Yao has fooled everyone

Do u try to teach us a guy who average 16 pts and 9.7 rebs is not a NBA level player?

 

Derek Fisher is the type of point guard needed for Shaq. I think the Rockets need someone like Bibby or Raul Lopez.

 

i give up, no one got my sarcastic first post and no one understands my honest clarification.

 

Every team needs a creator. The old Rockets had Hakeem (hence Kenny Smith being an adequate PG). The current Lakers - Kobe/Shaq, Spurs - Duncan.

Today's Rockets? It's not Steve, most people would say... and in the meantime, the supposed "greatest passing center since Bill Walton" has been totally taken out of his game and forced to post up and look for the shot every time he gets the ball.

 

I wasnt fooled! I told you when the Rockets got the first pick and the Guards made their feelings known, that it wouldn't work. We are now in the position of trying to make a shooter/scorer become a Playmaking Point Guard and a Finesse Center into a Banger Power Center, it all doesn't sound very natural to me. This Team needs to see a psychiatrist, it has problems!

 

So what do you expect Steve to do, when the offense is designed for Yao to post up.

 

When the rest of the team sucks; when the "All Star point guard" falls to pieces at the first sign of things going wrong; when Cat isn't hitting his shots; when your PF can't shoot; when your backup PF can't pass anymore; when practices run 3.5 hrs because of all the aforementioned, and you've been playing basketball all year round, and you're exhausted.....then the opposing team can collapse on you and down you go.

This whole team is a demoralized suckwad mess. Time for changes.

As far as thinking Yao will be the next Hakeem, maybe, maybe not. At worst he'll be a better version of Sabonis. I'll take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

 

Mr. Negativity has left his imprint on this team. It's about to implode. Players will simply start giving up on his "plan" and will start playing for themselves. This is about to become the Houston Clippers real fast....

 

Yao will never be anything like Hakeem. Hakeem was way more athletic, way more explosive and way more determined.

Yao is slow. Yao has no explosiveness. Yao is weak.

Yao is huge. How can Yao dominate? I think there are only two ways. He can get stronger, more determined and learn to use his size more, or he can move to the high post and forget about dominating inside.

He does have a nice touch and good passing abilities. If he moves to the high post, then the Rockets have to get a dominating power forward. It can't be Mo Taylor and it can't be Cato. It has to be someone that can score inside and rebound. The only guy on the Rockets right now with that potential is Alton Ford. I can already see the replies about how he is a scrub and what a stupid idea, but he is the closest thing on the roster.

I doubt very seriously JVG is going to change the offense and move Yao out high, so where does that leave us? Screwwwwed, that's where. Yao doesn't have the mentality to do what is required of him in this offense. I don't want to hear the bs about him getting low post position and not getting the ball. Most of the time he posts up too high, in which case his defender plays between him and the basket. His percentage is much, much lower if he gets the ball 8 feet or farther from the bucket. If he tries to post up down low, he may be open for a fraction of a second. He is too weak, docile, whatever to seal his man in "good" post position.

Finally, don't tell me he is being aggressive when he goes four for freaking seven with 2 for 2 from the line. Where is all this basketball IQ he is supposed to have? How hard is it for him to understand that for him to only take 8 shots a game, that everybody else better be hitting 50% or better.

This is the first time I have criticized Yao so much in a post. I could not watch the game last night past the 1st quarter. It was sickening. I switched over to Planet Dinosaur. Those long-necked plant eaters were more aggressive.

Of course, the other problems we have had for four years now were as abundant as always. I think the ability to set your teamates up is something that can't be learned. Steve was as ineffective at doing that as ever. Moochie is the same, except his defense is way below Steve's, and I never have the expectation that he will hit a shot. Cat's shot was off, but you have to expect that from time to time, and unfortunately there was no one to pick up the slack.

I hope there is something good on the Discovery Channel tonight.

 

The Clippers are more exciting to watch now. They just recently beat good teams like Dallas and NO.

I can accept losses but losing the way we did the last three games was unacceptable. The most ironic part of this pathetic 3-game losing streak was the players-only meeting before last night's game. Clueless people should not try to brainstorm.

I have a better idea for fixing our problem. Get Bill Parcel. This team needs an old-fashioned ass kicking and no one does it better than the Big Tuna himself.

 

maybe we should just go back to the offense that will let francis to dunk on anyone

 

THAT says it all....

 

we all expect Yao to "earn his living in the (low post) paint"

Sure in time he may grow into a low post threat, banging for position, but that is not the case now. He is just not ready for that yet.

Rudy recognized this and adapted. You all remember the plays run for Yao in the high post last season.

Time to dust off the playbook.

 

JVG will turn water into WHINE....

 

Did you ever see Sabonis play when he was between 18-28? During that ten years, Sabonis was a monster, a basketball machine. If Yao could ever be at that level, he would be on top of the NBA for a while. Unfortunately, most people in the US did not get to see Sabonis until he was old and worn out.

Yao has had a bad ten day slump. Every player has this kind of stretch here and there during their career. Someone mentioned Derek Fisher somewhere. Fisher is having a worse stretch than Yao. He went 0-13 through 3 game span and shooting below 40% for the season. His 3 point shooting is even worse: 27%. He does nto play much defense either ...

But I think both Yao and Fisher will be just fine.

 

No, thanks. I watched enough And1 clips already.

 

Do you honestly think that we would be a better team with Raul Lopez than with Steve Francis? Somehow having a lesser player(though a better fundamental passer) will make our team better overall? What good would Lopez have been last night? Nobody could hit an open shot. Francis finally started hitting and he was the only one. With him gone and Lopez in we would have been lucky to get more than 50 pts.

 

Sad to say, but I'm not sure Yao will ever really develop as a leader while he's on the same team as Francis. Steve doesn't want to relinquish his role as team leader, and I'm sure that shows in the locker room and at practice, even if he doesn't come right out and say it. And Yao is going to defer to him because that's the kind of person he is -- he wouldn't dream of rocking the boat on his new team.

Having two team leaders can work (Shaq/Kobe or Malone/Stockton for example), but only if their both willing to take (and give) a leadership role. As it stands with this team, we might have to either admit that Steve will remain our leader for a few more years until Yao feels comfortable assuming a co-leader role, or trade Steve and roll the dice with Yao. With Steve gone, Yao would be more likely to see himself as team leader. Whether or not that would make a difference in his play -- and that of the team -- is the big risk.

 

Are you serious? Steve was the only who hit his shots?
Steve 6-15 FG, 4-7 FT.
Cat 2-8 FG
JJ 4-10
Cato 1-6
Yao 4-7
MoT 5-11
Pike 3-6

I'd say, besides Cato and Cat, it would have been better to get other players more shots.