When I was waiting for the good news of Ming and Rockets, I reviewed some interviews of Ming and found that I need to clear some question marks about him. 1. Did he feel tired at Chicago workout? Ming talked this workout in an interview: ¡°when my body began to enter the good status and I started to breathe deeply, the workout was over. I did not have much chance to express the best of myself.¡± Form his words, I felt that ¡°breathe deeply¡± is a good sign for him. It seems that his body is exited and ready to play. But some NBA reporters did think that Ming was tired when they saw him ¡°breathe deeply.¡± 2. Didn't he like Grizzlies? Ming said in another interview at March: ¡°I like Paul Gasol (spell?)very much. He is 7 feet 1 inch, and he can play three positions¡¡If I can join Grizzlies and compose ¡°twin towers¡± with Gasol, that would be perfect¡¡The another reason I like Grizzlies is it is composed with young guys. I hope all the teammates are like brothers. We are united as one and fight together. I detest to have a player in the team who is like a ¡°big guy¡± and everyone else should listen to him¡¡¡±(Is there any player in Rockets looks like such ¡°big guy?) from: http://news.sportscn.com/c/149/149543.htm 3. How did he expect his starting period in NBA? Ming said: ¡°At beginning, what make me stay at NBA are my ability of ¡°half basket¡± (I cannot catch it. He means rebound? Anyone who can read Chinese please help me to check out.), my passing ability and my defend. I will get a lot of fouls. I might be dunked occasionally¡¡¡± from: http://news.sportscn.com/c/157/157584.htm 4. Some other things at Chicago workout. Ming: ¡°He (the person who directed the workout) is good. But I felt a little strange that he treated me like I am a forward. I practiced a lot of stuff to face to the basket. He only let me play once or twice to back to the basket. ¡°I did a bad job on defense today. I was not excited. But my shooting is good.¡± ¡°There were countless flashings when I began to shoot. I almost could not open my eyes.¡± ¡°some people at the workout said I don¡¯t have the desire of winning. We will see in the real games.¡± ¡°when I finished the workout and returned the hotel, I watched the playoff games on NBC. The commentator said at halftime that he was prefer Jay Williams because he is more familiar to him.¡± from:http://news.sportscn.com/c/162/162661.htm 5. His another name Reese Nelson. In order to protect him not to be disturbed, NBA officials used ¡°Reese Nelson¡± to book the room at the hotel for Ming.
Yep, He has a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. Why would you want a 7' 5" guy like that on your team? Oh, yeah, because you want to WIN !!! GO YAO NOW !!!!! DaDakota
All I kno is that the Rockets better make him feel welcome... if China finds out Kelvin Crapo is stealing Yao's lunch money and not being nice...FIBA and CBA will force us to trade him...maybe
It's good to hear that he would have no problems playing for a lesser known team like the Grizzlies. Hopefully this will end all the concerns of Ming leaving for New York or Chicago the first chance he gets.
The another reason I like Grizzlies is it is composed with young guys. I hope all the teammates are like brothers. We are united as one and fight together. I detest to have a player in the team who is like a ¡°big guy¡± and everyone else should listen to him¡ú¡ú¡±(Is there any player in Rockets looks like such ¡°big guy?) Sorry big fella, but we have two players named Mobley and Francis who liike to play by themselves. Only they are like brothers, and the rest are their lackys. I feel when you arrive they will treat you unkindly. The one thing in Yao's favor is that Rudy loves big guys (Remember his relationship w/Hakeem) and if push came to shove I suspect rudy will side with you.
windandsea--thats a difficult question to answer. I'm not sure if he can find that type of brotherhood at all in the NBA. I know I've never been inside an NBA locker room, but there are a lot of guys in the league that seem to be all about themselves and don't want to be brothers outside of when they step on the basketball court. Kobe Bryant is a prime example, I think he once said Dennis Rodman was the perfect teammate because they never saw each other outside of the basketball arena...But then again, look at the success Kobe has had with the Lakers... I think it might be difficult for Yao to win over Francis and Cat at the start, but if he does, I think the Rockets are one of the best teams as far as chemistry and "brotherhood" in the NBA.
I hope the Rockets can somehow sign ZhiZhi Wang to help keep Ming accompanied. I'm starting to feel bad for the guy. I fear he may become an outcast. For some reason, I don't see Steve and Cuttino allowing Ming to be apart of their "clique".
We may have a better post up player in Ming than we thought. Maybe he just never had to post up in the CBA but it looks like he thinks he has skills in the post he hasn't shown yet.
Yeah sure Troy and Francis are having a party for him when he gets in town... Just kidding Wind&sea... Seriously I think once he gets here many of the Rockets will embrace him... But there might be some that won't be as close but that is true for every team... I hope the Rockets draft Nachbar... because him and Ming will have many things in common... International players joining a new league and a new team... There will be a bit of a culture shock for him. There is no question about it US is not china. Still that being said after traveling around the world I fing that people in general are more alike than different, And the rockets do have a young team, lots of room to grow together. I think Rudy will do every thing he can to make it a positive environment for him and the team.
Great stuff, W&S...that's the sort of stuff I've been hoping to read. I'm tired of seeing quotes from everyone BUT Yao. Thanks again. os
If he wasn't tired, he should have been. They ran al kinds of test on him, extracted blood then put the guy through workouts after a all day flight.
I can tell you from experience, jet lag like he encountered is a b****. That shouldn't be ignored. os
Ming said: ¡°At beginning, what make me stay at NBA are my ability of ¡°half basket¡± (I cannot catch it. He means rebound? The "half basket" means mid-range shooting, just outside the 3-sec region. I wonder whether the chinese guys here are really basketball fans. It's just a common term. I am one of the pro-Ming fans. I think he will get the best chance to improve in Rokets.
The fact is that other players like Mo T. and Moochie are definitely also close with Cat and Steve. I've heard Kenny Thomas also comment how well his teammates make him feel appreciated. I've never heard of any other Rockets saying that Cat and Steve treated them badly. I just hope Ming won't worry about fans making assumptions about him with no evidence the way some do about Cat and Steve. Good luck Ming.
Someone here posted that Yao looks like Dolph Lundgren. I totally see that. We need get Yao to say "I vill break youuu", like Dolph (as the russian boxing stud) said to Stallone in Rocky III (I think). I think the guy will be fine. His teammates will realize they need him as soon as a close game hits the 4th quarter and he starts giving the Rocks the defensive stops that Stevie and Cuttino could not get last year. Ming will actually be a viable option in the 4th quarter b'c he is not completely hopeless on offense, like Cato. Cato/Ming will be like Smith/Cassell. Cato starts, but meaningful minutes go to Ming.
