Just got into a huge argument with my dad about this. Do you regret drafting Yao knowing everything you know now. My answer is simply no. The years he was healthy he gave us the best chance of winning and more then anything, it has been a pleasure watching him grow as a person. He is a good human being and feel it was a good thing he became a Rocket. All the charity work he does and just the all around good guy he is fits the Houston mold.
From a fans perspective.....yes....the bottom line is we didn't win anything, and his injuries basically set the franchise back. From Les Alexanders perspective....no....a ton of money was made through the marketing of Yao and having all of those fans in China. I do think they made the right choice at the time, but knowing what we know now, we obviously could have done better if we're looking at wins/losses/playoffs. Pugs
Obviously, Amare was the right choice from a fans point of view with hindsight. He would have even fit in with Francis and the alley oops perfectly.
Why regret if he has been a great center.Bother by injuries but a great player and person.If wasn't for the injuries he would have led us better in the playoff.
who would have we drafted otherwise? Amare hasn't won anything either and has injury history. Sadly, I dont think we would be that much better off without drafting Yao. Unless we sucked balls and drafted Lebron or DWade later.
I voted yes, but in reality he was the best player available. It was either him or Jay Williams. What I regret is that we built around him and put all our hopes in him for so many years. I was never a fan and never understood why we were building around a player with so many limitations. If he wasn't such a cash cow we probably would've traded him early and cashed in on his value. That's what really irks me. Les put business/profit before success. I know an owner like Cuban would never do something like that. (and this comes from someone who can't stand to look at Cuban's face :grin
1 Houston Yao Ming, C, Shanghai Sharks 2 Chicago Jay Williams, G, Duke 3 Golden State Mike Dunleavy, G/F, Duke 4 Memphis Drew Gooden, F, Kansas 5 Denver Nikoloz Tskitishvili, F, Italy 6 Cleveland Dajuan Wagner, G, Memphis 7 New York Maybyner "Nene" Hilario, F/C, Brazil (Rights traded to Denver) 8 L.A. Clippers (from Atlanta) Chris Wilcox, F, Maryland 9 Phoenix Amare Stoudemire, F, Cypress Creek HS (Fla.) 10 Miami Caron Butler, F, Connecticut I regret drafting Yao because of his injuries, but not because anyone drafted right after him is killin it, kinda like Oden vs Durant etc.
So its all on Yao at that time? I mean if were going this far with what we knew and all why not, not trade for tmac? Maybe did a trade for someone who would have played better in a slower tempo game? and hows your arm Pugs?
I know I'm going to be further labeled a Morey fanboy with this statement, but I really have no problem with drafting Yao or trading for T-Mac. My only regret is that Dawson could not find any hidden gems the way Morey has done after our stars declined. Imagine a lineup something like this. Yao/Deke Scola/Hayes T-Mac/Battier KMart/Lee Lowry/Brooks It doesn't even have to be as good as this. Just have HALF the above guys surrounding Yao and T-Mac in their primes(3-4 losses to Dallas and Utah) and the Rockets would've given us a memorable playoff run or two. Yao + T-Mac was a poor-man's imitation of superfriends or the Boston's big 3. The difference wasn't our star players. Yao was at one point the best center in the NBA. And T-Mac at one point was a top-5 player. The difference was they had no help, and help arrived too late. Star players may be awesome, but they still need support.
Just curious...what was your dad's stance for not drafting him and would he have drafted Jay Williams or traded down?
Looks like 30% of CFs know nothing about basketball, and would rather draft Jay Williams or Mike Dunleavy.
That is all. And for those whining about Amare - why not complain that we didn't get Boozer, or Prince? Heck, Caron Butler at the time was viewed as more likely to be #1 than Amare.
We haven't won, but he made us relevant again. His presence brought over Tracy, JVG, and Adelman. He kept the team flush and allowed Les to maintain a top 10 payroll for years. It's possible we'd have success with an Amare-Steve-Cat corps, but I don't see that crew vying for championships either, especially since Amare's microfracture wiped out two years of PT. If we're playing Captain Hindsight, McGrady should have been moved much sooner, that's about it.
i think your dad wins because it hasn't worked ... thus far. it would be crazy to expect a healthy YM return at anywhere near his peak form. that crazy dream is still probably our most palpable chance to be special anytime soon.
