Where was K.C? Didn't get to watch the game, but seeing that there were only 20 mins. played between Collier and Yao it looks we played some small ball with Eddie getting some time at the 5. Who was guarding 'Sheed for most of the night? WHoever it was did an awesome job. Azim da Dream
I disagree whole-heartedly. Ming brings alot more to the table than JC, and that is a presence. You don't see JC getting double & triple teamed. You don't see JC having much of an impact of the defensive end of the court either. He may be more familiar from the years of watching from the bench, but Yao has the edge big time as far as his presence on the court.
I think that if Rudy started Ming, then benched him to start Cato after just one game, the effect would not have been a positive. So he just started Collier, played him 5 minutes, they played Ming 15.
Getting Yao more involved is not selfish or putting Yao before the team. Nobody ask for 30 minutes PT. At least get him involved when he was in the game. Dont overread someone else statement. Think before you speak or type.
Turtle, Makes sense to you and me. Rudy is lost. Remember, common sense is not common. They say 250 Million people watch Ming in China! Dumb! Tip off at least.
If we were to give Yao the rock alot more and he cost us games, that is being selfish. I don't understand why you think we should be getting Yao "more involved" if he is not ready. Everyone is sick of being out of the play-offs right now, so the number 1 goal is to make the play-offs, number 2 is to develop Ming. When he is ready, he will be more involved, isn't that obvious enough? I happen to be from New York and I would like to know one reason why "Houstonians" and better then "NewYorkers".....
He was in the game for only fxxking 10 minutes on average, did it cost us those losing games so far. I could have argued that we lost those games because we didnt use him more. I dont because I couldnt back it up and neither could you on Yao would cost us more losing games. Is it too much to ask to get him involved during those limited times. You could say Yao was confused. I said he was "surprised" that our guards didnt play team ball in those games or pass him the ROCK when he was open. Houstonians are better than New Yorkers because it seems like you all just come here to bash Yao. I could still remember the boo on Yao coming from you guys on draft night. At least most of us here are supporting him. Read your New York neighbor's thread before you start rolling your eyes. You might get a headache.
gotoloveit, man, really..I understand you are a big Yao fan and a Rox fan..but you gotta learn patience.. RT WILL NOT give a rookie large amounts of minutes..especially while he is getting used to the team and the system.. Take heart, Yao has gotten better in every game and he is starting to lose the deer in the headlights look he has had previously.. Another thing...why should he be surprised about the play of the guards? The NT guards never passed to him either..and he knew coming in that this team was based on the phenominal play of two all star guards..as he gets used to the system and the speed of the NBA game..he will improve significantly.. last thing. Lay off our Rox brethren from out of state..some of those guys are just as fanatical as we here in Houston are...they just have the bad fortune to be living somewhere else.. Cant you just be happy that we have a winning record and the team is improving with every game?
One word: Rotation It's becoming apparent that Ming will be backing up Cato for now, so why disrupt the rotation that Rudy is trying so hard to establish. I think it's a good strategy. If Ming is on his game, he plays extended minutes. Otherwise, let him build up confidence and comfort against teams' 2nd units.
I seem to remember Rudy told Ming something like: in the NBA, if the big man call for the ball in the low post, he will get it EVERY TIME.
Yao played pretty well last night, but still not good enough to earn more minutes. Right now, who is playing poorer than Yao on the Rockets team? The only candidate is JC. Yao is still very weak on defense, hesitant on offense, and committ too many turnovers. I especially don't like the way he rebounds. He handles the ball like a hot potato. He lost too many rebounds. Sure, he blocked a shot from Sabonis, but who in the league is slower and has a less vertical leap than Sabonis?
For a start, I was not apart of the booing of the drafting of Ming. Neither were thousands of other NewYorkers. You don't seem to get my point. To rush Ming into the system will not allow this team to build chemistry and perform like we have been. Yao will get his touches once Rudy and Co feel he is comfortable in the rotation. Also note traveling, double dribbling and even getting his shot blocked etc. You also have to look at the defensive end, he has been very foul prone. He will not improve this with time on the court because it would take way too many games, games that can POSSIBLY cost us the play-offs (didn't say it would, said it could). What he needs is coaching in practice. Rudy wont rely on Ming heavily till this problem is solved or we will be setting the team back at Yao's expense. If you cannot see how big of a difference the presence of Cato compared to Yao at the moment then you are blind. One more thing, I was wanting us to draft Yao from day 1. I even hopped we'd trade up our picks to get the 1st pick before the lottery so we could get Ming. I too would love to see more of Ming's play but not at any POSSIBLE risk of losses.
I never heard that..and I think I did a pretty good job of keeping up with all the latest stuff during the off-season...can you verify? Live, exactly! things are progressing very well right now...why disrupt it tryin to force Yao into a role he isnt quite ready to accept/perform right now? And make no mistake, he IS progressing with every game. What was the difference in his line last night versus previous games? Shooting % and Fouls...he hit everything he shot and had ,I think, no fouls..given more time and practice...I can see him becoming much more confident on defense and offense...it all takes patience!
I don't get it either. People just jump to conclusions about people from other places, I suppose that's true everywhere. What people rarely understand is that most New Yorkers aren't even fans of New York teams as 70% of people here are from somewhere other then New York. I was never hot on Ming, not even before the Rockets got the number one pick. I think he is now what I thought he was then, a big project. He probably has the best chance of making it with Rudy, but I don't know if he will or not, it's uncertain and hard to tell. He's not like Drew Gooden who we all know is going to be a very good player. If Yao Ming ends up being the next Sabonis, then I think that would justify the Rockets picking him first and that would be a great pick because a quality 7'6" center is worth more then a star forward. But Yao has a long way to go. For whatever reason, people think that's a statement of spite and jealousy. It's not, and it has nothing to do with where people are from. It has to do how we view basketball and how we feel about the game. I'm not anti-Ming, but I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon until the guy shows consistant improvement and growth, and addresses my concerns about his defensive game.
Ming's rebounding is fine. He's averaging about 12.4 rebounds every 48 minutes. His rebounding statistics, raw, have to be considered in the light of the limited playing time he gets. If you look at efficiency ratings per 48 minutes, Yao Ming is 6th on the team, which means that he's a better offensive option than any other reserve on the team. This, after the poor performances of the first few games of the season. His performance rating in the Portland game, as measured by ER per 48 minutes, is a whopping 38.4. And for those who point to his performance prior to the Portland game, did you really believe his shooting percentage was going to remain less than 40% and his free throw percentage remain at 25% for the whole season? They were double teaming Ming in the Portland game, f'r crying out loud. Something about his offense must have dictated that... David
