Mobley has a change of heart after watching tape

This from the chronicle.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/1472684

Rockets now like what they see
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
HEAR IT NOW
Audio: Reaction from today's Rockets draft party:
• Gene Petersen on the excitement surrounding Yao's selection
• Petersen on Carroll Dawson working with Yao to improve his skills
• Calvin Murphy on how Yao will change the Rockets' defense
• Cuttino Mobley on having a big man in the middle
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Rockets players had gathered for weeks at Westside Tennis Club for the customary offseason workouts. But this time, the Rockets players left with parting gifts.

Rockets coaches made sure players who filtered through the team's training facilities left with videotapes of center Yao Ming, the evidence that helped convince the Rockets to make Yao the first player taken in the NBA draft Wednesday.

The team had placed judgment of Yao's talents and prospects in the hands of a skeptical jury of his would-be peers and waited for the reaction.

"Especially veteran guys look at tapes and say, `Why are you giving me a tape of a rookie? We'll see him at training camp,' " Rockets forward Maurice Taylor said. "But it was important for us in this situation. No one knew what he could do, or anything about him. Giving us the tapes let us know what he can do. Once we saw the tapes, everyone on our team looked at him in a different light.

"Before (we) saw him on tape, everyone was kind of skeptical about what he could do. All we saw was the three-minute workout ESPN showed. The coaches gave us tape of him against the Dream Team (in the 2000 Olympics). He held his own. He gets to come in with good players and get to grow. He's 21 years old. He's going to get better."

Before they began their own scouting, Yao's future teammates had only seen seconds of evening news highlight moments and snippets of his jogging exhibition in a Chicago workout.

Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley had done little to hide their reservations. But Monday, Francis told Rockets officials he had checked out the tapes and decided, "This guy can play."

By Wednesday, Mobley had become a believer.

"Those tapes gave us a little more feeling for what his skills are and what he can do for us," Mobley said. "You could see what he could do for us. It's pretty exciting. We got the No. 1 pick and the guy is skilled. He's not an average 7-6 dude."

The Rockets players discovered Yao's skills not only are well above average, but they should fit well with the Rockets' needs. A small team just got large. A poor shooting and passing frontcourt picked up a player whose strengths are shooting and passing.

Yao averaged 32.4 points, making 72.1 percent of his shots, and averaged 19 rebounds in 34 China Basketball League games last season. He averaged 10.5 points per game, on 63.9 percent shooting, and six rebounds in the 2000 Summer Olympics.

"This guy can move," Rockets guard Moochie Norris said. "He's skilled. He's crafty with the ball. He's good around the basket. He can block shots. Athletic. Run the floor. I like him. I'm excited.

"Just watching him on tape, I can't say enough. We're getting help on the inside. It will be great for our team. That's what we need, some inside help. We think our perimeter is strong enough to win games. Now we've got the inside presence. I think it's going to be the difference."

Beyond all those details, Norris' touch as an amateur scout uncovered that Yao is tall. Norris' experience as a penetrating guard let him know the difference a 7-5 center can make to dissuade opponents from attacking the Rockets' basket.

"I was just thinking about him being that big," Norris said. "I know I go to the basket sometimes when we play Dallas. I see (7-6) Shawn Bradley and I want to turn around. It will be good to have teams, when they get by us, to see Yao Ming back there."

Norris said the Rockets have noticed the excitement building around town. But he and Taylor said that to them, that is not the point.

They checked out Yao to see what he could do on the court, not at the ticket window. They evaluated his skills, then pictured those skills mixing with theirs.

"I like what I see," Taylor said. "He's a big guy with a lot of skill. He's going to help us. We look at him as an addition to our team. He's going to come in and help us. We're excited about playing basketball with him. For us, it's all about basketball. Numbers aside, he's going to have a presence. He's 7-6. Whenever you have a 7-6 guy, it changes the game. Look at Shawn Bradley, and Shawn Bradley is not even half the player Yao Ming is. If you put him out on the floor, he changes the game. Us having a 7-6 guy who can play changes us.

"Obviously, we'll have a better presence on the defensive backboard. I think it makes us a better running team because when you have a guy 7-6 rebounding, he can outlet. He can outlet the ball to Steve so we can run a little more. Also, being in the West, we need a big team. Getting a big man puts us ahead of the guys fighting for the last playoff spot. The teams we're fighting with are smaller teams like Seattle and Phoenix. Us getting him changes the dynamics of the Western Conference."

With that, Taylor offered advice. No longer a prospect to be considered, Yao has become a teammate to help the cause.

"Be ready," Taylor said. "You're playing in the Western Conference with the best big men in the world. You have to be ready."

But the sentiment was that if Yao is ready to handle the job he was given Wednesday night, he would change the team eager to add him to its fraternity.

"I feel like it's the start of something good," Rockets forward Eddie Griffin said. "We're going to be a good team."