"He's taught me to be a bad person..." No kidding http://www.latimes.com/sports/baske...999.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-nba-lakers ROCKET NOTES Yao Has Ewing's Attention By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer A lot of eyes are focused on Yao Ming, with one particularly important pair among them. Patrick Ewing has been through Game 7 battles, pushing and pulling on Hakeem Olajuwon and Alonzo Mourning, jostling for position with an NBA title on the line and the nation's largest city on his shoulders. Now an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets, Ewing is a primary part of Yao's continued development, cajoling him at times and chiding him at others. Yao's regular-season numbers have dipped in two playoff games against the Lakers, but Ewing said he saw steady overall improvement this season. "I think Yao has definitely made some strides," Ewing said. "He still has a long way to go. He needs to be a more dominant individual, not just verbally, but also in his presence on the court. "Yao has the potential and the ability to take over games not only offensively but defensively. He just has to envision himself doing it. He's so laid-back. Sometimes, I think he takes too much of a step back when he needs to be out in the forefront." Ewing's get-tough message is slowly getting through. "He's taught me to be a bad person," Yao said, smiling. "If you want to have success, you have to be a bad person." Ewing and Yao don't exactly stay up all night watching video, sifting through stats and analyzing opposing centers. Ewing gets his points across in quick bursts. It's up to Yao to put it to good use in games. Said Yao: "I only talk to him in practice and on the plane. He talks a lot. I don't have that much energy to talk." Like Yao, Ewing was a top overall pick in the NBA draft, taken by the New York Knicks in 1985 on the way to a 17-season career in which he finished 13th in NBA history in scoring, 20th in rebounding and fifth in blocked shots. Call it a case of bad timing, in its simplest form, but Ewing never won an NBA championship with the Knicks. Olajuwon and Michael Jordan turned pro a year before he did, and hit their prime at the same time with better teams. Yao is a few years from his best days, but he could be alone atop the heap when he hits his peak. In five years, Yao will be 29, Shaquille O'Neal will be 39 and Tim Duncan will be 33. Until then, Ewing has a more immediate goal for Yao. "It's the playoffs," Ewing said. "Shaq's going to try to bring his 'A' game and Yao needs to do the same." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Add another item to the Rocket fix-it list — bench play. Maurice Taylor was the only reserve to score more than four points in Game 2. Off the Laker bench, Derek Fisher had 11 points and Kareem Rush 10. "Their bench outscored us, 32-15, and that was huge," guard Steve Francis told Associated Press. "There were a lot of blown coverages. We need to try to correct all that."
. . . . . . . but what do they stay up all night doing. . . . .. Colorado Club anyone . . . or Treasures perhaps Rocket River
Yao is 23... in 5 years he would be 28. Shaq is 31, in 5 years he would be 36... and to think this is coming from a LA writer... -G'day-
You are both wrong, Shaq is 32 right now. But you are closer, I will admit that. And you win nothing... 34 Shaquille O'Neal - C C 7-1 340 3/06/72 Louisiana State '93 11
Suuurrrrreeee....it was bad luck and that Olajuwon and Jordan had better teams than Ewing is the reason why he doesn't have rings. The truth is that Olajuwon and Jordan were MUCH better than him and carried their teams to titles over him. 93-94 Rockets Knicks Smith Harper Maxwell Starks Horry Mason Thorpe Oakley Olajuwon Ewing If anything the talent level of Ewing's cast was better than that of Olajuwon's. I remember watching Ewing/Oakley/Mason triple teaming the dream.....ooooh...the memories!! MJ's Team though probably was more talented though: Early 90's BJ Armstrong Jordan Pippen Grant Cartwright Late 90's Harper Jordan Pippen Rodman Longley
Thanks, my bad. The last I heard of Shaq's age was about 2 month ago when he was still 31 Atleast I got Yao's age right! -G'day-
In the early 90's, the Knicks had to run into the Bulls every year in the playoffs back then. Not a fun thing to do. The Knicks were good enough to bring Houston to 7 games in 94-95, and the series could have gone either based on Starks shooting in game 7. We were also good enough to bring the Bulls to 7 games in the Eastern conf finals in 91-92 (probably the best Knicks squad of the 90's). Had the Bulls not been around, the Knicks probably could have snuck into the finals a few more years and win at least 1 title. I think the Knicks definitely could have won at least 1 in 91-92 or 92-93. Bottom line - was Olajuwon better than Ewing? Probably, but Ewing's Knicks definitely had the tougher road over the years in trying to win the title.
