How to convince a Yao-only-fan to be a Rockets fan?

Someone still needs to answer his question, how does he become a Rockets fan? It's an important question. Because we have a whole country wanting to be a fans but they cannot get excited about the team. And although that sounds trivial. It's not. Because the players need to be excited too. This needs to be a fun ride for everyone. And next year provides no excitement through the draft. These "fans" need something they can grab onto.

 

Well basically the Rox really havnt presented anything of late for a "Yao-Only Fan" to grab on to. So theres really nothing i can think of or say to convince you becuase people have been saying the same things for 3 years now, how this team is soo good & its only a matter of time before they blow up and take over the NBA. Well even though this can still be said i dont think im gona resort to that.. BUT hopfully you'll NEVER be a fan like me! Why? Becuase when they lose a game it hits you hard, i mean i leave work early some times just so i can get to watch the ROX game in time & what do we do, we end up lossing! But silly me i still do the same thing over again n come home to watch the game and get let down again... Oh well im used to it now hopfully you won't have to be.

-Shawn

 

For once I agree with you Xenogears .. I have no problem with someone only liking the team for Yao as long as everyone knows that is why. Then we are able to put rediculous comments in perspective.

 

My Rockets love started back in the early to mid 90s. I loved Dream, of course, (just like you love Yao), but I also loved the other role players around him (Bullard, Horry, Cassell/Smith, Maxwell, OT, etc). That's how I learned to love the team, not just Hakeem. Whenever I looked at the role players, I would think "man, even though they're not the stars, they play just as hard." The effort they gave was on par with Dream's, even if the skill wasn't.

This year, I love how Padgett plays, how Pike plays. They're not the stars, but they do all the little things that will help us become a team. I think if you learn to love the role players as well as the stars, you'll begin to be a Rox fan. It's hard for you to love this year's Rockets, I understand. Last year, it was at least entertaining to a degree and we were in the playoff hunt. This year, we're still in the playoff race, but it's boring and we only play as a team 1/3 or 4 games. Just be patient. Hopefully what happened to poison will happen to you.

 

You're worst than YOF.

 

Watch the video tapes "Clutch City", "Double Clutch", and "Hakeem the Dream". You will then begin to understand.

 

Not many people have tried to answer this question. Its a very good question too. Codell's post was excellent, and tierre_brown had a good answer. I liked Codell's part about how would a Yao Only Fan be happy? What coach could they possibly want? Yao has been offered the best coaching and still needs help. What team could they possibly want? What infuriates me more than anything is seeing someone demanding to trade Yao just for Yao's glory.
I had been thinking about dragon's question. Here's a suggestion. Love the Rockets because they are the best fit for Yao. You probably think this is ridiculous but lets go through the list of the best teams in the NBA. Sacramento: Brad Miller is better than Yao right now and fits their tempo. Yao wouldn't get many touches and wouldn't fit in their gameplay at all same with the New Jersey Nets, Timberwolves, and Dallas Mavericks. Lakers obviously don't need Yao. Eventually, you'll get to the Rockets. A team that has geared itself to play inside-out. This is the best inside-out team except for the Lakers and Wolves but they don't need Yao. The Rockets need Yao and they need him to play better.
Of course, you can argue that Yao could go to a team like the Miami Heat. I'm sure you can pad Yao's stats by putting him on a horrible team. Decent players look like All-Stars when they are on horrible teams, but would you want Yao on a bad team with padded stats? I don't think you would. I think you would want Yao on a good team where he can grow into being a force on that team. Thus, the Rockets are your best choice I believe.

This argument may or may not be convincing. Being a fan of a team is never brought out by any argument anyways. I agree with Tierre_Brown's post. You have to become fans of the players around Yao, its the only way to be a Rockets fan. There are a lot of negative posters on this board. The positive ones usually lurk because they don't complain after every game. But if you keep up with this team, you will realize that they DO work hard. They really WANT to win, and losses torment them and they come out with some really good games. They play when they are sick, they play when they are hurting. You must realize that the NBA is HIGHLY competitive. I have never seen the Western Conference so competitive ever.
I believe that being a fan means seeing the positives. Has anyone noticed that Yao goes stronger for rebounds; he doesn't tip the ball anymore but grabs it with both hands. This a great step forward since we've been trying to teach him this for a long time. Yao is hitting a slump right now but all players do so why panic? Anyone notice Steve Francis commitment to passing the ball and changing his WHOLE style of play for the glory of the team? How about Cuttino's leadership and work ethic? This guy has to work hard every game on both sides of the court. He is assigned to guard the best player on the opponent's team, and then he is told to be an energetic scorer. And how about Jim Jackson's hard work and leadership he has offered? We have a good team, and they have shown what they are capable of doing. We have the second best defense (behind the Spurs), and we have the ability to be a great offensive team too. When both are clicking we are unbeatable and that requires consistency. I love every guy on this team. Piatowski has been having some trouble, but I know he can get better. Hell, even Moochie was a great guy who worked hard and tried his best, he just didn't fit in the system and Jeff Van Gundy saw this and made a trade. As for Van Gundy's "negative treatment" of Yao, this is called tough love. If Yao were to go anywhere in the NBA, he would get the same treatment from just about every coach because no coach would be happy with Yao's performance right now. But JVG is the best coach for yao because he is commited to the inside-out game and believes in a huge role for the inside presence.

The Rockets have good teamates and good coaches for Yao and they have made a huge effort to accomodate Yao into their team and will continue to do so. I don't think any other team can offer what we are offering for Yao. That's why a Yao Only Fan should become a Rockets fan. I hope this satisfies your question.

 

They can grab onto this right here...

These are your Houston Rockets, love 'em or leave 'em. Sorry, but we shouldn't have to convince anyone to be a fan. If that's what it takes, then we don't need you.

 

okay, tough guy.

 

dragon167, I don't think anyone can give you a good answer. Unless a person have some ties to Houston (which I assume you don't) or have followed them through the years, I don't see how anyone can just become a "fan" of the Rockets from observing the team in the last couple of seasons.

I don't have any suggestions, but just something for you to think about. This is not the best analogy, but here it goes... think of Yao as your sister and the Rockets as your brother-in-law (BiL). Yes, that immature, loud mouth, last beer in the frige guzzling BiL.

You don't like him but can't get away from him because your sister loves him so much. (Let's face it, Les is not going to let this cash cow get away anytime soon.) So, now you have a choice to accept him as part of your family or just ignore him whenever he is around. If you look deeper, you will realize that your BiL have some good qualities too. Think of all the times he made your sister laugh and felt loved. And the time when you were down because you had a fight with your girlfriend and he just sat there next to you to hear you out. Or the time he helped you with your hot rod. Yes, there were more bad moments than good ones, but if you love your sister, you will begin to "love" your BiL too.

There are not too many "good" moments for the Rockets lately, but you and others have to admit there were some. Just be patient and wait for your BiL... I mean your Rockets to grow up. Slowly but surely, you will learn to love them.

Please don't trip me coming down the soapbox!

 

I am so bored with all this Yao only fan crap, or Anti-Francis fans. Its been commented on almost every day of the season here. Isn't every one else tired of it? Is it because every one is so frustrated with the way we have been playing that they are just plain bored with every other aspect of the game?

Lets start focusing more on the Rockets and the game and not eachother. Why don't we stop segragating the fans into different groups, who really cares anyway, for whatever reason we are all fans of the Rockets and that reason doesnt make us better or worse than someone else and doesn't mean that we can command more respect.

 

You are not so observant yourself.
Fronting is only 1/2 of it. You did not see the man behind him, did you?
How do suggest Yao positioning himself when the Celtics had 1 man in front and 1 man behind him?

In the Celtics game, the lob pass is a no-no but you can't say a lob is a wrong every game. That is bogus.
There have been a number of successful lob passes into Yao in other games.

It depends on how the opponents defend the post.

The jury is still out on what was taught and what has been learnt and what the future may hold!

There are some truth to this, except for the Celtics game, if Yao, or any HOF, can't get on the court, he can't do squat!

 

how?

 

Hell man . . .you sound like a true rocket fan now

The pain and disgust of a loss
COMPOUNDED with the crap here would gall anyone

TRADE YAO . .. he missed a Shot
TRADE STEVE . . .he turned it over
TRADE CAT . . . his moustache was too thick today
TRADE
TRADE
TRADe

impatient crap

I mean it is funny
we say FOLX NEED TIME TO GEL
but if we listen to folx around here
If they did not GEL in 10 GAMEs. . .they asses would be out!!!1

Instant gratification is out

But see . . True Rocket Fans remember

WHO REMEMBERS '81 and '86
Who remembers the years between '86 and '93?

watching the build up
the frustration
the KNOWING that you having a championship team
but never watching it hit its peak . . .was frustrating

I can Imagine '91 - '93
Look back at those teams and i wonder . . .
who would we have been screaming for the owners to trade.

and would we still have the championships

Rocket River

 

I cannot answer your question either. The ROX is not a very good basketball team since I has been followed them.
They are very inconsistent and when they play bad it is real ugly basketball game.

However, since I have never really follow a basketball team before the ROX. I end up know more about them than other team. (even more than the team that I previously like to watch like Spur or Dallas)
The up and down is part of it too.LOL
I am happy when they win and very frustrated when they lost.
So I guess I am a fan now.
Time will tell how I feel if Yao was trade. Since it will not happen soon, I am not thinking about it.

 

You feel the pain?? You sure your not allready a ROX fan?

 

IF you had taped the game liked I did you would have noticed that the Celtics mostly focused on STOPPING Yao. The Celtics Doubled & Tripled team him even b4 he got the ball. The Celtics defense collasped on Yao every time he tried to get good post position & the rockets failed to take advantage of that.

I'm not saying that Yao wasnt at fault. Yao needs to bring more to the table on every single night that he plays. He plays to soft, too timid and lacks AGRESSION. But his teamates didnt help either. The Rocks failed to get Yao the ball on several instances when he had very good post position. On one occasion during the 2nd QT, Yao was wide open under the rim with no one within10 from from him but our guards opps to shoot the 3 from the baseline.

I'm sick and tired of this ISO crap also. Watch Stevie ( dumb but very athletic ) dribble the ball for like 20 seconds then shoots a prayer from the top of the key. This is team basketball?

I watched the rockets when Dream played. Now I'm watching the rockets because of Yao. I guess that makes me a Yao-Ming-only-fan. But I try really hard NOT to be a YMOF & convince myself that I truely LOVE the rockets because they play great baskbetball. I'd be LYING to myself. I watch the ROCKs cause of Yao.

The Rocks play stupid basketball. Everyone on this team with the exception of Yao, is just playing for numbers. Playing for the next big contract.

 

Everyone knows Yao is the best player on the team, hence all the double and triple teams. You don't see other teams doubling Francis do you? It's cause they want him to try his iso 1 on 1 stuff, cause it doesn't work and they know they will win.

 

It is not better or best [and yea they double steve]
it is about disrupting the offense
the biggest problem is the ROCKETS shoot a lower percentage
OUTSIDE than in INSIDE

Teams are willing to let use live or die on the jump shot

We need to hit them . . .then things will open up

Rocket River