Consider this: when Rice was healthy and in our starting lineup, Yao was getting a decent number of plays going through him. If teams doubled up, Rudy felt we had an outside threat in Rice to nail the 3 (reminiscent of the Olajuwon days). Yao had several amazing games too (Lakers, Mavericks, Spurs to name a few). Now, ever since Rice's injury, it looks like Yao has hit a wall. My opinion is that it stems from Rudy because he doesn't believe in going to Yao as much with less of an outside threat. Of course I find fault with this (Yao did great with his touches yesterday vs the Bulls), but that's how it looks. Anyone else feel the same?
Interesting idea. Before he got hurt, Rice was grumbling about not being in the offense but also the lack of the guards recognizing the need for an inside presence. Maybe out of sight, out of mind plays a big role here.
Yao has hit the wall because his teammates can't and don't want to understand that the Rockets are only going to go as far as Yao takes them. We do not have the right role players. Just ball hogs.
The fact that we were stupid enough to trade for Rice tells me Rudy values Rice more than is rational. He got him cause Rudy can't bring himself to tell his players what to do and/or bench them when they don't listen.
Another reason Yao may have hit the wall is that teams are quick to double him where as they had to worry about Rice before the injury.
Rudy is looking for that player who doesnt mind to just stand at the arc and catch the pass from the double teamed big man. and swish the three. he misses the healthy Bullard.
damn straight... i remember the "Moochie...drives...to Bullard..at the Buzzard....unbelievble shooting" by the rocks back then. That was a quote from walton after Bullard hit like 3 3's in a row..the last one at the buzzer of the 2nd quarter.
I agree. They are both from Michigan too. Glen may be a factor in Yao's struggles. But today's game was fine.
Most of you guys STILL don't see that Rice's value goes far greater than stats. Rice at least, passes the ball, and wants ball movement, and as mentioned before, keeps defenses honest when doubling on Yao. Fatigue is one reason why Yao has somewhat struggled. Rice being out is the other. Rice is more valuable than ALL OF US think on the Rockets, because we have no other good spot up 3 pt shooters than maybe Francis. If we had a plethora of 3 pt shooters, then we have no use for Rice.
We never really wanted the Rice contract. Rudy did want Rice tho. We only have him because of the "wink wink" deal we had with andersn. He signed a small contract with us and we agreed to pay him later. He didn't work out with us. This is why many players enjoy playing for Hou. We don't screw players over.The hakeem thing was not a screw job....he had been getting paid 5X his worth for years due to his small pay when he was great.
