This was an excerpt from David Aldridge on Wes Unseld: ....For five years, I covered Wes Unseld's Washington Bullets. They weren't very good, but no team worked harder with limited talent. They took on the personality of their coach -- smart, prepared, ready to do battle every night. But they weren't good enough to win down the stretch. ....
ok, so he taught them to give 100% effort. so? so does jeff bzdelik in denver. would he be a great offseason coach for yao? so did larry bird. would he be perfect? so does eric musselman. would he be perfect? a lot of coaches, RIET, have gotten their players to give maximum effort. that has nothing to do with finding a person individually teach yao the finer (actually the rougher) points of being a big man. i've seen you posting here for quite some time, and i respect you enough that i won't bother going through bill russell's resume. let's just say that if he retained 25% of the knowledge that he has had in his basketball related career, he'd still be a welcome teacher/mentor.
I find it funny that so many people think the Rockets are somehow preventing Ming from working with these types of guys. The Rockets don't own Yao Ming, if these people want to work with him, they don't need to ask permission. Also, if these guys like Moses Malone and Russell are such great teachers, why aren't they working with other teams?
TheFreak: i don't think malone/russell are out there beating the streets for jobs... and as for the rockets preventing ming from working with these types of guys... i think we are all asssuming that the rocket's have a regime for yao to follow - particulary when it comes to practice. most of us (if not all) would like to see some of these people involved with yao's scheduled practice. i see what you're saying, insofar as yao being able to work with malone, russell, etc. in his free time. however, i don't think that was a possibility this season, since he had like ZERO personal time.
If it's really true, that rox are controlling yao big man access, then that is a shame. There is no shortage of willling teachers (the aformentioned list as well as big man guru Pete Newell), and, while I'm sure Mr.Mean helps him out with rebounding, I don't know if there's anybody in the organization who can compare. As for Wes Unseld, you should probably leave former Bullets GMs out of it
Bill Russell giving out resumes. That's funny. I could just see that interview. "Well let's have a look at your resume Mr. Russell". Russell flashes his eight championship rings.
I am amazed that so many great players wanna be Yao's mentor. Sampson, Malone and now even Russell. I am wondering why too. Insights anyone?
when Hakeem wanted to get better, he got off his butt and went to Fonde where Malone was. obviously, Yao won't be able to do that this summer. he has obligations. and he won't be able to do that next year during the season. it doesn't work that way. if Yao really wants to receive tutelage from Malone or Russell or Olajuwon--or Bea Arthur for that matter--he will need to go to where they are and say, "Yo. Teach Yao." if Russell really is offering to go to China, then that's different, and I think that'd be great. the bottom line is that, if Yao never stays in America during the summer, all this talk about his improvement is for jack squat. I'm not saying that he shouldn't be patriotic and go home to represent his country. there's no doubt in my mind that going home is what Yao wants to do more than anything else in the world right now. but going home every summer will seriously r****d his improvement. now I'm on a tangent. but it's not like anyone can expect the Rockets to form a Joy Bus Shuttle to Shanghai with 8 feet of leg room between each seat so that Bill Russell, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Peter Mayhew can fly over and teach Yao how to hold the ball over his head.
You don't have to talk to get the lesson. Malone talks with his strength and position, he makes his statement knocking your ass on the court. Nobody could teach Ming how to handle a beating or how to dish it out better.
Russ wants to go to Shanghai? If so, why would there be an issue? I would love to see several Rox make the 'pilgrammage' and bond on and off the court with Yao.
I think something to consider is that the Rockets don't want him working with 2 different individual coaches. They probably want to make one decision, and stick to it. Obviously, getting different individual coaches could confuse Yao. Personally, I'd pick Russell. Yao will ultimately learn anything Moses knows, but not what Bill Russell knows. Russell seems like more of a mentor anyway.
