No matter you like him or not, JVG, you should give Yao more minutes.

He can't. When they were playing him 35 minutes early, he was wearing down quickly. He isn't ready for 30+ minutes per game. For guys as big as him, it takes time to gain the kind of strength and conditioning he'll need to play in the paint with the big boys. He'll get it eventually. He's just not there yet.

 

pshhh. Liar


Dude, we got the win, I dont care if Francis Mobes JJ and YAo combine for 2 points and we get the win.
If JVG didnt like Yao he wouldnt have signed to coach this team. There were many other positions open, Houston was his choice. Why you ask, well Yao and steve seem to be the two main reasons.

 

Maybe so. But remember Yao during the latter part of last year when we were making our playoff run, he seemed to be ready to collapse at times. Francis just stunk it up. But Yao was a dog in the desert out there. He had no energy at all. Remeber JVG watched every single game tape from last year so he may be trying to conserve Yao's energy for that late playoff push when games seem to mean more and are more intense. At least thats what I hope he's doing.

 

I'd love to see Yao averaging 35+ minutes, but he is not ready for that. I think JVG wants him rested for tomorrow night in Boston. Come playoff time, assuming the rockets are there, I think we will see Yao for 35+.

I don't think JVG pulled Yao to punish him tonight. He took a big blow from Haywood, and the Rockets had the game in hand, which Yao had a lot to do with. From the team perspective, the risk outweighs the reward. As far as Yao not feeling important to the team, and feeling like JVG doesn't like him, come on. I'm sure the whole team let Yao know that the kind of effort he put out tonight is what they need from him to win, and congratulated him on a big game that helped the rockets pick up the win. Yao certainly knows how important he is to this team, and how badly this team needs his contributions.

 

It would appear that Yao is getting stronger.

 

Hmm...is he being held by the bald guy? May be that's the reason why Yao can't jump for the rebound sometimes.

 

Earlier in the year he was both playing more minutes and playing better, so I don't see how it means he's not ready.

Is JVG saving him for later in the season? Maybe. Still, I think he should be at 35 mpg. He plays year round...better to acclimate him to 35 mpg year round than assume playing him 5 minutes less per game now means he will be ready to all of a sudden play more later.

 

WTF? People are b****ing about Yao getting 29 minutes instead of 35 minutes in a game that we won by 13?

Get over it. The Rockets took control of the game after Yao went out. The guy was sitting next to Ewing having a good time because the team was winning. There was no need to bring him in and risk injury.

As long as the team plays good and the Rockets win, I could care less if Yao gets 35 minutes or 5 minutes.

 

You just made me cringe with this statement. If Yao isn't in shape YET then he'll never be.

 

Yao got 33 minutes tonight. He AVERAGES 29 a game.

All I'm saying is I've been to most of the home games and when you can see the bench on tv, you can tell he wants to get back in the game earlier. I don't think it is as much a matter of him tiring to easily to play more minutes, but him jsut tiring quicker, meaning you can still play him a lot of minutes, just take him out one or two more times a game.

I would play Yao until the 5 minutes mark. Put him back in at the 2 minute mark of the first quarter to replace Cato.

Take Yao back out with 8 minutes left in the half, put back in with 4 to play.

He plays 17 of a possible 24 minutes. In the second half, repeat as necessary or play longer - 17 to 20 minuts.

I think currently, Van Gundy takes him out with 6 minutes or so left in the first quarter and doesn't bring him back in till the start of the second, then takes him out and doesn't bring him back in for the rest of the half. Yao regenerates energy qucikly, as does every player, he just tires quicker. Also, by not playing him through the quarter break (i.e. - a couple of minutes before and after quarter end), you aren't taking advantage of a natural stop in action and refresher.

 

JVG rested Yao for tomorrow's game? Didn't he tell the media he NEVER thinks ahead when asked whether benching Yao is to rest him for the next game the other day? the man said it himself then why people still believe otherwise?

 

Exactly! I already pointed that out in the game thread. You can't trust anything that comes out of JVG's mouth anymore.

 

Why do people spread this myth. Go check out his player stats page on ESPN and you'll see that more often than not, his stats are fine for the 2nd game of a back to back.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playe...g?playerId=1722

Date/Points/Boards/fg shooting/mins

11/3 12/7 (5-9) 29
11/4 10/11 (4-10) 37

11/13 12/8 (5-12) 30
11/14 21/14 (8-17) 37

11/16 20/12 (6-12) 50
11/17 12/14 (5-15) 38

11/28 14/8 (6-11) 23
11/29 19/9 (7-14) 44

12/5 15/10 (5-7) 33
12/6 22/20 (9-18) 40

12/16 10/2 (4-7) 28
12/17 12/6 (6-8) 30

12/19 21/10 (9-13) 37
12/20 14/4 (4-7) 20

12/25 18/8 (8-14) 30
12/26 12/10 (6-12) 32

1/7 4/5 (2-5) 22
1/8 15/9 (5-10) 27

But with the numbers staring right back at you, I guess people will still say Yao doesn't play well in back to back games. Hell his 22/20 game came in the 2nd game of a back to back!!

 

Common logic says you sit a player down when you still have to complete a back-to-back and the first game is a blowout.


Confidence?

Can't he take confidence from the fact that we consider him so valuable that we can't do without him in the future, so we're being cautious?

 

This is because of the fact that he IS rested for the first night

 

That's why I posted the minutes too, so people would actually see that too, but obviously you didn't..rolleyes: Most of the times his minutes are close to the same in both games and if it's low for the first, that was usually a blowout game. One time he played 50mins first game and 44mins the second game.

 

I meant 38mins the 2nd game. Anyways that stats were plain as day to see for people to draw their own conclusions, but I see that you can never change the mind of a YOB.

 

Let's not forget that Yao hit the floor hard at least once against the Wizards. He got up from that and played well, but that only tells us he wasn't totally disabled. When the adrenaline is pumping you often don't feel a minor injury until hours later, sometimes not until the next morning. You can easily aggravate the injury without realizing it. Maybe JVG was just being careful when he kept Yao out of the 4th quarter.