Yahoo/AP News Rockets don't want to rush Yao when he arrives By MICHAEL A. LUTZ AP Sports Writer October 14, 2002 HOUSTON (AP) -- Rudy Tomjanovich is already anticipating the push for him to get Yao Ming into the Houston Rockets' starting lineup, and the 7-foot-6 Chinese center hasn't even reported to his first NBA training camp. The Rockets won the NBA lottery and then selected Yao, hoping he could lead the team in the middle as Hakeem Olajuwon did in winning NBA titles in 1994 and 1995. Yao has been playing for the Chinese national team, which lost to South Korea in the gold medal game at the Asian Games, and is expected to report to the Rockets within several days after being released. Still, Tomjanovich won't be rushed. ``He's a young guy, college age and he's two months behind,'' the coach said after Monday's practice. ``I have no doubt he's going to be a good player. I feel deep inside he's going to be a great player, but he's gone through a lot of stuff.'' Tomjanovich visited with Yao during the summer to get acquainted and to give him rudimentary information on what will be expected of him in the NBA. ``I've got to look at where he is physically and how much information is thrown at this guy,'' Tomjanovich said. ``I'm not going to get into expecting something until I get a read on it, because that's wasted energy. ``He's starting from ground zero. We've got to take that into consideration.'' After a grueling season of playing international competition, Tomjanovich would be surprised if Yao isn't tired. ``I expect him to be fatigued but if he's not, it's a big plus,'' Tomjanovich said. ``We've even talked that before he went through this thing it might be good to just catch his breath, look at things and let all this stuff soak in. ``We'll all be anxious (for him to play) but we have to remind ourselves we have to look at the big picture.'' The Rockets want to get Yao into camp and see the direction the team will take. ``It's exciting but it's not a distraction,'' guard Moochie Norris said. ``All the coaches and players at just eager to get him here and teach him the offense and get him involved.'' Norris doesn't think it will take Yao long to contribute. ``What we're doing is not that hard and for a guy like that, it will be easy to get him a few plays,'' Norris said. ``With the guys we have working here and on the pick and roll, he'll just fit right in right away. It won't be a problem.'' Uh-oh, did Moochie just call the offense "not that hard"? Guess we'll get a look at how he runs it tomorrow.
LOL Just a guess, but with him being wore out from the games and missing so much camp I just don't see it happening. I have been wrong before, but keep that between you and me, ok?
<i>``He's starting from ground zero. We've got to take that into consideration.'' </i> certainly is not talkin about his starting role, but current state of learning.
If the guy comes in and is just dominant, you have to get him on the floor. If he doesn't play well, you sit him. If he is somewhere in between, you bring him along but slowly and proportionate to his level of fatigue. It's just a wait and see at this point.
Because I believe that Rudy will "slow-play" him to let him learn, get new legs and ease him into the pressure, Ming will not average much more than 10-12 per game this year. Until January, Ming will average less than 10 pts for sure, because he will not play as much as we think. Look, this team is already deep and without Ming they are a playoff contender. So, typical Rudy fashion will be to play him in spots and let him learn from the bench until he has fresh legs. Because of this, we all need to chill out on the over-expectation game. If Ming averages 10 points per, he is not a bust! We have to look at the long-term growth in his case. i would love to have him coming off the bench to average 8/8 at this point. we have not had that in a while. let's all take a deep breath and expect that he is a rookie and will be playing only 10-15 minutes per game to start the season
I'm a little worried by the circumstances around Yao's arrival now. I was under the impression that we'd have to wait longer for an impact than with a, say, Shane Battier, but less than an Eddie Curry. But with the way the Rockets are playing down Yao... I'm worried that his development is that of one of the high schoolers...
It should be like a highschooler's learning curve, but it won't be. I mean to say, it would be eprfectly understandeable. He's missed 2 months, and has to make those 2 months up while being fatigued. The significance of his first season is 80% adjusting and 20% production. I don't care about his consistency numbers this year. What I'm hoping for is that he gets some chemistry going with the guys, stays healthy, learns the language, learns the system, and shows flashes. This way, if he gets all the rookie mistakes out before the playoffs, he can be very valuable with Cato against the Lakers.
Lets play him as much as possible from the get-go. We need to find out what he is made of. He will have time to rest later.
What we need Yao to do is fairly simple. Rebound and play defense. These are things he already knows how to do. I am not saying he does not have to learn the offense but for the most part he has played enough basketball to be thrown out on the court and do the little things we need him to. That being said. I say he averages 17-20 minutes for the first 2 weeks then about 30-35 after that.
Watch Yao Ming come over and surprise everybody. I bet he is pretty damn good right away and fits in quickly. He'll get plenty of slop buckets around a basket being aimed at by Steve, Cat, Rice and eventually Taylor. They'll probably use him to pick high and have him concentrate on rebounds and blocks at first. How exhausting is watching Steve scream past your pick, or jacking up nothing but net 15 footers when he occasionally tosses it back. That's fundamental to a guy like him. Besides, he only plays 15 minutes a game over there. It's his job, why would he be tired. If I was him, I could see running on adrenaline for months. So he gets 20 minutes per here. What would his stats be? 20 pts. 18 rbds. 3 blks... oh yea, it's not the CBA, it's the NBA
1) Maxim has a scantily clad well endowed young woman on it's cover. 2) Rudy wants to be careful with regards to playing time about a rookie, short of injuries. 3) The sun comes up in the East. 4) Charles Barkley has an opinion on ___________. 5) A Dallas Cowboy gets arrested. 6) Bill Walton uses 19 or more words to say " Bad play" or " Good play." 7) Water feels wet. 8) Steven Segal is in a movie where he takes something somebody attacks him with and uses it against them. 9) Brittany Spears sings a song wherein she claims that somebody doesn't understand her...while she pseudo-strips for the camera. 10) When hearing that Bill Walton has approved or disapproved of a play, given an opinion of any kind, or stated the time of day, with however many words, Snapper Jones vehemently disagrees.
