papers or journals will
start to blast them. Given Yao's high profile, the mayor of
Shanghai and the National Sports Authority may also say
something to the stupid Shanghai Sports officials.

 

The truth is majority of fans in China can't care less about national games, they don't even care about Asian games. They want to see Yao have greater success in NBA level, not just dominating bunch of scrubs year in and year out. If Yao has to play for NT, he should at least play in Olympics or World Basketball Tournament.

It isn't just 7, 8 meaningless games, folks, it usually involves 3, 4 months' preparation. The level of intensity is probably weaker than summer league in US. I don't see how Yao could develop his game given the situation he has to commit every summer to play oversea.

Well, there are a lot of international players in the league as well. For example, SA's Parker and Ginobili said numerous times that they felt great honor to play for their own countries. But Parker skipped this year's European tournament qualifier and Manu said he won't play for his national team next year. They know their bodies can't sustain these year-long, non-stop competition and they need proper rest and off-season training. It is not like they do not love their countries any more, they just know their limitation.

All in all, If I were Les, if one of my most important employees can't commit himself to the organization, has to play every summer in oversea and affect his performance in the league thereafter, I will be pissed. It is unfair to the organization, the Rox fans and even to Yao himself. Les should think really hard if he should commit Yao with long term max contract.

 

Well, if I tell ya that the 10th National Game of China will be held from the end of September to Mid October and Shanghai will probably make it to final with Yao. That means Yao is going to miss half of the trainning camp. Is it still cool?

 

He will miss half of the trainning camp and maybe more considering travelling back takes time.

 

More reason to trade him

 

Yao needs to grow up and learns how to say NOOOOO1

 

Thank you. the man needs to grow the hell up and tell them vultures to **** off