http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/1773124 By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle You don't exactly picture him as the professor type -- tweed jacket, pipe clenched between his teeth, a stack of books tucked under one arm. But his previous pupil went straight to the head of the NBA's class. Moses Malone watches Yao Ming in his rookie season with the Rockets and gets the itch again. To teach, to mold, to show him the ropes, the way he did with Hakeem Olajuwon. "Kid's got skills," said Malone. "Such great ability on top of all that 7-5 size. You can see he knows the game. What he needs to learn is the NBA game." It is not just a different culture one experiences coming from China to the United States, but also a whole new way of life playing our brand of basketball. There is the level of toughness, the degree of physicality that must be experienced firsthand. And while Yao is getting his baptism on the job, Malone would like the chance to help speed up the process. "I could teach him to be a defender, a rebounder," he said. "More important, I could teach him about being tough-minded, to be a competitor." Malone won't ask the Rockets directly. He won't force himself upon Yao. But doesn't it make sense for the organization to take advantage of a valuable resource right in its midst? Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson admits to being interested in a tutor with such a pedigree and says he'll talk to coach Rudy Tomjanovich about the possibility. When the Rockets beat the Lakers in last month's celebrated showdown, Malone and Olajuwon were there, having their photo taken with Yao before the game and sitting side by side in front-row seats to watch the action. If you occasionally glanced away from the duel between Yao and Shaquille O'Neal, you could see the pair of former MVPs, the two greatest players in Rockets history, nodding their heads, pointing their fingers, exchanging laughs and views about the new prodigy. "You got about 14 feet of Hall of Fame sitting there," Malone said. "Why not use it?" Malone isn't talking about being a full-time member of the coaching staff or drawing up X's and O's in the locker room. He's more interested in simply watching some game tapes and getting his own hands dirty. "I'm still the first draft pick when I play down at Fonde," he said. "Everybody wants Mo on their team. Don't matter if I'm almost 48. I can still bring it." It was, of course, Fonde Rec Center where he taught a young Olajuwon to bring it. "I heard about him when he first came to town, and I went out to the University of Houston to see him, to watch him practice," Malone said. "The thing about Hakeem that told you he was going to be great was that he wanted to learn everything from the start. "He wanted to come play with me, play against me. He wanted to get better as fast as he could, and the way to do that is to play against people who know how." Many of Olajuwon's raw skills and much of his athleticism may have come straight out of his genes. But the relentlessness, the determination, the unwavering commitment to get floored and keep getting back up was instilled by Malone in those early head-knocking sessions. "Yao is a great passer. He can read the game, understand what's going on," Malone said. "What he needs to develop is the attitude of an NBA center. I'd like to teach him how to talk to his teammates. Not to be disrespectful. But to get them to understand that it's the big man in the middle who makes it all go. "Think about when I was playing in the NBA, when Dream was playing. You know what those other guys were always hearing from us out on the floor: `Give me the ball!' There are a lot of nights when your big man's got to get 20 to 25 shots a game. That's how you win championships." It is a mind-set, Malone says, that Yao must embrace and then pass on to even an All-Star talent such as Steve Francis and the rest of the supporting cast. It was the difference, he says, in his going to Philadelphia, joining a talented lineup with the 76ers and producing a championship in 1983. "There was Dr. J (Julius Erving), Andrew Toney, Mo Cheeks and Bobby Jones already on that team," Malone said. "I didn't go in there and take right over. But there were nights when I sized up the situation, felt out my opponent and went and had a talk with Toney and Cheeks. "I'd tell them both, `We got a big rat in the house tonight. Let's feed him a little cheese.' They'd laugh at me. They'd smile at each other. But they knew what I meant, and they'd work the ball to me. No matter what anybody says, it's still a big man's game. Always will be. And who's bigger than Yao?" It is a transition, a blending of talents inside and outside that the Rockets are finding difficult. And so they are an up-and-down team struggling for an identity at a time when it stands 7-5 and is smack in the middle of their lineup. If Yao is having the most difficulty in any one area, it is in getting in position for rebounds. And who was ever more of a voracious rebounder than Malone? Yao has been in the U.S. less than four months and has been loath to assert himself. He also comes from a culture that is less in-your-face than ours, from a style of basketball that didn't demand as much aggression. "That's all fine in China," Malone said. "But when you come to America, you've got to learn American ways. You're not being a bad guy by learning to play aggressive, by being aggressive even with your own teammates. It's what helps you survive. It's what you need if you want to think about being great. "This kid can be great. He's the next in line for the Houston Rockets. I'm part of that line that ran though Dream. It means something to me. I want to see it carry on. "I'm here. I'm ready. I'm willing." All somebody has to do is ask. Sounds like a great idea...the rox should ask him
Ok...let me get this straight: The proposed Rockets coaching staff: Rudy T - Head Coach (for now) Assistants: Moses Malone Hakeem Olajuwan Ralph Sampson Oscar Robertson Calvin Murphy
Didn't Sampson say a month ago or so that he wanted to tutor Yao too? And Rudy's reported to ask for Hakeem's service. Who do we choose?
If Mo Malone tutors Yao Ming, he will be the greatest rebounder in the NBA!! He's a solid rebounder as it is, but it's not really for his positioning or anything, but for his height. If Malone shows him how to be agressive and position well, there's no telling how awesome he can be!
Seriously, I'd love for Moses and/or Hakeem to tutor Yao. However, no matter how much they tutory him, he needs to get the ball....So Steve listen to the Big O....
Wow, my dream is coming true. I don't care what it's gonna take the Rockets to get Malone to teach Yao(probably not much, considering the circumstance and Malone's willingness), JUST DO IT!!! Oh, BTW, in Utah, the retired Jeff Hornacek has been working voluntarily with the Jazz's youngsters such as Kirilenko, Harpring and Stevenson on shooting ON A DAILY BASIS during the pre-season camp. The results? Kirilenko is shooting .524 and is #5 in FG PCT. and Harpring is shooting .508 and is #7 in FG PCT. That's how you run a great organization! Have your retired savvy teaching young talent, and pass down the skills through generations. Think about what if you get have a retired great shooter teaching Stevie and Cat...
Wow. that is kinda weird that Moses suddenly wants to be Yao's tutor. When they first met just before the Laker's game, he hardly said a single word to Yao and Yao said later that he was kind of weirded out by Moses who just kept staring at him without talking. Perhaps it was the gaze of paternal love?
As good as Yao is, he needs someone to teach him the non-fundamental aspects of the NBA..... with Moses intiimating his interest in tutelage, Rox should respond and work somethin out. Moses can help improve Yao Ming's rebound positioning especially on the offensive end. His NBA attitude w/ his teammates need more assertion, Mo could teach him how to demand the ball more and be aggresive and professionally criitical of his role on the team. Likewise, Rox could also tap Moses to yap on Mobley and Francis when Yao doesnt get his offensive touches. Except for Jordan and the Bulls, recent NBA rings are attributed to the force of the big men and the role they play. Spurs 98-99 : Duncan Lakers 99-00, 00-01, 01-02: Oneal
I wouldn't get your hopes up. It is not often that a player coming into the NBA suddenly becomes a ferocious rebounder. A great deal of that is simply innate talent or instinct, which is impossible to teach. Yao is a decent rebounder, and he could probably be better with more instruction, but I seriously doubt that Moses Malone is going to be teaching Yao many things that Rudy and his staff aren't already teaching him.
And the end of the training session, Yao should hate Moses's practices...That will mean that Moses took it to him! What Yao needs a nice dose of toughness. And who better than Moses to teach a never-give-up-attitude. No one was better on the offensive-glass than Moses.
i disagree because rebounding is a skill that can be learned. big mo can certainly teach yao how to get in great position for offensive rebound. as all of you know, mo is one of greatest rebounding and drawing fouls center in history of the nba. hakeem can teach yao how to get defensive rebounds and block shots. in my opinion, yao should focus more on the defensive end, making himself a defensive stopper before focusing on the scoring.
Our offense is so inconsistent with our iso-oriented offense that we need Yao to estbalish himself as our #1 option on offense. I think Yao is already a presence on the defensive end. He needs to get busy at the other end to make Rox a competitive team.
Wow I felt like I just won a million $ after reading that article. I don't care about what some of you say about Fran. He is the man again. He seems to care about the Rockets, especially for Yao and Steve. If a basketball legend like Moses willing to teach Yao then he sees something in him just like he did in Hakeem. I love Yao but there is no place for him to be nice on the "battlefield". Man I can't wait to see the"evil" Yao after he completed the Big Mo Training Camp.
The other half goes to Team Yao, so what does Yao get himself exactly? LOL! I'd rather have Hakeem teach him. Hakeem seems like he wanted to do it when Rudy offered, but his contract is in the way. Here's what would be great: A summer of Moses Malone tutoring, then sign Hakeem as an assistant for a season or two. Yao has so much room for growth, and that's amazing. Imagine once he's physically able to play 35 good minutes, and has slightly more strngth to hold his position in the post.
Hakeem? Tutor Yao? The funny thing is... great players usually aren't great teachers. I'm sure there are exceptions. But most of what they do is a result of their instinctual greatness... unbelievable athleticism... or something else... that they have trouble communicating and teaching what they did. That's why most great coaches were fringle players who just managed to hang around because they worked so damned hard and were smart. That's true in most sports.
