Rockets are Good When Yao is Mean by David Aldridge

TMac needs to practice with Yao on how to place-kick and punt the basketball into the stance after the refs keep screwing him up(He did that in Orlando last year). I think we need to form a fund to pay for Yao's technical fouls ($500 for every T). Yao said he doesn't want to pay for it. OK, Yao, you get angry, and we will pay for it.

Or, some rich ass in Houston, please step up, and pay for Yao's fines.

 

Get Beyonce to do it.

 

I wonder who that "member of the organization" really is

 

overall good article...but he did make an error when he was commenting on yao vs haywood...it was tmac who fouled him the play after haywood stripped yao...but for the most part, DA was pretty much on point...

 

"The tired old man"... Anyone knows whom I am talking about?

 

he raises great points about Ewing and what purpose he serves with this team and specifically Yao

Facts:

Yao is extremely talented and capable of doing great things, as evidenced by the numerous remarkable games he's played in his brief career thus far

Yao is a smart, hardworking, coachable young man who has great desire to be great, something everybody who's ever coached him has agreed on

Yao grew up playing a different type of Basketball and requires his game to be reshaped

Analysis:

Ewing just does not strike me as the best coach available for Yao, or frankly, even a decent one by NBA coaching standards. Granted I am not privy to practives, but what I have seen from clips of pregames and practices is always Ewing feeding the ball to Yao in the post...never anything about positioning, creating space, etc.

I find it incredible that the any business would not look to do everything possible to fully develop their biggest asset. If having Ewing on the staff is basically a personal favor to VG, then Les and CD need to put a stop to it after this season because it is a disservice to the fans and the organization when we could be doing much better.

 

Cool, 2005 season billboard slogan ready to go:

Make Ming Mean.

 

"Fiiire Ewwwing"
clap clap clap clap clap
"Fiiire Ewwwing"
clap clap clap clap clap

 

I think sometimes it does happen. He played like a mad man in the Olympics, at least in a few of the games. The problem is that he can't maintain the intensity for long.

 

wow DA actuall put his phone number on there? interesting...other than that it is a great article.

 

DA is great, but I think the article is somewhat off-base.

First, the general hypothesis is obviously correct. It doesn't take a degree injournalism (or whatever DA has) to note that.

But, the Rockets are often good even without Yao being mean. The 124 point win against Dallas. Some of the victories over SA.

I think the point is more that if Yao could play up to his potential more often, then the Rockets wouldn't have to worry as much about whether Juwan, Wesley or Jon Barry are hitting or missing their shots.

 

Now if we can only get Steven A Smith's #.

 

yeah i have heard him say several time this year that he needs to get tougher but i just dont see him doing it on the court.

 

I think this whole idea that Yao needs to get "meaner" or more "aggressive" is such a knee-jerk and simplistic answer. I don't know about everyone else, but it seems to me that Yao biggest problem recently has been foul trouble.

And while some of those fouls are due to Yao being in poor defensive position because he doesn't get to spots quick enough, a lot of those can be attributed to Yao being too aggressive. Those silly reach-ins or when he leans in to block a shot and gets too much body or hand.

I mean would the suggestion that Yao needs to be more physical, more intense, or more aggressive actually lead to Yao getting in less foul trouble? I doubt it. Yao's adjustments on the defensive end need to come from changing his technique and decision making. Knowing how and when to go for blocks and when to just let it go.

Of course when people talk about Yao needing to be more aggressive, they actually mean that Yao needs to do that on the offensive end. And on this front Yao has done a lot with becoming less tentative in the post and making his move quickly. And the past three poor performances can be attributed to foul trouble more than anything else. Yao is just a much better player when he can play most of the 1st quarter and get a rhythm going.

Now if people are expecting Yao to be a bulldozing, Shaq2 in the post who dominates through sheer physicality, those people will never be satisfied, and frankly, I don't think it's even necessary for a dominant Yao. If Yao can just keep out of foul trouble, while still being able to protect the rim, and be an efficient scorer at the same time, that would be a pretty impressive package.

Would an intense, chest-beating Yao be a great improvement over what we have now. Maybe.... But you just have to look at K-Mart to realize that having strong intensity doesn't automatically equal performance.

 

Yao needs to taste playoffs past the 2nd round. Plain and simple.

 

"Rockets are Good When Yao is Mean".

Alas, Houston will never be a good team then.

 

most players in the nba come from less than story book beginnings. whether that is the streets of compton or war torn yugoslavia they have a fighters mentality. yao, and the way the culture is portrayed no chinaman, have that me or you mentality that is required of athletes. when you boil it down, sports is war without the death and destruction. in sports the maxim nice guys finish last is quite appropriate.

 

I have said it all along, remember the Asian championship? Every member of the Rox family should think, act and speak KOREAN to Yao!

 

i am gonna pretend thT U did not just used the word "chinaman"

 

Yao needs to body slam some refs (at least verbally)... plain and simple. This society never fails to screw over the quiet and the meek. Yao needs to adapt. When in Rome, do as the Romans. We won't think you have no class if you curse out the refs Yao, we'd just think you've got more passion and care about winning.