Because with him in the middle, everyone else on the Rockets roster starts to make sense. Simple as that. Griffin is too light. Thomas is too short. Taylor plays too far out. Mobley and Rice can't get easy looks. Francis and Norris circle or penetrate but can't to find anyone to pass to. Cato plays with the mentality of a backup. We've got guys who can shoot, but no threat inside to buy them space. We've got guys who can beat everybody downcourt, but nobody to get the block and throw the outlet pass. When Eddie's on the bench, our interior defense is a zero. Put Ming in the middle, and everyone else slides into a role they can play with ease. The machine hums. 21-year-old Ming. 20-year-old Griffin. Can you name a more perfectly matched long-term frontcourt? We're talking 15 years of Ming dynasty. We're talking seven feet, five inches. Zone us all you want, you munchkins. The one direction you can't zone is up. Listen to all the offers, and then draft the big guy.
Agreed Will. He has to be taken. He'll fit in this team perfectly and how can Le$ pass on the possiblity of over 1 billion Rocket fans??? On to the 3 spot, imagine if CD could manage to get Nick Tsika? An agile 7 footer to go with Ming and EG?
Ming could be an awsome awsome piece to the package!!! Imagine Ming in the Zone! Blocks, Blocks, Block, Dunks, more Blocks, Rebounds, Rebounds, and Dunks. Plus add the outside shooting to the mix to open up the lane for Mobley and Francis!!!! Ming 21 and Griffin 20 would be the front court of the future. Mobley 26 and Francis 25 is the Backcourt of Today and the Future. All the Rockets would need is a small forward to be the glue in the Championship run. In 3 years Griffin will be one of the best players in the league. Ming could be the heir apparent to Shaq as most dominating center. Francis will grow into the best point guard in the league. Mobley is a scoring machine.
All I can say is that I love being in the driver's seat!!! The future sure does look a lot brighter now!!! I would take Ming with the first pick, which should relieve some of the pressure associated with the 15th pick. If Stoudemire is available there, I think we should seriously consider picking him up. If the Rockets' picks go right, we could have a serious core set of players for the next decade or so. Jeesh I'm excited...hehehehe....
When discussing the possibility of drafting Ming, the one thing you have to keep in your mind at all times is this- Passing on him is a greater risk than drafting him.
Great analysis Will! I've been reading posts on this site for over a year, but never registered. Today's stroke of luck made me so happy that I felt like celebrating by registering with the name of who I believe will be the centerpiece of the Rockets' franchise for the next 12-15 years. The question to ask ourselves is, do we want to be good or do we want to be great? Greatness is rarely achieved without taking risks. I acknowledge that there is significant risk in taking Yao, but the potential upside is far greater than the potential risk. Draft him and don't look back!
I agree they should draft Ming. He's skillful at the age of 21, a giant and fills a immediate need. If he's as skillful as people say, its nothing wrong with him being the 2nd best center in the west right now. I don't relly want to see him too far from the goal on offense even if he has the range. Now they can let Cato go back to his place on the bench and come in with some fire and not worry about "pacing" himself. They still should try to move Thomas and that 15 to move up a little and get a 3 man. The euro guy,jeffries, or even woods might be there around 10 or 12 they still have some things or some manuvering they can do to improve our team.I must say, if they draft Ming, I like our chances for the playoffs next yr.
I agree with WILL, I don't dare to say how great he can be, but at least he can be Rik Smith, an all star, that is enough.
Jerry West had an interesting quote from after the draft: <b>Q: How disappointed are you to fall out of the top three?</b> <i>West: It’s disappointing. Anyone would be disappointed. But if I’m Golden State and Chicago, I would be very disappointed. The good thing is, we retained our pick, because we could have lost it.</i> IOW, Ming's the real deal.
Very well put. If the Rockets took someone else, like Butler or Dunleavy, even if they become nice players, they will kick themselves if Ming becomes a dominating force after they passed on him. Ming could also become the closest thing the NBA has to a Shaq-stopper. And one other thing: Draft Ming, and I guarantee you better attendance to games from now on, especially when the new arena opens. I bet even this year's pre-season games would be sellouts.
I hope you just temporarily lapsed into a coma there or something. You do know it's Rik Smits, right?
If all the question marks aren't answered (the Chinese govt, his transition to the US, his game,etc) then he is a big risk. How many more times are we gonna be in the lottery? How many more times do you want to be? As of now, Memphis gets our pick next year, lottery or not (don't expect to win the #1 overall again). We HAVE to be good next year. Will Ming get us there? I hope so.
I think we HAVE to take Ming. Sure he's a risk, but he's a better risk than Jason Collier or Rodrick Rhodes or even Eddie Griffin. Potentially, with his size and the injuries that follow, the guy will have a 10-12 year career. That means that there will only be 12 championship teams in the duration of his career and likely less with repeats. So say 8 teams will win the championship while Yao is playing. That means in the next 12 years, 21 NBA teams won't get rings. Yao, however, has that rare dominant force potential of a Shaq or Duncan to where he could win MANY rings. If he develops a game worthy of his height, he could win rings for half of his playing career. Jay Williams, on the other hand, is a guy who needs good players around him to thrive. He could potentially become as good as Gary Payton or Allen Iverson. The problem is that neither of those guys has won a ring and it doesn't appear they ever will(unless their teams acquire Shaq). So, in conclusion, the reason to draft Yao is because of his championship potential. Jay Williams, DaJuan Wagner, Mike Dunleavy, Caron Butler, or even Lamar Odom(trade possibility) are good players who will probably be annual visitors for All Star weekend, but they don't have that x-factor ability to put a team over the top. Yao has that, and we should draft him because of it. Also, I personally had some doubts about Yao's motivation and personality, but after reading a 1.5 year old article about him, I really feel like we should take the guy. Read this: http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol3no26ming.html .
And, oh yeah, in case someone in this SLOOOOOWWW day on the BBS hasn't posted it, yet, I think our chances of getting Lewis or Odom just got better. Throw one of them in your lineup and we've become the Mavericks, at the least.
If we pass on the Ming dynasty we would be insane. Because Ming will be doing 'Da Nasty' for the Rockets.
