I don’t see how you could have translated any of those posts into Yao Ming hating. If you read the posts most of my concerns were centered around him being available in the off-season and through out all of the regular season. Yes there were concerns by me that he might not end up any better than Shawn Bradley but I think it is obvious that my main concerns were about his availability. I was definitely in favor of trading the pick at that point. If you continue your research I think you will find that it was Heypartner that convinced me by bringing up the FIBA rules that said if Yao Ming was under contract to the Rockets then the Chinese had to honor that contract or Yao Ming would not be able to participate in any FIBA sponsored events which basically meant that Yao Ming would not be able to participate in any international events. After Heypartner showed me the rules I changed my stance on Yao Ming and was all for drafting him. As good of a researcher as you are I am sure that you have discovered that by now. I have been a huge Yao Ming fan ever since. I have never been a Yao Ming hater. Unlike Yao Ming who only a very small few had seen play, we have all seen Van Gundy coach. Some of us like him and some of us don’t. Personally I don’t but if we sign him then I will be on board with him. I hope that is not too offensive of me but that is the best I can do.
<i>To say that they used ISO because of a lack of a low post game is kinda a weak excuse. You use ISO's when you have a mismatch, your guy over the other guy.</i> That's not true. You can get away with not using the ISO if you lack a big man ONLY if you have a quality PG. The Knicks didn't have a solid PG. They had to run ISO because they didn't have anyone to set up the offense, in fact I believe Spree was handling the ball and running the offense a good deal of the time. Thus using the ISO would make sense if you lack a lowpost and a quality PG.
http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35215 Why Yao Ming will be one of the all time greats if he is selected by the Rockets! We will draft Yao Ming and he will become the next dominant center on our team because it is meant to be…it is his destiny and our legacy You know I’m right! 06-10-2002 For the love of Pete let’s try to tell the whole truth. As I have said over and over once HeyPee convinced me that getting Yao Ming for the entire season and some of the off season would work I changed my stance. Does that thread title and quote sound like a Yao Ming hater? Notice also when I wrote it. So please…bite me!
Yes, I have seen Mutombo riding the bench. The guy was injured and never was able to get back into the rotation because the Nets were playing so well without him and also the Nets fast break offense made it difficult for Mutombo to get into the flow of the game. Okay, Sonic's disposal of Vin Baker goes right up there with Cav's disposal of Shawn Kemp but I'm not sure why Mutombo should be placed in the same category. Mutombo is still a legit center who can get rebounds and block shots simply because of his height and size. In fact, one could make the argument that if the Sixer had kept Mutombo, he would have had a better chance of negating Wallace's presence. But that is sour grapes. If Mutombo can slow down/ disrupt Duncan/Robinson he is worth the remainder of his contract in my opinion.
Yup Sick as it may seem, Gundy is the right guy and I hope Rockets organization and fans realize that.
Crash, everything's cool. I wasn't here until we drafted Yao, so I gather this board was as divided for a while before then, as it has been since this search for a coach has started. What I think is interesting is that the guys I usually agree with were all pretty much against my choices. I think hiring a coach is almost a crapshoot in some ways. Coaches need to be in the right situation to excel, and it's hard to get a read on how Van Gundy's going to deal with the problems we know we have. Usually there's a player or two that extremely benefit from a different coach, and one or two that don't. If Van Gundy's our man I can't even guess who those players might be. So in some ways I guess, I'm more open-minded about him that anyone.
Absolutely, especially if he can slow down Duncan, thus potentially make Nets win a championship. BTW, I don't understand why Nets did not play Mutombo in the Detroit series, at least try him for a couple of minutes so that it can prepare him for the Spurs series. I think it is a major mistake of Bryon Scott. I am sure commentators will pick this out as the series goes on especially if the series is very close.
