This is from Sina by Yang Yi. This is Yang's personal opinion but he is one of those few trustworthy Sina reporters and several rumors he reported recently are all proved to be true. http://rockets.basketball.titan24.com/09-02-23/181167.html This is a very long article. Basically the Yang suggested that the recent trade of the Rockets indicated that both Les and Morey start to look beyond 2010, the future. They realized that without Tmac there is little chance for Rockets to compete with Lakers, etc for the championship and they are not very interested in just passing first round. However for Yao it's a different story. Yao really want to prove himself by leading this team to pass the first round and with the roster before the trade Yao thought there was a real chance. Now the chance pretty much slipped away. Another thing made Yao kinda upset was he learned the trade news on TV just like rest of us, Morey and Les really showed little respect to his opinion on this. Yang also gave a story about the different attitude Morey and Les treat Tmac. Last season after losing to 76ers, one Rockets role player openly fired at Tmac for his lazy attitude in the game. Tmac complained to Les and asked to kick that player out. He won. That role player was then traded and now end up in CBA. (I guess we all know who he is). Anyway, Yang hinted that the gap between Morey and Yao is getting bigger and obviously there was a reason why Yao turned down two extension offers by Rockets. Although he still believe Yao is likely to re-sign with Rockets but don't be surprised if Yao choose to opt out at 2010.
well if he's gonna leave us, then thats the year to do it. we'll have plenty of money to throw at someone(if not him) that wants to be here.
I don't believe it. Do you have video or audio interview? I think Yao looked very happy recently. And, I also believe Yao knew that Rafer could be traded.
Well, of course they're not on the same page. Players and management think about different things. That's the nature of the business. If Yao really did turn down contract extension offers, then we could see a major trade in the offseason or the 2009 trade deadline. I don't think someone as shrewd as Morey will simply let Yao walk for nothing but cap room.
The statement made by Les recently via Chron.com saying that Tmac is now going anywhere is a solid indication that ... well.. never mind... i'm just a fan.
I can only guess the role player was Kirk Snyder, because Bonzi Wells was in no place to complain about someone else's lazy defense. And yeah, I had a hunch Yao wasn't too enthusiastic about the trade. This is what he said in the Chronicle: [rquoter]“That’s a good start for us,” Yao said. “Obviously, you know how important a point guard is, the commander on the court. The way we changed our starting lineup with Aaron Brooks in the starting lineup, I don’t expect something great (would) happen, but last night something good happened at least. That’s a good start for us.”[/rquoter]
If Yao had it his way we'd still be playing with: Stevie Francis Cuttino Mobley Kelvin Kato Bostjan Nochbar Moochie Norris etc. etc.
then we should trade him in the offseason while he still has value. jk p.s. I know Rafer used to unload in the locker room too.
What about Mike Harris? Although yeah if I had to pick btw Snyder and Harris for speaking up in the locker room it would be Snyder.
The team is not drastically different after trading Alston. We still have a solid core around Yao. Some would argue that it was addition by subtraction. Yeah, it was a move for the future, but every move should conscider the future of the franchise.
Right on. No quotes in the article, only speculations on his part. How did he know Yao didn't know about the trade or Duncan vetoed the Carter trade. That guy is a fraud to me. Every time I read his stuff, it's like reading fiction. Not that I don't believe him, but there is a difference between reporting and gossiping. It's as if he never taken journalism.