Rockets are Good When Yao is Mean by David Aldridge

Reading this gives me some form of comfort knowing that Yao is realizing the little things that are holding him back and how he needs to work to improve on them. That's the key here people, "little things" that are keeping him from being a great player. I don't care what any Yao basher says or thinks, I firmly believe we have yet to see the best of this guy yet. Hell, he may not even hit his prime until his later 20's for all we know. But what we do know is until then he will keep developing and once 2007 comes he will get locked down as a Rocket so T-Mac/Yao is a combo we will enjoy watching for many years to come.

 

Damn straight. as Mike Tyson used to say, he allways used to imagine that his Opponent had raped or hurt his mom. this is no joke. he allways had that mentality before a big fight. i' not saying yao should do the same thing, but a different mentality or meaner one to his current " Nice guy" approach cant hurt?

 

Frustration = Yao needs to get more aggressive and touger. Yet he knows this. Yet he doesnt seem to do it.

 

I blame his Parents or raising such a well mannerd and polite young man like yao. no seriously, his parents must be commended on the Wonderfull job they did in raising yao. some people just dont have a mean bone in there body. and yao is one of them!

 

if i were his parents i'd tell his azz to toughen up cause momma wants a f%^kin ring.

 

whoa good article. didn't tab DA as the person that would use the graveyard shift stripper metaphor though haha.

 

Maybe he needs an offseason to work things out. Considering the grueling NBA schedule, I'm not sure Yao has much time to seriously work out these kinks in his games.

 

I think that is something DA pointed out. Good article overall

 

yao needs to go back and watch the tapes of the olympics and take note of the passion/anger/frustration he was playing with at that time. that was the yao most of us want to see.

 

It may never happen, he is just a nice guy.

I know he wants to win, but he does not seem to care if he dominates his opponent.

Yao will be as great as he wants to be, it is all on him.

DD

 

For Yao to be deemed a great player he needs to learn how to:

1) Play 35+ mpg
a) Learn to be a type of decoy until it counts. Only special players can be a decoy. With Yao's size he could just be in the area and still change shots. He needs to learn not to try to block every shot, every second of the game. He needs to learn that it's okay to let someone score on you if he has you physically outmatched (quick pgs driving in the lane, big man in the deep post, etc)
b) Increase Stamina/Mobility/Strength. With no Summer Schedule of league play we should see the greatest improvement in this area next year, as long as he doesn't get real lazy with all the time off. Hopefully Anthony (Falsone) will be strict with him.

2) Be "Mean"
a) I'm generally a nice guy, until there's competition. When you get angered or pumped you get a rush of adrenaline that let's your body do things you normally wouldn't or couldn't do if you were just normal. Yao has to realise that he can be "mean" while still being the nice gentleman he is, off the court. Throw a slam in a guys face, scream at the crowd then run back on defense staring at the guy you dunked on on the way back. After the game give him a pat on the back and tell him good game.. See Yao, you can still be nice while being "mean"

Those 2 are the major issues i can think of right now, I could probably write a college essay on what Yao needs to do to be great.

 

Same things written by David Aldridge.

I agreed with most of the stuff he talked about in the article. Seriously, don't you guys tire of hearing Yao needs to step up, be mean all the time? It seems the whole media is just copying each other and just going with one theme here: Yao needs to get mean, Rockets will go places when Yao does that.

Can't a guy playing nonstop bball for god knows how many years get in a slump just like every freaking normal athelet? Yao is his own person and he doesn't need to hear from some sports writer what he should do. He knows what needs to be done and just be your own man, and play your own style of basketball.

 

Hakeem turned out to be a nice guy also. But Hakeem has the fire and aggressiveness to go after that rebound or dunk on someone. Yao needs that. Hakeem needs to replace Ewing as assistant coach and teach him to be the fiery, but peaceful, NBA Champion.

 

Several of us, including Clutch, said the same things after the Wizards game and we got flamed as Yao-haters. Now the "obvious" is in print, wow, it's TRUE!

 

I would love nothing more than to see Hakeem as an assistant or just still with the organization in some way, but I would bank on it not ever happening.

I really think Kareem could be an option. He's always hinted he wants to get into the coaching scene and I really think he would be a much more effective coach than Ewing. Think about it, when you compare Kareem vs. Ewing's style of play---which does Yao more closely compare to?

And as far a whether or not Kareem would accept an assistant role, you have to start somewhere. If he wants to gain respectability he's going to need a gold mine like Yao to feed off of. He's never going anywhere coaching mediocre big men.

 

Exactly. Like Barkley said the other day, being mean and tough doesn't mean you have to punch somebody and talk trash.

You think Manu Ginobili isn't a nice guy? Tim Duncan isn't a nice guy? They are great persons off the court, but they are super competitive on the court.

I think what frustrated fans the most in the last two and half years is the lack of competitiveness of Yao. When his first two shots don't fall or he gets two fouls in the first QT, everyone knows it could be a long night for him. He just gives up too quick a lot of nights and he loses his intensity and focus easily.

Every player wants to win the ball game, but not everyone has the determination and desire to win. Skills can be taught, but it is very hard to change someone's personality. That is why I say Amare Stoudemire will achieve more than Yao Ming in the long run. (He is a better player right now.)

 

Its a first step that Yao recognizes there is a problem, now he needs to do something about it. CD made mention of Yao's China committment on 610, said Hakeem would work on his game every summer and return with a new move every season.

Given that he gets his wish and China excuses Yao for the summer. What I want to read this summer are articles in the Chron like "Yao Practicing like a madman" "Yao recommitting to becoming best center in NBA history". I look at Jermaine O'Neal, Ben Wallace and even KG, these are all guys that didn't blossom right away and I expect the same for Yao, it just depends on how much desire he has and how badly he wants it.

 

Well, the team also has no stability during the 3 years Yao has been here.

1st year, Rudy T as the coach
2nd year, JVG as the coach
3rd year, totally different teammates, diferent starting PG etc.