Rudy: Ming will be the happiest Chinese in Houston

Lil, excellent translation. I didn't have time until now to read the article. You did a great great job!

I am not familiar with basketball terminology in Chinese. So in that Rudy article, "sien fa ju li" might just mean "starter" as w&s said.

Another minor thing: There are a lot of things which cannot be taught, like his height, his hands, and his will/determination. The last word "will/determination" ("yi shi") probably meant "sense" (i.e. basketball sense/IQ). JMO

 

...and you see where that got us

The difference between Carr and Yao Ming is that the quarterback not only was around for all of training camp, but also for all of the minicamps. Carr has been working daily with the Texans since May.

I'm in agreement that something is terribly wrong if Yao Ming is not starting come the first of next year (ie: two months into the season). I think he may well be ready to be finishing games considerably earlier than that. What is in question for me is whether he will know enough of the system and his teammates to be starting fourteen days after he hits town.

 

yao will start the tip off

I got a feeling dat Rudy T loves yao ming a little more than other Rox players Rudy T will use and work with yao ming more.....

 

I don't know if Ming will start from day one. But here are some reasons that Ming should start.

1) Starting Ming, doesn't mean that he will play a lot of minutes. He probably won't last long on the court with his current stamina. Starting him will give him more time to rest in between substitutions, which will give him more energy when he returns to the court. He won't have to lump all his on-court time in a short period, but instead play in spurts with his time spread out in 48 minutes.

2) Even at this point, Ming is far better than Cato, especially on offense. Heck, Ming is a bigger defensive presence than Cato.

3) He's the number 1 pick!

4) Re-read #1 to #3 again!

 

Yao is ready to start gamewise, but factor in his cultural/environment/language/social adjustment and possible initial discomfort, he should have an adjustment period, say one or two months before being thrown into fire. Even if he doesn't start, he can still get 20+ minutes a game.

 

easy's totally right. instead of will/determination, yi-shi should be translated awareness/sense (basketball).

david stern will probably be begging and pleading with RT and CD to start yao the first day... and i've got a feeling that soon it will be the rockets instead of the t-wolves playing the first game of the season overseas....

 

I don't agree w/ the Carr comparison since they chose Carr because he had experience in the offense they wanted to run.

Ming has experience but not in the Rockets offense. He will have to take the spot from Cato. that is a Rudy rule, but they have been feeding him info on their off and def sets so maybe he will be able to retain enough to take over the starting spot before November is up. it would have helped if he was available for the start of camp.

Cato will start the season at center but I don't believe it will be long before Ming starts. I wouldn't leave a 7'6" center on the bench for the tip-off if nothing else!

 

If the Rockets had a decent player at his position, then i could understand not starting him, but we're talking about Cato. Its pretty much the same when the choice was Mobley,Drew or Francis. It was clear he was a better pg prospect than either one of those guys, so why waste time fooling yourself. The reason Baron came off the bench his first yr was because Wesley was more than adequate at the pg spot. When you draft high in the nba and the guy can't crack your lineup, then you probably made the wrong choice. Comparing a qb to a nba player is much different. Ming should start,let him take his lumps and give and let Cato use his energy to come off the bench.

 

I feel it would be more prudent to begin the season with Yao coming off the bench at least for the first month or so until he gets his feet wet and learns the system better. What's the difference anyways if he comes in 5 minutes after tip-off. Everyone knows he doesn't have the stamina to start and finish a game. But if I had to choose, to have him finish is much more important than to have him start. In time, he'll do both and I'm sure that it will be soon enough.

 

I think we should have Ming start AND finish the game for the reason I stated in my earlier post(Reason #1 a few post above this one).

I don't see any good reasons to start Cato but I do see why we should start Ming.

 

I hope Yao start, but if he don't it wouldn't be to much of a surprise. The main reason, is that he doesn't know the system. I rather him take a couple of months to learn the system, than go out there and cause turn-overs and mis-communications.

 

I'd expect Yao to start (maybe because I'll be at the game ), as long as he's been with the team and in camp a few days. Has there been any time period set when he is expected to be in camp? I find it hard to believe that Rudy will sit the #1 pick of this magnitude and hype in favor of Cato.

With the Mo Taylor 5 game suspension, I'd expect the lineup would be:
C: Yao
PF: Griffin
SF: Rice
SG: Cat
PG: Steve

But I don't think they will continue sitting Mo down, going with the whole not losing your starting spot to injury thing...so, in the long run, this should be the lineup:
C: Yao
PF: Taylor
SF: Griffin
SG: Cat
PG: Steve

Looking at the talent on that starting line, and then the depth with Mooch/Rice/Boki/KT/Cato this should be a fun team to watch.