You mean ROXTXIA? I'm reluctant to speak for him but on the surface both posts appear to be a case where he was excercising his imagination. For the Rockets or anyone here to consider moving EG and/or Cat, it had better be a d*** good offer.
Yep. That's who I was talking about. I'm not worried about the team moving him, but just wondering what on earth possessed him to make up that trade offer. Unless he's really a bulls fan first.
I have a serious question about sports journalism. I know we have a journalist or two in the crowd but anybody is welcome to add their 2 cents. The question is this: How do articles like Ira's make it to print? Is this simply a transparent attempt to play to negative hysteria and the lowest common denominator? Or does this guy just have no idea what he's talking about and is slapping anything together to make a deadline? Here are my problems with the article: Save for a formal workout in front of group of NBA scouts, private workouts for the Knicks and Bulls, and time in the Olympics, Yao remains a great unknown. He's played in the Olympics against Dream Teamers. He's played in world championships against top international players. He's played in university games against the best US college players. He plays in China against former NBAers … and he's more of an unknown than the rest of the players in the draft!? How many of the others have had that kind of experience? And you don't think the Rockets will work him out, either here or there, before the draft? These are ridiculous assertions. Beyond ridiculous. For a team loaded with bad contracts (Glen Rice, Maurice Taylor, Kelvin Cato) and holes (a power forward who rebounds, a center who can walk and chew gum at the same time), this is the Rockets' opportunity to deal with multiple concerns. He thinks the Rockets need another PF!?!? Does he know ANYTHING about this team? Then he says we need a C, but suggested directly above that we shouldn't take the next best centre in the draft, "the next Rik Smits"!?!? Hallucinogens. That has to be source of this. According to Li Yao Ming, an assistant to the general manager of Yao's Shanghai Sharks, plenty of strings will come attached. "The negotiations are not easy," Li said. "There must be nine signatures on his NBA contract. The signatures will belong to Yao Ming, his parents, the Shanghai Sharks, his Chinese agent, his NBA agent, the city of Shanghai, the Chinese National General Management, the Chinese Basketball Association, and his NBA team. These are our rules." It's going to be hard to get his mother to sign, I'm sure of that. Again, the Rockets have time to deal with all of this and have it done BEFORE the draft. Where's the uncertainty if you have this all done before you draft him!? Or is this guy just not bright enough to figure that out? Of course, a city with a large Chinese population also would help. There also is the request for joint training sessions between the Shanghai Sharks and Yao's NBA team, an exhibition game by Yao's NBA team in China and a reciprocal player agreement between the teams. Further, there is the matter of recalling Yao at any time for duty with the national team. Rumours and speculation, much of which isn't true, and the rest can be sorted out before the draft. If any major snags arise, we don't draft him, but given that his people want him to go first and appear to like the Rockets, this should be very doable. Not too complicated really … for anybody but Ira, it seems. In this case, it's easy to trade exactly for that reason because getting Yao is only going to create further headaches for a franchise already dealing with Steve Francis' migraines. Baseless. He hasn't supported this assertion in the least. Perhaps he thinks that if he repeats it enough someone will believe it? So how does an article like this get past an editor? Are credibility and reputation meaningless to these people?! What is going through the editor's head when he says, "Yeah, lets print this..." ?!?!?
Hey Grizzled, are you a Rocket fan now? That would be cool...the first person I know of who would have been transformed from a non-believer to a believer - through clutchcity.NET .
It's true. I've changed colours. I can't be a Memphis fan, especially with that thief owning the team, and the roller coaster that is the Rockets is just too interesting not to follow. "Racked with injuries, the team with such promise misses the playoffs, only to luck into the first overall pick, which will likely be a 7'5" centre, and the first first-round pick of a Chinese player, COMMUNIST China that is, and the once proud champions, who were taken to their titles by a great centre from the east, may once again be poised to rise with the help of another great centre from the *far* east…stay tuned." How can I resist?
Rockets should unload the 1st pick and move up some how to fifth and draft 2nd best player in the whole draft Caron Butler[/B]
That makes no sense. If you are the GM, why not take the FIRST best player in the draft? Afterall, the Rocks own the #1. What good is it unless you use it!
I say we trade the #1 pick to the grizzlies, keep the pick next year we owe them and draft Caron, if we have scouted Ming good enough to pass on him.
If this doesn't tell you that there is all kinds of information being floated out there to writers, even info that contradicts other info, nothing will. From Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. Note the rip on the city of Houston. <I>Slow-footed Yao Ming doesn't fit with Rockets' up-tempo game, but he's right in step with what team owner Les Alexander is looking for: A big box-office draw. Ming's ability to put fans back in the seats could be the deciding factor in Houston taking Ming with the No. 1 overall pick. With Charlotte fudging its attendance figures, the Rockets still were last in the league this past season, at 11,737 per game. Ming's reps were in last week and took home a video selling Houston's finer points. (Insert your own joke here). In case they decide to move the pick, the Rockets had in Caron Butler for a workout. <B>They've been looking for a legit small forward for years, but don't think Butler is one.</B></I> You sure Mitch, because other writers say the Rockets think Butler is the schiznit. I mean Wilcox, err Dunleavy. Next week: Gooden, then Qyntel, or Tskitishvili. Oh well
Just a question - is Ming really slow-footed? I understand that a guy who is 7'5 is not as mobile as a 6'6 guy, but from the few video clips I have seen, he did not look slow like a Bradley or a Bryant Reeves or someone like that, he looked rather mobile. Do you think he could run fast enough to not slow down our whole game too much?
To add on to that... How many C's are there in the NBA who can run the floor? If Ming were a SF, then it'd be a legit gripe. This is like saying that Jay Williams isn't a good shotblocker as a PG. Footspeed is really the last thing that should be hindrance to a center. There are literally 40-50 other aspects to Ming that I would be more concerned with than how fast he can run the floor. Would we even want him running on fastbreaks? The whole point of him is to provide a shotblocking and rebounding presence. So half of his usage of footspeed goes out the window, if we plan to use him around the goal defensively. The only center I can think of who consistently ran on fastbreaks was D-Rob. After that, I can't think of 1 guy who made more than 1-2 fastbreak buckets a game. Besides, the key to transition defense is the guards and SFs.
This must make it easy for the writers. They can just write whatever they want and no one would know they're making it up. I wonder if they have a random draft story generator, perhaps based the Dilbert mission statement generator. http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/games/career/bin/ms.cgi It sure seems like it. "Things are happening behind the scenes. (Leaked information /sources/insiders) say the (insert team name here) (loves/hates)(insert player name here). They are said to be very (impressed/unimpressed) by his (speed/athleticism) …" Like they say, you don't need to outrun the bear, you just need to outrun your buddy. If he's as fast as the other centres, that ought to be good enough, no?
