1) That spin move on the baseline for the reverse layup that Yao had, did that remind anybody of........of......NAH! I can't say it! 2) When was the last time the Rockets, as a team, led the NBA in blocked shots? Yao Ming should block 3 per game simply because he's 7'6", and Eddie shows such excellent body control and timing on his blocks, it reminds me of.....of.....dammit, what was that guy's name again? 3) Sorry, Tierre. You proved once again that you can't handle any kind of backcourt pressure. I hope you get a nice city in Europe in which to play...
I dont like saying things like this, but having Griffin and Ming, could this be the second coMING of the twin towers? I know it is way too early to say that but damn that is a GREAT thought
On Q #1: Its too early but that was pretty nice On Q #2: We probably can't do it this year (PT questions for both Ming and EG) but give them some time and the Rocks leading the L in blocks should be in the future. On Q #3: You are absolutley correct on this one. Tierre never really impressed me last yr. and I just didn't see waht all the cc.net poster hype was concerning the guy. He seems like a nice kid that has "Stevie Franchise shoot a lot for a PG disease". The only problem is that his offensive skills are no where near those of Wink.
A-Train, let's not get crazy here. Ming can never be compared to Dream, because Dream was a freakish run/jump athlete. How many 7 footers have been the fastest players on the court in an NBA game? I think we will see Ming play in All Star games soon, but Eddie G may be the best player on this team one day.
The only difference is, Ming never left the floor when he hit that shot. That kind of worries me. His vertical leap concerns me alot. Between Cato, Ming, Griffin and KT, we should indeed be near the top of the league in blocked shots. Poor Tierre. Hawkins came out of nowhere and took his job.
A-trane I didnt get to see the game but I saw the high light of the base line drive finishing with a reverse... didnt he begin that drive about 3' of the paint... if so how far is oneal going to have to get from the paint to gard Ming. Interesting Note: This Years finals will be a chance for Oneal to School a Rookie the way He was By Dream.. Who thinks Oneal can do it?
He doesn't really *need* a good vert leap..he's 7 freakin 6 for insert non-specific diety's sake... That baseline spin and reverse was sweet..he was soo fluid doin that.. Agreed about the blocks tho..Eggie is a MONSTER blocker so far..and Ming has already started changing shots..when he was in.the 6'ers wouldn't go near the paint.. Give him some time to get rested and worked into the offense..and boy howdy..we gonna kiock some major as$..
Brown played 4 min. and Tito 2. I still thought they looked bad. I think Yao Ming's presence makes opponents forget to check for EG. This is a wonderful combo in the making. It will be interesting to see KT mesh with those two. Obviously, Yao Ming found out what happens when you kick it to Rice... Same thing should happen with MT's 18 footers. They collapse on Ming and - boom - quick pass to MT for the sweet 18 footer...
Looks as if the final spot is going to Tito Maddox. Maddox is a project, but has the kind of handles that you see on NYC blacktops. He's a much better passer than Tierre, but will need some time to develop. Imagine if we could somehow land TJ Ford in the future.
Did anyone mention that Ming made 90% of his first 10 NBA free throws. Anything else can be attributed to adrenaline pumping. But free throw shooting is nothing but concentration and poise. He is not afraid of pressure. BTW, when he begins to dominate the inside, he will score tons of points from the line. They can't hack him like they do to Shaq.
watching the shot again on tape, i noticed this as well, and it kind of worries me, too. assuming he can get into a good training program during the regular season (is there even time to do this in the season?), any trainer/sports fitness types out there know how much we can realistically expect yao's vertical to increase, if at all, by a) the all-star break? b) next season? c) the rest of his nba career? anyone? anyone? bueller?
the guy is 7'6 for chrisakes, he can dunk the ball standing on his tip toes, why are you guys worried about his vert? the play your talking about was really a brilliant move. You'll never ever see another man that tall make a quick flashing move like that. remember he's 7'6, if he jumped on that play he would of out-jumped the point he wanted to place the ball against the backboard and probably missed the shot too high off the glass. Other players have to jump to reach that certain sweet spot on the glass where they like to lay the ball off the backboard. But Ming doesnt need to jump and when he does makes a quick reverse spin move under the basket His hands are already at the sweet spot and he just lays it right in. If a stud like Duncan or Oneal gets him and traps that ball up against the backboard... thats a goaltend.
well, if he could jump at all he would be totally sick unstoppable, would he not? if he's hard to stop now (offensively) with his 2" vertical, imagine how ridiculous he'd be if he had any hops at all. which is why i asked the question, to see if anyone with any insight/experience knows if we as rockets fans can realistically expect this in the future. for example, on that attempted turnaround-j that D-Rob swatted back in Yao's grill: if yao had a decent vertical, does D-Rob swat that shot? and maybe instead of a reverse layup, if he had hops maybe that spin move would have ended in a nasty reverse jam...?
Actually, I think he made too many moves and when he finally took the shot, Robinson recovered and blocked him. David has long arms himself so it's no surprise. All Yao has to do is do some fakes once in a while and keep the player guessing. He will learn.
