In the olympics, his motivation for having a "dominating" mindset is so that he can win a gold medal for his country, his people. What is his motivation for having a "dominating" mindset in the NBA? Does he really want to win an NBA championship as badly as he wants to win a gold medal for china?
Why would LA do this trade? Trade a top 5 player for Yao + albatross dead weights LA doesn't need Yao to sell seats.
Rockets never built the team around Yao. Les made the trade because of T-Mac only, but T-mac wanted to come to houston because of Yao, I guess. Rockets never really run their offense through Yao in eyes and on paper, statistically. Yao is nothing but a role player. He is treated as one and performs like one, from time to time.
There is no way Buss is going to trade away Bryant. He is a hippie, wants to hang around with the same group. If Shaq cannot please him, there is no way Yao will.
Elven Hayes was interviewed by Charlie Pullilo. Elven Hayes was asked about the state of the Rockets. He said that Yao is being crowded in the paint, and it is making life tough for him. However, he also said Yao being in the paint makes it tough for TMac driving into the paint.
I agree grothendieck. Anyone who has said we have build a team around Yao is way off. If they really wanted to build a team around Yao, the Rockets would have a decent point guard. I'm not saying a superstar PG but even a guard like Brevin Knight would have worked. Right now, Yao has no point guard at all which is crucial in his success. Regardless of how great Tmac is, he is a scorer and he was acquired to sell tickets, not to help out Yao. Also, did anyone notice that Yao was more aggressive tonight than he usually is? Maybe he has been reading this thread!
I really feel like that Wesley is not going to be the answer for the Rocks point guard problems!! We still have holes in our lineup... What I can't understand is why Mo's numbers are down sooo much this season...
I always thought if Yao was at least the average of Smits and Shaq that would be a worthy career. Worthy of the #1 pick. Both were All star caliber players so being at least the average of both qualifies as worthy in my opinion. Thus far... Smits 14.8ppg Shaq 26.9 Average (ShaqSmits): 20.8 Yao 16.0 Smits .507 Shaq .578 Average: .542 Yao .513 Smits .773 Shaq .535 Average: .650 Yao .803 Smits 6.1 rpg Shaq 12.0 Average: 9.1 Yao 8.6 Smits 1.4 apg Shaq 2.9 Average: 2.1 Yao 1.5 Smits 1.3 blk Shaq 2.7 Average: 2.0 Yao 1.8 Smits 1.8 to Shaq 2.9 Average: 2.4 Yao 2.2 Smits .8 Shaq 1.7 stl Average: 1.2 Yao 0.3 My conclusion thus far is that Yao is on pace to acheive all the marks above, tho at the current time he is below many of them due to his rookie season.
