yeah but Grant Hill's game is so much more subdued compared to before the injuries. He's not the same player by any stretch of the imagination.
Great post and thread. Love the Bill Walton / Celtics analogy. That's probably the most realistic scenario I've heard.
Exactly. The Yao-era Rockets have gambled enough on the health of Yao and Grady. It is clearly time to move on. Not moving on means another season of an overachieving and under-sized PF at the Center spot. It means not recognizing the true difference between the Rockets and other WC playoff teams (Bynum, Chandler, the Gasol brothers, Nene, Perkins, Ibaka, etc.). And that translates into more BPA at the #14 Lottery spot while they "collect" assets. Yuk. But the biggest reason to move on is this. If the players don't substantially buckle on the CBA. And there is still some form of cap with a related MLE...the Rockets will have MLE $ with Yao OR an extra $2M above an MLE without Yao. The only Yao-option is to move on but with a spare roster spot. If Yao can play in Feb or March 2012...sign him for a partially guaranteed contract. Otherwise, re-build the team with no looking back.
If (THE BIG IF) Yao can walk, he could play a very unathletic, Brad Miller-style, high-post, pick-and-pop-to-shoot/pass-to-back-cutters kind of game. Practice those set shots and free throws, big fella! On D, he'll have to stand still with his hands straight up, and rely upon PPat's weak side help to defend the stratosphere. Of course, we'll hold our breath every moment he's on the court. But what else is new?
Re-enactment of me reading this thread... Hmm, I wonder what's going on in the GARM today? *Loads up BBS* Whoa, a 4-star thread on why we should keep Yao? Well, any thread about keeping Yao that isn't rated negative 9851725 stars must have SOMETHING good to say! *Clicks thread* Interesting comparison, another former all-world player who fell from grace because of injury and resurrected his career. I wonder what similarities the OP plans to use to make his argument? *Scrolls down* *Closes thread, continues softly weeping*
I think we could recruit a wardrobe to play this position... or maybe a hatstand. Just need PPat to carry it up and down court and we're good to go.
QUESTION: How many minutes a game can we get out of him? Hell . . .If I can get 15~20 minutes of PLAYOFF Basketball from YAO you take it. I am not even worried about the regular season 50% Yao is still better than 75% of the other centers in the league. Rocket River
You are completely right that Hill is not the same all-NBA player he was pre-injury -- and Yao will not be either. The Bill Walton comparison that langal mentioned is actually more apt than my Grant Hill comparison. However, Yao scoring 12-14 points a game, grabbing 7-8 rebounds and playing 27 or so minutes would have such a huge impact on this Rockets team and in this center-less league. Plus, wouldn't it be fun as hell to watch. I agree with the comments that Yao is much bigger than, well, anyone ever -- and I fully see that he may be done. But, given his personality, I think, like Grant Hill and Walton before him, that he can still be a very good center. It is also important that the Rockets no longer use Yao as a foundation piece. Rebuild, reconstruct, reorganize -- do what you are going to do. But you should do that with Yao on the roster. As LongTimeFan and others have said, the team as it is constructed now was constructed with Yao Ming in mind -- they need to reconstruct it without considering him. But he can still have a huge positive influence on the reconstructed team. The Celtics were not constructed around Walton and the Suns sure aren't constructed around Hill -- but those players were able to have large productive roles on those teams. With the lack of centers in this league, Yao can have a huge role on the Rockets team that Morey puts together this off season, even if he is only 70% or so of what he once was, just as Hill is.
Yao needs to hurry up and retire or sign with another team so all these YOF's will just leave. The guy is done. Learn to move on.
playoffs??? PLAYOFFS???? PLAYOFFS??? please. you dont sign a guy in the hopes that MAYBE he can eek out 15mpg if you get to the playoffs. it's time to move on. he tried 15mpg last season...it lasted all of a handful of games before he was hurt again. too much stress. same career trajectory of everyone else who has played at that size.
Wow, you Yao haters hunt in packs it seems. Alright then Yao haters -- but if he drops 20 on the Rockets wearing a god damn Utah Jazz uniform I am going to start hunting you all down revenge movie style.
grunch I think Yao gives the Rockets the best chance to win. With the current roster, I don't think they can go anywhere significant without a solid contribution from him. I still believe in him, so I don't think they should break it up yet either.
