After the game of American stars, Bob Hill, the head coach of American team, said that Yao Ming was too fat. He said Yao's weight is 320 to 330 pounds now. But his ideal weight should be 300 pounds. Yao said in a postgame interview that, "I think I do need to lose some weight. But I think I am not too fat. Reducing 10 pounds will be enough." http://sports.tom.com/Archive/1019/2785/2003/7/29-14475.html What has happend these days? First, Clutch began to delete posts. Second, Yao Ming wants to lose weight. What will be the next?
It's ok for him to lose weight. We didn't want him to gain any weight in the first place, we wanted him to put on some MUSCLE only. Now, when he loses a few lbs, he'll be more toned, and will be lighter as well as stronger to be more aggressive for the upcomign season.
Ummm... someone want to do a photoeffect of Yao as a 400 pounder a la Shaq? That's a lot of dumplings he has to down...
Wind and Sea thanks for the thread. I have trouble believing it though. Yao put on 20-30 lbs? Bob Hill's going to tell Yao he's too fat? He'd probably have more of an incliniation to tell Yao he should eat more. And how has he had time to gain that much weight? Everything we've read suggests Yao's sticking with his training program and training with the NT. Another article was traslated about a month ago here that said Yao looked bigger and slower. Do Chinese reporters think the Rockets training regimen is ruining him? Egad, I expect to see a translation soon that states his association with the NBA has ruined his game. And if this were true, the media here would have picked up on it. But I agree it's humorous.
Thanks for the info. I remember Rick Smits complaining towards the end of his career that everyone always wanted him to gain weight. He said the heavier he was, the more often he had injuries, but when he lost weight, he moved a lot better, and was healthier. He said Larry Brown was the first coach that recognized that being heavier was not always better for a guy as tall as him.
Interesting. So basically Yao has no coach telling him to lose or add weight. He has to rely on Bob Hill to tell him what to do.
let things be as they are. thats what I say. If the weight gain was natural, keep it, go with the flow. If it was a forced thing done by unnatural process, go back to doing things naturally. f-bob hill. f-the ivan drago trainers, f-the weight gainer pushers and the weight watchers, do what you desire and your body will fill out they way nature intended. to my partner in commie land, Yao Ming: screw 'em all, its you against the world. trash that diary! give 'em hell! and I love how you hardened up your image the natural way by taking a elbow to the eye, see, thats just as good as owing another player money and not paying and getting a black eye for it. Yao is da man. heavy or light, he's alright. awoooo!
We're all in agreement that Yao's the future of this franchise. Les knows this too. Over the long haul, when you consider endorsements, national exposure, ticket sales, etc., he's worth literally hundreds of millions of dollars. So here's what I can't get. Why, why, why haven't the Rockets hired a full-time trainer to be with Yao in China? In the grand scheme of things, it will cost them nothing. It's chump change, a rounding error on the annual report. When Yao's in the US, he has his mother with him to help acclimate. Makes sense. By the same token, it only seems logical to give him a tether to the Rockets while he's in China. By the same reasoning, wouldn't it make sense to have Patrick Ewing take a long vacation in China? The initial objection would be that the China NT would never allow another coach on their turf. Fair enough. But Yao only practices a few hours a day with the NT, surely there's some down time that he could spend with Ewing. Not necessarily full-blown scrimmages--burn out's a concern--but a littler interaction would help facilitate Yao's grasp of Gundy's new system. Especially since he's missing a good chunk of training camp. And there's even a chance that the NT would welcome the "guest speaking" of a hall of famer like Ewing. (I can't believe I used "guest speaking" and Ewing in the same sentence).
yao's problem has never been weight...it's all about his aggressiveness and lack of it. weight is not the issue....he has 300 lbs and just starting a workout program will help him gain strength. yao needs strength not weight and he needs to learn how to use his weight and strength thru being aggressive.
It's not like yao's going to shed any strength or muscle. He's just going to trim some fat off his body. The only effect that will have is he'll be lighter/quicker on his feet. Players like Shawn Bradley and Griffin add weight because they can't hold their position in the post. However Yao has a strong base, and can hold his position against 95% of the C's in the NBA. The only reason we saw that ability diminishing last year was because Larry Smith made him do it more often tha he should, and he was just fatigued. I'm sure a stronger, more experienced, well rested yao will have no problem holding position in the paint next season. What he shoudl work on is fast twitch muscles, trimming fat, toning his body, and gripping the basketball harder and to take care of it betetr. All these things can be done within a year.
