Great article! Did he really saw CD is too old?? How old is he? Very insightful and surprisingly candid...It became obvious that Yao wasn't as quick in the 2nd half of the year...here's hoping for a great 07-08 from Yao!! Rest up and get well!
This is one of the most candid, insightful interviews I've ever read following a heartbreaking playoff loss. This is just a great contribution...thank you, Pry. For all of those bashing Wang Meng and his articles, you all need to get a clue. You think the Chron would ever get a coup like this? Sure, there is some suspect info that comes from Chinese media sources, but if you can't weed out the good from the bad, well, that's on you.
I found this interview a little bit surprising, as Yao plainly criticized JVG and questioned his coaching... which is so un-Yao-like, even considering the heartbreaking lose.
OMG...this really has me excited about Yao continuing on his progressive trend to total dominance. He stressed how he needed to be faster and that pre injury he was a lot faster. I noticed he was a lot slower in his return. I hope he can stay in Houston this summer so that Dream can teach him some moves. It is too bad Dream can't do some assistant coach work during the season, but we will have to just hope for Yao to stay home (Houston) to get his teaching. I think Yao has the cabablity to develop some real elusive Dream-like post moves. His moves are too predictable now ( which were basically three of them: Receive ball in post, turn around; receive ball in post, jump hook; and receive ball in post, fadeaway.) He totally abandoned his pump fakes, spins, and shake-n-bakes that he used early on. He will breath new life into these and other moves when he starts (if) working with Dream. I remeber Dream would work on One move every summer and use it during the season. Yao can't do this because he is too busy working as China's b****. China needs to do themselves a favor and let Yao improve by resting and developing into a truly dominant player that will bring even more positive publicity to their nation. I like the fact that he is stepping up and making bold statements about coaching decisions. WHile he may be slightly out of line ( all though accurate), this shows that he is developing into a man. Now he just needs this brave attitude to translate onto the Bball court. I have total confindence that it will.
Yao had enough of stubborn JVG, that's why. He may look soft, but he is not stupid basketball wise. I bet he will be wholeheartly happy to see Rudy back.
Good interview, thanks for the translation. Yao seems to know what he needs to do this summer (get FASTER). It did seem like he was just a step slow with all his moves in the series. In a dream world, I wish he'd also train at high altitude / in an oxegyn tent to improve stamina, and work with Dream on developing an even more sophisticated post up game. This may be related to the improvement of speed/ agility, but it seemed like Yao was far less likely to change directions once he started a move then he used to be--if he took a dribble to his right, he was going right, left and he was going left, the vast majority of the time. This is why Okur said he could predict yao's post moves--he was either going to the fadeaway or the hook, and based on his first dribble, it was easy to tell which one. The thing that made Dream unstoppable wasn't just that he had mad MOVES, it was that he had BUNCHES OF COUNTERMOVES for every move. He could dribble right, then either keep going or spin back or up and under you or turn the other way for a jumper--he could beat you multiple ways, and had enough shoulder / ball fakes so that you never knew what was coming. Yao has enough moves to acomplish something simililar. He could get closer to the basket and make it impossible for a defender to hedge or anticipate his moves. Watch a Dream highlight, or a Tim Duncan highlight, or a Shaq highlight and watch how just getting the defender a little off balance and changing direction destroys defenders, particularly with a body like Yao's. This means Yao's focus has to be agility and ballhandling--given his turnovers and inability to recover on defense against quicker players, this is what he needs most now anyhow. i guess i ranted a little, but i'd like to think i've got a point....
Do you know Yao's attitude towards Bonzi? I was not impressed. If I were Yao, I would press on JVG. Bonzi means deep playoffs to this Rox team. You do not need to be smarter than 5th grade to figure that out.
Same goes for T-mac. Yet none of them said anything about it. Who knows, but I'm gld that he finally had to courage to speak the truth. Perhaps he finally accepts the fact that change is needed.
Great article - thanks! Several things stood out that many people seem to be overlooking. Yao's uncompromising taking of responsibility for the loss, while hard to swalllow, says a lot about the character of the man. Kudos to him. He underplayed his injuries - when was his toe re-injured? The hyper-extended knee apparently had more of a negative impact than we all thought. His willingness to play through pain is another indication of his character. While giving honest criticism of JVG's coaching, this comment was truly telling: "This I knew too. But not touching on other things, for all these years, if not for Jeff's stern and harsh supervision, I would not have become what I am now. I know what big role he had been to me." I look forward to the new and improved Yao - Tracy duo next season. And, although the signs aren't good, I'd lovew to see JVG back again. The way he handled the team through a great deal of adversity was commendable.
Because there was no need to as most are aware that Mutombo is at the end of his career and has little to offer.
Yao stood up and put this loss on him like a man, he also called out Gumby and all of Gumby's shortcomings as a coach. Yao sounds like a real leader to me. I've always felt like this is Yao's team from the start, I know next season with the new coach, Tmac will buy into this, after all Tmac doesn't want to be known for the rest of his career as a loser. Next year if we have a real point guard, a real power forward, a strong bench and a bruising enforcer, I guarantee you guys we'll go deep into the playoffs and possibly win it all. The Yao we all saw during the playoffs is not the same Yao pre-injured. He lost a lot of speed and agility in addition to the recurrence injury on that troublesome left toe. Despite all of his problems, Yao still managed to give us 24-10 in this playoff. What do guys think with a complete healthy Yao next season along with a new coach and new starters?
Keep Yao - Fire JVG !! Yao basically told everyone on here that JVG was one of the biggest problems by not playing his bench. Too One dimensional !!! And then says that JVG will have no problem getting another job. GOOD Riddance JVG, and here is to a happy and healthy Yao for next year...one that gets a chance to utilize all his marvelous skills as Bill Walton has been asking for..... DD
