I don't believe we're better without him. We played against three not-so-great teams and we won, as was expected. However, we lost to an even worse team, the Wizards, without Yao, so I highly doubt we're better without him. I like Yao, I really do. He's a great man and I've always respected him. He doesn't complain or start any drama and I hate to see him injured, especially with his fighting spirit. I still believe he can help us bring home a trophy.
They need him to play alot less on offense. When they throw into into him, it kills the teams off the ball movement and stagnates the whole offense.
We lose to the Lakers, Nuggets, Hornets, and Spurs with Yao. We beat the Pacers and Knicks without Yao. Conclusion: we're better without Yao!
its a valid assumption, but not entirely accurate yao could have came off the bench and play say 8 minutes in those 2 wins without causing too much problems. i mean, one player can't lose a game by himself by playing 8 minutes In fact, hibbert would have been one of those rare big mans that yao can actually keep up with yao at this point can still be a serviceable backup against some big bodies. his 7-6 presences is still there. hopefully he can accept coming off the bench for the rest of the year (if he recovers from the current foot injury offcourse) its benificial for his own career anyways
it shouldn't be a concern i don't see RA playing slow-it-down-for-yao offence too much if he wants to keep his job, this team has run in order to be successful. there's no reason that we can't play better than last yrs 42 win team. but we will see
Good post. Yao has to adapt to this team. The alternative had not been working for the 1st 5 games. Yao's 20-10 days are long gone and we really don't need him to perform like that to be successful. Leeb has an interesting notion that Yao should be used in the high post, leaving the lanes unclogged for Scola and Martin, and playing sort of a decoy. That might work.
Whatever. The Rockets are barely a playoff team without Yao. Yao gives us the chance of actually beating some teams and perhaps making it to the finals.
How is it valid? It makes absolutely no sense. We lost games against some of the better teams in the NBA with Yao -- then Brooks gets hurt. Yao gets hurt. Budinger gets hurt. Then we beat two of the worst teams in the NBA and you think it's valid to say that we're better off without Yao? Ridiculous.
Is there any update on Yao's ankle injury? When will he be back? It was reported he would miss for at least one week.
every thread from here on out we have to blame somebody, why dont we blame check hayes sooner for being so small and playing center. Why dont we blame ish smith cause he cant shoot? seriously if this is what members on this forum why dont we trade the whole team away? damn not even 10 games into the season people start thinking that there is something wrong with the players.
Rockets need a healthy Yao. no doubt. A recovering Yao and his 24 minutes saga are not quite helpful though.
I agree. Either give me the pre-injured Yao or he should just step aside until he can start contributing to the team again. This 24 minutes nonsense is killing the momentum of the team.
Just another proof that doctors don't know basketball. It's sad that we leave it to the doctors to dictate how the team should play the games.
Can't they just cut down Yao's minutes in training? Replace running (as in running, not drills that involve running) with cycling/swimming to keep his aerobic fitness levels up and give him 32 mins/game.
It's definitely hurting the momentum of the team right now, but if this is the best way to get Yao to return to form later in the season, it may be worth losing a few games now because of it. As another poster noted, the Rockets are going nowhere without Yao.
