given Yao's intensive workload and smooth transition into the nba, it has become obvious that he will need some manufactured time to rest. Over the next 14 days, we play only four games. Even without his presence in the lineup, we should easily be able to win two of the four. Now is the time to give Yao a break. drop your two cents here
There will be a stretch where we dont play a game for 3 straight days. He can rest then. Yao isn't the Hope diamond protected behind a glass cube. He needs to play to get better. Winning is what matters and Yao helps us win.
over exertion stresses the body to the point where someone can't play to their potential. Get the coal out of your a** and allow our big man a break.
Do want Yao Ming to enjoy playing Basketball here with the Rox? Do we want him to be a great player? Do we want Yao Ming to becomer a franchise player and spend his career with the Rox? If the answer to all of these questions is 'YES' then a lot of care must be given to Yao Mings health and his possible overplaying and exhaustion. Especially this season where he has been involved in Basketball for a long time, prior to this NBA season. Even his Mother has been saying how worried she is about his health. Yao Mings life seems to be only Basketball,eating and sleep, he coul;d get burned out very quickly.
nyk, your attention to detail amazes me. Your intelligence is also astounding. I had no idea that a two year old was able to comprehend how to use a computer. Given the long stretch of time that Yao has already played. The fact that he will not have off for the allstar break. The fact that we will be in the playoffs. I would like to give yao a break to assimilate into life in America and some rest for his body. Very few stretches of our schedule will allow for relaxation without missing games. I see this as an opportune time. If you disagree, fine I won't be offended. Just don't put some crap on the screen making fun of someone without backing it up. It is a useless post.
I'm tired of these threads. You can't just judge one person by the standards of others. Just because a certain player is tired doesn't mean Yao will be. If it comes to the point where it affects his play, or if Yao says fatigue is an issue to the coaches, then is the time to think about giving him a rest. It's just like dealing with an injury. If the player says he can play, and it doesn't appear to be affecting his game on the floor, he usually plays. You don't just rest players for the hell of it, when you're trying to win as many games as you can. You rest players if there is a distinct reason for it, and if Yao says he's fine and it dosn't affect his play on the floor, there's no reason to do it.
he didn't look tired against the Hawks? Are you crazy? The only reason that Ratliff got those blocks against him was that Yao was tired. Yes I know that Ratliff is an athletic defensive center that can block shots, but Yao would make a nice move and have no legs left to get the ball over Theo.
How is Yao ever going to gain the stamina he needs if yall think he should sit? The only way for him to get his conditioning down is to play in the games regardless of how tired he may be.
Studogg your thought is understandable buy you need to do some more thinking. Yao's a rookie in the NBA and had a bad night last night for him. I'm sure he's tired, he's a rookie. But as you pointed out there are days off coming. And the staff is keeping a close eye on Yao. I don't think there's justification for him sitting unless he is having more difficulties than one six turnover game. Rudy is a communicator and if Yao can't be honest with him, Mr. Mean can make Yao sit anwhere, anytime. Straight up man this is an idle speculation thread without basis. Even Yao's mother's statements were made over a month ago. Yao looked happy enough Wednesday and Friday. This guy finds joy in basketball and if expectations of him weren't so damned ridiculous you wouldn't be coming up with this nonsense. Bottom line is the coaching staff is all over this subject. The ideal situation would be for him to get some rest when possible and not participate in the All-Star game or the rookie game. Even though Stern would hate it, he'd understand Yao's special circumstances. I think the Rocket's staff needs to seriously target the all-star break and convince Yao to step aside then. It will be hard for Yao and a lot of people here to accept, but that's the right call. The media alone would be far more exhausting than playing a game.
You guys are trippin... EVERYONES mother says those things ! If me is really so tired then he should rest during the all-star break. Winning games and getting better are more important to a playoff run than the all-star game.
I'm sure Yao would disagree with you. If fatigue and the rookie wall are really setting in, then maybe it's time to start considering cutting his minutes, not giving him a vacation.
Hey, if the Rockets could pull off a big lead early on, Yao could have rested a lot more on the bench. How to get this lead? Pass the ball to Yao in the low post and let him take over the offense. The Rockets have been playing catch-up games.
No. Yao's never had much elevation on his shots. Ratliff simply made some good plays. It's just Yao's style-- he doesn't show a ton of emotion, and he doesn't get a lot of elevation on his shots. I might be tempted to believe those of you saying "Yao is tired", if ya'll hadn't said it after every single loss. Then, of course, the next game, he would come out and dominate. The true test of a player's "fatigue" is how they perform on the second night of a back to back. This year, on the second night of back to backs, Yao is averaging 15.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks in 29.2 minutes per game. Looks tired to me.
Some of you guys suck! I thought the old Rockets fans are basketball experts. Now I must ask: don't you read game recaps? (Before you classify me as a Yao-only fan, look at my registration date. I read this forum regularly since 98.) Go to Yahoo NBA or NBA.com to see the recap of the previous game. Rudy said Yao is tired. Yao said he is exhausted. Case closed. What else do you want to argue about? What else can you argue about? I had been wondering since the Minnesota game how come nobody discussed the Yao fatique issue in this forum. Now we have a discussion and yet some old guys are saying Yao is ok or Yao should use these games to train up his stamina. Yao is not ok and stamina training has to be cyclic (meaing a period of high workload, followed by a period of low workload and so on. Ask any professional trainer or the follow those soccer teams in World Cup). Yeah, team above everything else. First Hakeem was bashed hard in this forum; now Yao should not rest until he asks too. Some Rockets-only fans make me sick. No team is above his members because all players are humans like you and me. It is just a game played by rich atheletes; there is not too much life and death issue in a game as some of you would like to imagine. Give that poor guy a break. Have you guys heard of something called work ethics? Yao is such a hardworking guy, representing the hope of 1 billion people. He is aware of the high expectations. I am sure that it is very possible that he will work until he drops on the court! In case you are not aware, he is Chinese, who don't voice their opinions and desires as openly and strongly as Americans do. That is a culture thing. Now he says he is tired. That means he is more than just "tired". Yao desires to rest for a while. Give him a 2 weeks' vacation for Christ's sake! Don't cry if you lose him forever due to fatigue-induced injuries. You have been warned. In case you are not aware, let me add somethig else: why do big men get injured more easily? One of the reasons: the strengh of the bones do not increase propotionally with your body weight. Even if Yao has bigger bones, the strengh is proportionally to its cross-sectional area, while the load is proportionally to its volume. His bones are always under more stress than a small man. That is why you can never expect a big man like Yao to carry the same workload as Steve. I apologize to being too emotional (and also for bashing some of you), but it is disappointing seeing some of your remarks.
why is everyone getting so damned emotional over this topic. as much as i love watching yao play, i think that stu dog might have a good point here. most every rookie hits "the wall" about 1/2 way thru their first season. ming has not had a break in such a long time that when he does hit the wall, it will probably be pretty hard. would you rather him rest now and be somewhat refreshed for the second half and playoffs, or let him keep playing till he drops dead sometime in february? since he got to the states, he has been balling and traveling. he is young, but dude must be exhausted. at the least, we could reduce his minutes to 15-20 a game for a couple weeks, but some downtime might help him greatly in the long run.
I think Rudy was attempting to rest Yao in the Timberwolves game. Cato came in earlier than usual. I agree that Yao at least needs to take a breather when he can. If we can ever get a good lead on a team, from the start, that might happen. Yao may need to lay off the video games and sleep at night. Yeah, I'm speculating, but maybe it's true? I read somewhere that he is an internet freak, and chats a lot with friends in China. Relating this to me, I spend waaaaaaaaaaaay to much time on the internet a lot of times, and get little sleep from it. I think when you have a very busy schedule, like Yao has, you "MAKE" time for yourself when you can. That's what I do, and it costs me sleep. And at times, it hinders my work, and perhaps it's the same thing going on with Yao. Who knows, besides Yao?
Just to add another note, I believe his teammates can play a better game in respect to keeping Yao from getting winded quickly in a game. For example, say Cat brings the ball up on a break, dribbles to the 3 pt line and takes a shot before his teammates can get down the court. Clank, and the rebound goes to the other team. Meanwhile, Yao and the others are running back and forth at a fast pace. That's fine when you have a good fast break in your favor, but bringing the ball up and taking a bad shot as soon as you get the chance isn't too smart. Yao will hang back a lot in cases like this, but when it's not an expected fast break, but rather a bring it up and clank it outside shot, your just running your teammates up and down the court without getting them involved.
