Yao-Shaq the first meeting between the two, it was about Francis and Yao-Shaq III was a pretty good outing for Yao. The Asian Championship? whatever,thats not the NBA.
I am not a big Yao fan. That being said, I do think that he will eventually become a top 3 center in the L considering the stiffs that pass as centers these days and thus a "superstar" by default. The offense that JVG runs leaving Yao in the post and basically discouraging Steve and Mobes from taking over the game has to stop though. Steve and Cat should be getting 20 ppg and Yao should spend stretches of the game at the high post. If Yao were up there he could use his passing ability to the fullest extent and hopefully a break from banging would allow him to stay on the floor for more than 4 minutes at a time. All in all, Yao is not in the same class as Dream or Timmy D but he does have the POTENTIAL to be a great center in todays NBA.
actually untalent midgets in a society where domination and overt agression is not a common tract....... for me has gone from the best goldfish in a bowl where everything is shared to being dumped in the ocean with millions and forced to fend for himself with everybody gunning for him for that reason there is no way he can adjust that quickly and for me i will give him plenty of time to adjust and improve.
What Yao bothers me is he seems never response coach's request or critics if you willing to call it. JVG spoke all season long asking Yao to play tough, stay away from those jumper, going inside as much as possible and forcing to draw fouls as many as possible. He never responses coach's request for even a single minutes, he don't even try. He don't have spirit and no heart at all. No great player play like he does now, and yes, he is same type of player like Rik Smith and big Z.
Breaking old habits is not easy, and that's why I say Yao needs to spend the off season here in the States. Fortunately, when it comes to learning new habits and breaking out ones, these three things you mention can be remedied far easier than say, changing one's shot. Again, I think Yao gets away with this sort of stuff overseas b/c he CAN just reach over people w/o boxing out, he CAN just use his height to compensate for bad positioning, and he CAN just dribble dribble dribble w/o fear of getting stripped. The competition overseas just reinforces bad habits. Soft of mind - that's difficult to say. Honestly, I agree with you b/c I've seen Yao choke under pressure. But he's human and may well supercede these demons with time. The footspeed issue is something that I think can NOT be remedied....esp with Yao gaining poundage. Most instances, when a coach wants a player to get faster footspeed, the prescription is DIETING. But Yao is getting heavier not lighter and thus I think his footspeed is going to be as good as it gets today. If Yao can become a more dominant big man on the offensive side, I think that will quell a lot of the problems overall. To date, he's still timid on the offensive end and is not delivering when we need him to. Things are just too mechanical right now. Yao definitely has potential to develop into a Shaq like player, but ONLY if he drops the old habits and learns new habits. It's not like we haven't seen Yao spin aggressively to the hoop. He CAN do it, it's just a matter of getting him to do it more often. theSAGE
Everyone Chill. Rockets are 4 games above .500. We are going to hunt down a playoff spot. Utah and Golden are not deep enough to make the playoffs. A battle with Seattle and Denver for 6th spot in the west. All things consider we alright especially with Stevie and Yao having inconsistent first half of the season. I dislike JVG and his offense, but it's effective in the playoffs. Don't be surprised Rockets winning a series in the West. As for the terrible offensive struggle by the Rockets, Yao should shoulder alot of responsibility. But also keep in mind all players struggle, even Shaq. Rockets obviously is not talented enough to win without a "Fresh Yao". 3 seasons of non-stop basketball will do that to anyone. Lets hope he take a year off this summer and be ready to dominate next year. The key for this season is to get in to the playoffs, stay injury free, and a motivated rejuvenated Yao. We all know this team is capable of great things, just hope they can put it together in the playoffs.
This is one of the better post I have read in a long time. Give him some time. I do think francis days are numbered.
Dak, a radical idea to throw out there for you think about (well actually not that radical as there is an increasing amount of evidence) does concentrating on the mistakes and errors a team/player makes and focusing on reducing them actually improve performance? or does concentrating on the good things a team/player does and then focusing increasing the number of them during a game actually improve performance? for me the answer is obvious but as an aside i would guess the second option when used by fans also gives them more enjoyment when watching sport
rule001 how about if you dont get it you should try keeping that embarassing little tidbit of information to yourself.
Smeg, Good question, and the answer is...both. Some people respond to positive reinforcement, and others to a swift kick in the A$$. I wonder if Yao is maybe thinking TOO much out there, and because of it is having a hard time making any decision, and is causing him to fail even more. I think that is exactly what is happening to Steve, maybe to Yao too. JVG is demanding they run it all his way, and I think the players are trying too hard, and are afraid of making mistakes. When the plays become 2nd nature we should see a dramatic improvement...hopefully. DD
I don't think Yao is the problem. I think force feeding him is. He is not the best player on the team. Why should he be the focal point of the offense. I would rather have Cat posting up his man that Yao trying to do it. I know this will be very unpopular, but I think Rudy T knew what he was doing by letting the guards loose and letting them set up shots for Yao. Yao was and still isn't ready to be the focal point of the offense. I'm not saying Cat and Franchise should dribble out the shot clock looking for their shot. But I do believe they should initiate the offense until Yao is strong enough to demand the ball. As for trading Yao for Lebron. After seeing Lebron throw some sweet no look passes to Z for dunks. Heck yeah I would do it. You may not be able to teach 7'6" but you also can't teach 6'8" 240 pounds of athletism that can see the whole court either. Lebron is 19 years old and he commands more double teams than Yao does and he already has the skills to pass out of them.
I am convinced by watching Yao this year that he's not going to be a superstar type of player. He simply doesn't have what it takes to be great. Physically he has very limited athletic ability, and mentally he's very soft and passive. I believe that Yao is going to likely end up being a taller better version of Rik Smits, which is what scouts have been saying all long before the draft last year. And that is actually not that bad. Rik Smits was actually a very important piece on the 98' Pacers under Larry Bird, who almost beat Jordan's Bulls in the playoffs. Smits' retirement was one of the most important reasons for that team to start rebuilding and dropping out of contension. Although Yao's not going to be a Dream or Shaq, he can still be a very valuable contributor to the Rockets if he's used correctly. Yao Ming is not a low post player, and our efforts of transcending him into one have failed miserably so far. So what we need to do is to get a PF who is a true low post presense, can rebound and score close to basket. If we do that, we can put Yao at where he is more comfortable--in the high post, just like what Sacramento does with Divac and Miller. What really worries me is not the fact that Yao is not going to be a superstar but rather the possibility that the Rockets will pay him superstar type of money. We have overpaid MoTay and Steve Francis and we shouldn't make the same mistake with Yao. Yao Ming is not going to deserve the maximum contract extension. If he's going to demand that type of money we need to trade him while we can. I for one would explore the possibility of packaging Steve and Yao for a true superstar level player. The Rockets management should learn from their counterpart in Phoenix that everyone is tradable given the right price.
The Irony Here is that the Rox are in Serious Need for some On Court Leadership And Yao refuses to take command. The key word is SAFE not SOFT. Inasmuch as I like Steve, Yao's got to take "risks" and stop playing it "safe" all the time. Fear of failure is not the same thing as the Desire for success. Right now, I think Yao's got the former sickness. He's afraid to take "risks" at the expense of alienating his teammates. Yet what he doesn't seem to see is that he has the capability to not only win games, but also to be the leader on this team. Cat has heart - but his inconsistency renders him a non-leader SF has heart and talent - but his inconsistency ALSO renders him a non-leader Yao - has the consistency AND the ability to get to the line to help pull out games in the 4th quarter. When he does that, we win, when he evaporates, we lose. For once, JVG should DISCOURAGE balanced scoring and just let Yao and SF ride out their hot hands for 20+ shots. Yao needs to experiment while he's out on the floor, not to please all the YOFs, but rather to just broaden his horizons of what he can and can't do on the court. theSAGE
My fear is that by the time Yao finally does get IT and has fully adapted to the NBA game it may be too late for him. Players 7'4+ generally do not have long careers. When you take into consideration that Yao will be playing year round for the rest of his career, his career could be even shorter than most 7'4+ players. At 23 years old, he looks like someone that has played for 20 years and is nearing retirement. Watching him move around on the court, you would think that he was a 50 year old. His window of opportunity is going to be a lot shorter than most NBA players. I really think he needs to get really good really fast or else the team may have to consider trading him.
