This is a Yao Only Thread I am not comparing him to anybody. I am talking only about Yao Ming. Yao Ming gave us so much hope during a stretch in the regular season, that it even fooled me to believe that some magic happened to the physical Yao. Well, it turned out to be gas tank half full (I actually don't know what it really means). The lethargic and timid performance of Yao during the playoffs, IMHO, had nothing to with heart, mind, opponent, coaching, teammates, etc. It had everything to do with the fact that the physical Yao is actually less promising than most people here want to believe. Sorry, I told you a year ago that Yao's physical nature is the thing I worry the most. Does the China obligation hurt his stamina? Maybe. But I doubt it is significant enough for him to perform so poorly deep into his 2nd season. Yao was absolutely hornest when he said he was very tired at the end of the regular season. Think whatever you want. My experience tells me that when you are physically down toward the end of a season, you can't perform at your best level no matter what you eat or inhale. It's just a painful reality. Yao Ming the physical human being is far from ready to compete deep into the palyoffs in the NBA. Am I trying to defend Yao or find a cover for him? Absolutely NOT! Since day one, my standard on Yao is the same as on any high-pick or high-dollar players. He cost Houston a 1st pick. Many people put their championship hope on him, including myself. So what can the Rockets do? The Rockets must sit down with the entire team Yao and talk BUSINESS. Yao must do whatever it takes to condition himself for 100 NBA games in his third season. Otherwise, he will not be what he is supposed to be...... Can Yao actually be conditioned to consistently perform in an entire season? I doubt it. Let me say odds are 50/50. And I can't say more why I doubt it, or I would probabily be accused of racial discrimination Folks, I expected more of Yao in this Rox-Lakers series. I was dissipointed by his overall performance. But I was not surprised. Be prepared to embrace the worst, i.e., Yao will always be gas tank half full deep into the season, in the comming season(s)
Yao needs a break. Too bad he isn't going to get one until after the season next year. He just looked exhausted out there on the floor at times. So when we tried to run the offense through him, we got mixed results.
Good post-season topic, jxu777. What are we going to do about Yao and his year-round schedule? Clearly, as has been pointed out, the guy was running on fumes. -One thing is pretty obvious, but we can't seem to do anything about it... his commitment to the Chinese National Team. I think he rightly considers it an honor to play for his country's team, but does he really need more than minimal practice time with them? He's clearly, no pun intended, head and shoulders above the rest of his team. What can we do? -Cato needs to be the full-time backup center and only play at the 4 limited minutes depending on matchups. We need a new PF! Yes, it's obvious... but we need it more than to just fill the hole in the starting lineup. We need one so Cato can play his role and reduce Yao's minutes. -Yao needs to spend a lot of time in Houston during the offseason for conditioning, for R&R, and for working on his game. See comment #1. Anything else, people?
what worries me the most about his stamina is that it will only get worse as he gets older. if he doesn't show NEXT season that he can be a force for almost 40 mins/game over the course of the entire season and playoffs. it is very troubling that Shaq has better conditioning being ten years older and carrying more weight on his frame.
Exactly. While I was watching Yao in the Rox-Lakers games, I would talk to myself "Oops, like a random number generator again". I could never tell when Yao was able to light a fire. His defense against Shaq was commendable. But he should have performed much better IF he were not exhausted too often too soon. He cost at least one game due to his poor performance.
It's simple really. As you said, he's tired. We may be tired of hearing it, btu there's no other explanation. It's just that simple. The guy is exhausted.] Aside from that, we need one more piece. A pure shooter who can absolutely nail it from midrange and long range. I'm talking Rashard Lewis, Allan Houston, Micheal Redd, Ray Allen, Mike Bibby, etc... Nothing would make me happier than netting one of those guys (maybe not Allan Houston) this summer. I would kill to have Mike Bibby running this team, he's be tremendous for us. I love Cato backing up the 4 and 5. But I'm not fine with MoT anymore. he doesn't hit the midrange J consistently enough to disregard his total lack of rebounding skills. For this team to be succesful, we need two more things: shotblock/rebounding PF who can nail the 15-footer and a PG who can protect the ball and nail the long-range.
The Rockets management must talk and act straight with all the stakeholders that the ultimate success of Yao, professionally or financially, rests on the fact that he can lead the Rockets to success year after year in the rest of his career. If the China obligation hinders his growth and performance in the NBA, at some point in time Yao must say "sc** you" to some people. He can't be nice AND competitive. He can't get it both ways, IMHO.
i wish we could have some type of motion offense to compliement yao. He is a good passer. Use him better that way and not just make him keep shooting away even though he has been bricking lately. I think he is tired. He needs to quit playing in summer.
Because most of the Playoff Games became the Mobes and Franchise Show. Yao Ming was only a role player in these games. Never did the game go through Yao Ming for any extended period of time. Besides this JVG has him over worked setting picks for the Guards at the 3 point line. He does need a Summer to rest and recoup.
Not necessary. It entirely depends on him. If he grows out of his mom's boy mold and be a real man, he will realize one day that he can't satisfy all forces pulling him in different directions.
To be fair, JVG and the team did try many times to get Yao going. In some occasions, I sensed that JVG and the rest of the team was desparate and hoping he could carry the team for a strectch. He couldn't.
That's ridiculous. He is Chinese, not American. In his heart, if he had to decide between the 2, he wuold pick China. Being a real man is not saying "srew you" to your ORIGIN and BLOOD. I would be pissed as HELL if a player from my country picked the NBA over his country. Maybe you don't care because NBA players care much less about representing their country, but that's not the case everywhere else. If Yao had to choose, he'd choose China. That's a real man's decision.
Then he should sack up and say it ... If he is not going to be fully committed to the team and every year he is going to be run down around the time playoffs come around then at least we can deal with that. That said .. I believe after this offseason(Olympics), his summers will become less and less stringent. But if he wants to make the Chinese national team his priority long-term thats fine .. BUT WE CANNOT BUILD AROUND YAO. When we make moves this offseason, I don't want to do anything building around Yao until we know that he is committed to making the Rockets a championship team. If that is not his main priority then we need to move in a different direction and build around something else.
A lot of American players do choose their professional team over national play. Why do you think so many stars are backing out of the olympic games for us? IMO, once you go pro, all other national obligations should be gone, all countries, including the US, need to use amateurs in the olympics. I don't think that is too much too ask when a team is paying you millions of dollars a year, the fatigue and injury risk is just too great.
It will never be his priority, and everyone in the league knows it. He will put it first when China doesn't need him. Every GM in the league knows it, and every one of them would take him off our hands. CD knows it as well, and he'll be damned if it changes his mind. Sometimes we forget how lucky we are to have Yao Ming. The Sonics will sell their souls to get Yao Ming. Golden State will offer us any two players of our choice from their roster for Yao Ming. The Mavs would gladly give us 2 of their big pieces and take back a bad contract as well.
I totally agree. Nothing is personal. It's business. Or he can play for the Shanghai Sharks for USD50000 a year.
