Jason Kid "Everyone in the league wants to play with Yao"

That's true. 18 ppg and what 8 boards? I really think if the game were called right on Yao, he would be averaging 23-25 ppg right now and also getting our role players all sorts of wide open shots that would also add another 3-5 ppg for this team. How many games would we have won already if we were scoring 8-10 extra points in every game? Who knows, but I think we'd probably be battling for at least the #4 seed.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of players in the league that would say they want to play next to Yao because the guy has been hyped up so much as the next dominant big man. But hype does not always live up to reality.

Mcgrady is an example of a player that demanded a trade to Houston because he wanted to play next to Yao. I have to wonder if Yao has lived up to the expectations Mcgrady had when he made the trade demand last summer. The way he talked, I think he was expecting another Shaq/Kobe duo and Yao has a very long way to go before he can be compared to Shaq.

Just look at the way Mcgrady deferred to Yao early on in the season. Mcgrady wouldn't do that unless he expected Yao to be a dominant big man. From the way Mcgrady has played lately, I get the felling he's thinking "Screw deferring to Yao, he wasn't getting it done, so I'm going to have to carry this team on my back now".

 

yao runs the fast break?

 

so we'll see last years Orlando Magic again?

 

Did the Orlando Magic win 4 in a row all of last season or beat the Spurs twice?

 

Do you think they would have lost to an expansion team twice? Did we win all the games with Yao sitting on the bench?

 

Sorry for saying this, I find it hard to believe that any foreign reporter (i.e. without much insider connections) is able approach a star player in the locker room llike this after a game.

Anyone can explain how post-game press conference and related interviews are held?

 

I didn’t say we won them without Yao. We won them with Mcgrady (as well as the other role players like Sura and Howard) being more assertive and not deferring to Yao the same way they did early in the season.

 

TJ, it's true that our draft picks over the past 5 years haven't been anything to write home about, nor back when Drew and Turkcan were taken 7 years ago, but what team can make that claim they took the best player available? No one.

18 teams passed on Carlos Boozer in 2002 after the Rockets took Nachbar.

Griffin(#7) was projected by some as a top 5 pick in 2001. 3 picks[Jefferson(#13), Collins(#18) & Armstrong(#23)] was alot to give up but they couldn't guarantee all of those contracts either. Some of the guys that went after Jefferson in that draft were Troy Murphy(#14), Zach Randolph(#19), Jamaal Tinsley(#27), Tony Parker(#28), Gibert Arenas(#2 - 2nd round), Mehmet Okur(#9 - 2nd round) and Bobby Simmons(#13 - 2nd round). Lots of teams passed on those guys.

In 1999 21 teams before the Rockets and 1 team after them passed on AK-47. Manu Ginobili was taken as the second to last pick in that entire draft.

You ignored the point of my post so that you could show the BBS once again how you can be a cocky ass with two words.

 

2004 Orlando Magics 21-61 team record
PG Tyrone Lue
SG Tracy McGrady
SF Dwight Gooden
PF Juwan Howard
C Andrew LeClerc

2005 Houston Rockets 20-17 team record
PG Bobby Sura
SG David Wesley
SF Tracy McGrady
PF Juwan Howard
C Yao Ming

If you compare the Magic team that T-Mac played with last year versus the Rox this year, I don't see a major upgrade talentwise on this Rox team versus the Magics except at the center position. Maybe T-Mac knew what he was doing by coming to Houston to play with Yao. Anyway, if Yao turns out to be the second coming of Ric Smits instead of Hakeem, maybe his biggest accomplishment will be that he was a factor in bringing T-Mac here.

 

Reporters have to apply for a media credential with the NBA either for a full season credential or on a per game basis.

Once they have those credentials, they can enter either locker room and ask questions of any player they wish. It's pretty easy to approach a star player in the locker room after a game if you have a media credential.