"Kidd is certainly the reason it's arguable, but he's not any better of a ball-handler than Steve, just a better passer," Isn't good passing part of good ball-handling? I agree with most of the other posts here. I think we need both Yao and Franchise to be a contending team. Both are phenomenal talents who I don't think are anywhere near their prime. Mobley's a very good scorer but he's the Lewis Lloyd to Franchise's Drexler and Yao's Olajuwan. Even though I love both players I still didn't think that Yao deserved to start the All Star Game. Yeah, I know its a popularity contest but as much as I can't stand him Shaq should've started. On a related note IMO another Mario Elie is the missing ingredient to the Rockets getting back to promenence. BTW inspite of my name I'm not a Chinese poster and been a Rockets Fan since 1980. Heck I used to root for Allen Leavell.
YES!! Finally someone agrees w/ me, good passing IS part of good ball handling. Stevie is a good dribbler, not a good passer (most of the time, not always), and not a good decison maker (again, not always, just mostly)
The Rox and the League will NOT let Yao fail There is a business component to all this hulaballoo. Why invest in Yao? Answer: It's the $$$! While other teams might have incubated Yao longer and let him "test the waters" slower, off-court, in practice and scrimmages, I think part of the urgency of getting Yao integrated into the Rocket offense has to do with the "snowball" effect of what the PUBLIC wants to see. Who can argue against a public who SEES TALENT in this young man??? Who can argue with the peoples who SEE THE FUTURE of the Rox as centered around this man??? No doubt, all the attention and curiosity means big $$$ bucks for the Rox AND the NBA. This is why I've been saying that nobody will let Yao fail. Only Yao can fail himself. The opportunities, the plays, the minutes, all afforded to Yao in this rookie season is a testament to all the clamoring that goes on on these boards and beyond. It's a nod to all the "smart" media and fans who noted Yao's potential. Yes he has talent, but that key question as to why Rox mgmt is being patient with Yao's development on the court, as to off is motivated by business-reasons, IMO. Don't get me wrong though. Yao is a true gem. Through work ethic and talent, he's earned his marks and his place on the starting five. However, it helps when you have billions of people rooting for you and WANTING to see him grow, in a VISIBLE setting, alongside his teammates in the NBA.
Patience should not be equated with Sacrifice To frame the development of Yao as "sacrifices" on the part of the team is wrong. There is no sacrifice to be made unless you feel we are "losing" something in the process. Upon recent observation, we are doing far better, in Ws and Ls vs. last year. Moreover, to say ANY PLAYER on the Rox has suffered b/c of Yao's rise is off-the mark. Even Cato, the guy whom Yao presumably took minutes from has a limited upside to his talents. So long as the TEAM is getting better with Yao's presence, such incremental benefits should hardly be considered sacrifices. One thing I think people fail to realize is that the Rox' direction pre-Yao was probabilistically capped on the upside. Historically, I know of only a few occasions where a guard oriented team has carried a team to the Gold. The Pistons are one example. Yet even the Pistons had to craft some creative bad boy center platooning and recruit a heavy duty rebounding forward to make it work. Point being? Taking a guard-centric team to the finals IS NOT EASY. With the addition to Yao, we have a more traditional approach and a historically verifiable direction toward the championships. Moreover, given his success with Hakeem, RudyT, IMHO is more suited to coaching a center-oriented team. This convergence of player personnel, team direction and coaching strengths is why I believe, in short order, we will be the favoriates to win a championship. Whether for the draft, the free agent market, or an imminent coaching change, we're not sandbagging this year in HOPES of getting better. We are NOT the Cleveland Cavaliers searching for LeBron. We are a team on the rise and our PATIENCE with Yao will be ultimately rewarded. theSAGE
Has anyone thought about this: If Steve didn't get ill/injuried so much last season, we would have had a better record and would probably have made the playoffs last season but then we would definitely not be able to draft Yao. I mean a team with Steve, Mobley and EG would probably have the potential of making playoffs every year but then playoffs every year mean no lottory pick every year, that means no more new talented players (except getting really lucky with some non-lottory picks but those chances are slim). And did anyone (except some crazy homers) seriously think that team have the potential of making the 2nd round in the playoffs let alone winning a championship? Think about it. It's Yao (along with Francis) who brings Houston hope of winning a championship in the future again. And we should be grateful for that.
payton is too old, and kidd is not as good as he appears to be! i dont think kidd can avg 8 asts a game b/c there r basically no jump shoters in this team
It is not his reluctance; it is just a natural tendency when a person is tired. That happens much more often at the end of the game and it did not happen before his rookie wall. Also, his hands are always down with or without the ball since he hit the rookie wall. At times, his hands are so slow to move up to contest a shot or to move with the offender.
Are you sure that is the case? If you do not watch the game, you better read the statistic of the last few games. We ran through Yao a lot in the Memphis and Boston games during Steve's back injury, the TO was actually lower while the assist went way up.
i thought steve had 31pts in that boston game. hey, i love yao. but he is yet too soft and too young for that
Kind of a Tangent, but a Counterpoint to the Rox is the Cavs Take a look at the Cleveland Cavaliers, and try to tell your friend, with a straight face, that "they're NOT sandbagging the year to improve their odds of getting LeBron James." If you want to talk about SACRIFICE, this is it. This Cav's miserable 2002 season is all about "sacrificing today" for tomorrow. Compare and contrast that with how the Rox have steadily built their roster and you will see that one impt consistency is PATIENCE. The Rox, even in getting Steve Francis, didn't look to sandbag one year to get better in the next. Yao, for all who remember, was really damn luck -- we were damn lucky to get the 1st pick last year. And though our record was anything but stellar last year, we hardly made an effort to sandbag '01 to get Yao. RudyT is a coach who sincerely wants to win. He is not your "interim" lame duck coach a la Don Chaney or John Lucas. I feel it's impt to highlight this, b/c unlike other teams, I genuinely feel like Rox mgmt RESPECTS its FANS. In bringing in Yao, Rox mgmt did NOT sandbag '01 and leave its fans wondering, "why'd I pay for cable this year?" RudyT and Rox' mgmt's resolve in building a team, independent of our getting Yao, is the TRUE TESTAMENT to how the Rockets are progressive-minded. There are no "sacrifices" to be made when "good planning" and "patience" are at work. Yes, Yao was a gift. But what's most impt is how Rox mgmt carried forward, DESPITE the delays in signing Yao. Not to drift too far away from this thread, but RudyT did a great job as a diplomat, a teacher, and a coach in handling this whole Yao situation. Summer camp went on as scheduled and there were no "holdbacks" related to Yao. RudyT's sense of equity and fairness shines brightest with respect to how Yao was "phased" into this team. Think about it.... 1) We could have dumped Cato... but we didn't 2) We could have sandbagged '01... but we didn't 3) We could preparing for a Yao-centric offense this past summer... but we didn't 4) We could be forcing the issue and demand that Yao get 15+ FGAs every game... but we're not. Bottom Line: RudyT has done everything BUT sacrifice this team's performance just to further Yao's development. Integrating Yao into the Rockets has surely not been w/o its bumps but it's been pretty damn good w/ respect to: 1) keeping other players happy 2) encouraging mutual respect among teammates 3) not letting any "hard feelings" of reduced minutes lead to hurt feelings 4) demonstrating positive results in some really solid wins this year. theSAGE
Yes, Steve did in the Boston game; but if you watched that game, you can remember how we passed the ball around (probably learning from the Memphis win) in the Boston game. Remeber, that is the game we played the Boston style with Yao being double teamed all the time, leaving our guards wide open. We beated Boston with passing the ball around and wide open perimeter shots. That is another style of looking for inside first, forcing the other team to double team your centre and then take the wide open perimeter shot after passing around. Yes, the Boston game proved Steve can play team ball well too is he so desire.
Read this article and you can tell how other coaches rate Yao EXCLUSIVE TEAM REPORT AROUND THE MIDWEST DIVISION 3/1/2003 HOUSTON ROCKETS Opponents now regularly double-team C Yao Ming. He is an excellent passer who can throw over the top of most defenders, but he still must learn to read and attack double-teams. Against the Celtics last week, the Rockets ran 35 plays for Yao, but he took just two shots.
Didn't you say the REFs let Yao get murdered in the Wizars game? I thought the League would protect him
In addition the previous Sportingnews article, this is an article from ESPN that indicates how Yao is important to Rocket: Joe Lago, ESPN.com's NBA editor, devotes the Feb. 26 "Morning Shootaround" to one of the Rockets' emerging stars. Lago writes: "The young big man has showed flashes of being something special, recording double-doubles and swatting shots in bunches. Being a lottery pick, he figures to be a fixture up front for a long time -- a piece of the foundation upon which the Rockets can construct another championship contender.
I don't think the league is a complete unity. There are certainly people who want Yao to be a great success and accordingly protect him; but for different reasons, there are people or ref who nails Yao a lot. It is the same for the commentators and players as well.
first of all, i was not suggesting that the rox try to acquire one of these dudes. however, they are better point guards than steve. sorry, but compared to true pgs like kidd and payton, francis isnt fit to hold one of those little hoops they had to bounce pass the ball thru at the skillz challenge. payton is old, but he is still the best pg in the game (yes better than kidd...there i said it!). and how can you say kidd is not as good as he appears to be? to alot of people he appears to be the mvp, so somebody must be thinking funny. he single-handedly made one of the crappiest teams in the nba a title contedor in ONE season. were still waiting on franchise to get us there. you dont think kidd could average 8 assists w/ rox? what about francis. i suppose he is not capeable of raising his assist average here b/c we only have jump shooters. he will forever be a 6 assist/game player i guess. IF YOU PASS, YOU WILL GET MORE ASSISTS! kidd is a pass first point and that is why he gets 10 per game. you could put him on the kingwood girls team and he would still get 10 a game. how do you explain the nets sudden success?
Anyone who tries to compare the performance of a center to that of a guard is an idiot. Plain and simple. You can't just say, "Oh, Steve will have better numbers, so he's better." There's a lot more to a player's contributions to his team than just the stats that are counted.
