As a chinese Rockets fan, I have been focusing on Rockets for over 7 years since 2002. I admit at first I paid attention to the team merely because of Yao, but by now I have been one of crazy fans of Rockets but not only of Yao's. I can figure out every Rockets player's basketball-style from Tracy to Joey. Unlike other 29 NBA teams, Rockets (not Yao) owns millions of overseas fans from China. Many chinese guys still watch Rockets' games even Yao is out of the team this season. Even though Yao chooses to go other teams after 2010, I believe that there are still many fans from china would continue to keep their eyes on Rockets. You guys cannot image how many chinese are talking about Rockets on various BBS in China everyday. A thread on one player of Rockets like C. Hayes on one BBS could bring about more than 300 replies in playoffs. I think except Rockets, only a few superstars such as Kobe could make chinese do this. In this pointSome US Rockets' fans should be pride for their team instead of giving their mock and staire. Anyway, I think it makes sense for T-Mac to get so many all-star ballots from China in this sense.
I started following them by reading recaps and watching the games once awhile whenever they played on national coverage. Then i started to use streaming to watch it over the internet. Then i upgraded myself to leaguepass on TV coz the quality of the stream's beyond godawful. Now i am on leaguepass broadband because Modern Warfare conquered my TV. :grin:
Although Yao did draw my attention to start watching the Rockets, it was Bobby Sura/Stevie Franchis/Jon Barry who changed me into a rockets fanatic. Bobby Sura's famous take down/Stevie Franchis pushed Amare back after his dunk on Yao/Jon Barry behind the back passes X2 to T-mac. The good old memoriesssssss!! Now the current Rockets are all bleeding red! Especially Carl and Kyle! Pheww what a pair! The Team basketball to the fullest display! I love my Rockets
The players I am impressed as below: The first stage for me to focus on: Yao Ming, S. Francis, Cuttino Mobley Maurice Taylor, Kelvin Cato, Clarence Weatherspoon, Bostjan Nachbar. The second stage: Yao Ming, David Wesley, Bob Sura, Jon Barry, Dikembe Mutombo, Scott Padgett The third stage: Yao Ming, T-Mac, Rafer Alston, Juwan Howard, Dikembe Mutombo, S. Battier, L. Head, R. Artest And now: A. Brooks, Chuck Hayes, L. Scola, Carl Landry, C. Lowry, T. Ariza and Budinger Thanks to those guys in the list who gave me a happy memory in my heart.
Good post, I think some people here get the idea that all the Rockets over seas fans are just Yao crazy. This is why I have no problem with them voting in steve francis or tracy mcgrady every year no matter what, cuz they're rockets fans.
Cool post, OP. And, hey -- everyone who becomes a true basketball fan gets drawn in for one reason or another...then the true fan in you emerges and you're hooked for life. I've been a Rockets fan since some point back in the 70s. The names that were out there then were names like Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone (imagine them playing on the same team at the same time), Calvin Murphy, Robert Reid, Rudy Tomjanovich (a heck of a ball player in his time) . . . even Alan Leavell (one of the fastest guards I ever saw play) and Mike Dunleavy Sr. as role players for those teams. I attended my first game in the 1982/1982 season when the Rockets went 14-68. I don't even remember who I saw them lose to, but I do remember that they lost (and I still had a good time being at my first NBA game). Of course, I don't watch much basketball FOR those same guys anymore ( ), but I sure do watch it BECAUSE of those guys. What they did in their days is what drew me in for today...and as time went by, I watched for Ralph Sampson, Akeem/Hakeem Olajuwon and on to Clyde Drexler becoming a part of our team. Drexler was guy I was sick about the Rockets NOT drafting the year he came out, and they could have him, too, had they not rationalized their way into more of a role player/complementary player for Ralph Sampson in the form of Rodney McCray -- who was a very solid player but had nothing of a career like Drexler's. I remember us having the 1 and 3 picks that year. The 1 and 3 the next year could have gotten us Olajuwon and Michael Jordan, another combo I have always wondered about as in a "what if it had happened this way" thinking mode. I've stayed a fan through the loss of Olajuwon and the coming in of Steve Francis (I loved watching him play...most of the time ). And Yao Ming coming in...Yao is a guy that I consider one of my "men of character" heroes in life. I love the guy for what he's done and for the way that he carries the load on his shoulders, not just as a basketball player but as an emissary for the game on so many levels -- a multi-dimensional emissary who represents not only China to the rest of the world (especially to the USA) but on many levels even representing the USA to China (e.g., drawing Chinese fans toward the NBA and basketball in general). In any case, there's always a starting point or a reason we get drawn in. And for a lot of us, we stay -- hooked on the beauty of the game, the competition, the amazing athleticism, pulling for "our" teams (whichever those might be). I'm guessing that Yao Ming (I'm a huge fan of his, too) and his presence will (and has been) the main draw for many Chinese people who will now themselves be basketball fans for life. I wonder who they'll be watching in 20 years? By that time, it won't be Yao, but you can bet they'll be watching the next generation.
There was a time it was difficult to be a Rockets fan. Even the first couple of years Yao was on the team we were filled with selfish ball-hogging players that did not contribute much to winning. I am glad to say that Yao has been big part of a culture change on this franchise, maybe even this biggest part, the cog that started our upward hike back to playing team basketball, winning basketball. Every year I find the Rockets easier and easier to root for. Admittedly I am biased, but to me the rest of the world SHOULD look at us and see a team that is worthy of their favoritism. We always outwork the other team, frequently have less talent, get knocked down by injuries but always pop back up, make no excuses, and go out there and play the game the way it was meant to be played each and every day. For all you fans out there that may find an attachment to this team even without Yao and still not know why, maybe that's it. Now that you know you're in it for the long haul, welcome aboard!
The first Rockets teams I remember liking were the ones with Louis Lloyd, Mitchell Wiggins, Sleepy Floyd, Robert Reid, etc.
This is why I love this team This is the reason I love this team some people say that I like this team because Im chinese and Yao is on the team but they don't know the reason we love this team is because of the fact that this is ACTUALLY a TEAM. They might be seen as the "worst team in the western conference", i'm quoting a certain NBA "intellectual" here, but damn man, even I was amazed by how good they are playing...
Since I ever heard the word, YOF(Yao only fans), I always ask myself if I will still root for Rockets if Yao leaves Rockets. Until this season, I found my answer. Yao is down, but I still watch every Rockets game. Why? Because I love this team, I love the efforts players put on the court every night, I love our players fighting as a team. I found I love Scola, Battier, Landry, Lowry and other players besides Yao. I know I will still be called YOF in this forum, simply becasue I am a Chinese fan and can't speak good English. But who cares. I cheer for Rockets, not for some racism fans. Someone loves a team because he/she lives in the city. Someone loves a team because his/her favorate player is in the team. I guess there are a lot of fans starting to root for Lakers because of Kobe , a lot of fans rooting for Cavs because of LeBron. But I never heard "Kobe only fans" or "LeBron only fans". Only in this form, a lot of fans repel Chinese fans, calling them YOF. I think Rockets fans are Rockets fans. You don't discriminate them by their colors, ethnics or their favorate players. If we root for Rockets now, let's cheer for Rockets together now.
Agreed. It all started with Yao. I thought Yao was the only reason why I would watch this team, I was wrong. Then when Artest came, i really liked his energy level , defense, and his attitude. When he became a laker, I was wrong again. I realized that it was guys like Landry, Brooks, Scola, Lowry, Shattier that made everything seem possible. Proud to be a rockets fan. Props to Adelman.
