Rick is not a doctor. He cannot feel what Yao feels... it's on Yao to tell Rick how much he can or can't play. Then if Yao says something and Rick doesn't do it, then it's on Rick.
If I were coaching I would never want him going over 40 minutes a game. I would shoot for his career average in the 30-35 MPG area. I think Adelman was pushing the envelope a bit trying to play him near 40 MPG. As for how to adjust our roster accordingly, i've been a huge proponent of selecting Roy Hibbert if he's available. Given how we'll likely dip into the MLE to retain Landry and our aspirations to use B-Jax and what not to acquire a third scoring option, our options for finding Deke's successor are rather limited. If Hibbert is there you have to pull the trigger. Sure, he has his flaws as does any basketball player. His tendency to disappear in games and not dominate as expected worries me a bit but he's still very skilled, very coachable and most importantly: NBA ready. You can't teach the type of size he has. Deke's role when he enters the game is essentially: block/alter shots, defend the paint, rebound and score if you can. I have absolute 100% confidence Hibbert could step in and immediately fill that void.
Definitely yes, he has to end the season averageing between 30-35 mins per game. That´s why Mutombo is no good for being the only backup at C.
lol @ ubigred, a contributing member (allegedly). yao should be playing his normal minutes, which is around 32-35 minutes. if it doesn't work, then we just have to accept the fact that we're doomed.
It will be hard for us to compete if our best player is playing 6th man's minutes. It might be good for Yao's health for him to play 30 minutes a game but we would undoubtedly loose some more games, which would give us a lower seeding and hurt our chances at winning in the playoffs.
yeah i agree. i don't understand how taking him off the court for 2-3 extra minutes a game will really change anything.
I reckon Yao should play 25 mins max for at least the first half of the season. Whos going to fill in the other half of the game? Deke for 10 mins Sign Chris Mihm so he can play the other 15 mins! The guy can score!
You know, the Rockets really don't have to do anything in order for Yao's minutes to go down; considering that ideally both Landry and Scola play more, and we start playing the small ball lineup with Battier at the 4 and Jackson at the 2. Hopefully, Scola will be able to handle 30 minutes, Landry 25, and a combination of Battier/Hayes/Mutombo will get about 5-10 minutes, leaving Yao with anywhere from 31-36 minutes a game; if he can't handle that, then the Rockets are screwed anyway, and there's really no point in debating this anyway. If the Rockets did put some kind of artificial limit on his minutes, what happens when he gets hot one game, and rolls off a 13 point quarter or something like that, but the Rockets are only up 2? Do you bench him because he's exceeded his minutes limit, and give up the game? When Coach Van Gundy was here, and held a strict rotation that always took Yao out of the game at the same time, even if he was hurt or if the situation dictated he needed to come back in, people used it as further evidence that his firing was justified. Now we want that back?
The use of Yao Ming in an efficient way is crucial to having Yao play well and perform for 82 games plus. Not only should his minutes be strictly controlled in the regular season but what is required of his game on the court should be limited to do what he does best. We also need a Point Guard who will have no problem about passing the ball to Yao when he is open. All this will call for another Center, preferably a tall athletic one who can be trained in this position-Mutumbo is not this player.
most of us thought Yao would get injured and run into the ground with with the coaching change.... instead Rick worked both Tmac and Yao to the bone this year... Tmac and Yao have both proven in the past they can put up big numbers even with limited minutes... infact the longer these guys play in most games.... it seems their production drops... time to use these guys too their strengths... and hide their weaknesses or expect another 1st round exit if one or both go down again... for those who cant see that... god help the people who work under you....in the future...
So people want to tell me yao is in his prime and has another 7 or 8 yrs left yet we want the coaches to treat hun like he's been in the league for 10 or 12 yrs? At what stage do u say enough is enough? I mean when did Shaq and Hakeem and robinsons minutes get limited, 10 or 11th year in the league? Yet we want to limit a guy in his 6th to 30 mins? I guess
I remember once thinking "what if we played T-Mac one game, Yao the next game and have them alternate for a season so that they each play 41 games, get a low seed and then have them healthy for a full playoff run. Would that increase our chances of getting out of the first round?" The fact that I even thought of this bothers me. This is what all the injuries are doing to my mind..
Keywords being "When he first came here". This isn't when he first came here. In his rookie season, he played 29MPG. This past season, Yao played 37MPG. If you watched him play, I'm pretty sure its safe to say he can handle those minutes. You know, its still possible Yao can get hurt in those 30MPG everyone wants to limit him to. Injuries can happen at any part of the game. So what happens when he still gets hurt playing limited minutes? Let him play 25MPG ? C'mon now, if Yao says he can play extended minutes, let him play.
There are definitely times when I think Yao is on the floor when he doesn't need to be (ie. the subs are rolling over the opponent). His career will be on the downswing in the next 2-4 years and we should take all precautions to keep his minutes at a minimum.
lets try bringing him in as a 6th man for awhile. maybe he still plays 28 minutes? unless injuries to other players require him to play more, why not take it easy with him? then towards the end of the year adelman can warm him up and begin playing him more. honestly... why not try it at this point? try it for 10 games and see what happens... we've got nothing to lose.
IDIOTS! There has NEVER been a player of his size to log the minutes he puts in. NEVER. That being said...he is most effective at 32-34 minutes. BUT to expect him to just be able to put up 40 min night in and night out is crazy. He is too big and others with a body close to his size have been unable to log as many as his. And I'm talkiing about Bol, Bradley, Muresan, Eaton...not Shaq, Ewing, Robinson and Olajuwon. Little guys in comparison
