http://sports.sina.com.cn/k/2003-12-18/2105703776.shtml http://sports.sina.com.cn/s/2003-12-19/0149127561s.shtml Yao talked about the Cavs game:"Z and I have similar styles. His defense is different from other centers. They played tough and mean. But he makes me feel comfortable." "Our ball movement was poor (at the Spurs games). We always have open men but the ball stays in somebody's hands for too long....I was double teamed alot, if i could make better passes, we would score more." "When we win games, everything looks ok. When we lose, people start seeing problems and say we are a garbage team. I think we have to look at those problems even when we are winning. Then we could make ourselves a better team." "My stamina is always bad. is it because of the race? I was born like this. I couldn't play 42 mins in the CBA. But here in the Rockets, I play hard every single minute....When you play hard but can't convert to baskets, it makes you feel exhausted."
Uhh.... hello... Earth to Yao: You've been playing basketball almost non-stop for two years. Maybe if he could/would take summers off to rest, train, and workout, he'd have better stamina. -- droxford
You gotta love Yao's first comment - a center blaming himself for passing poorly! Maybe it's me, but I took Yao's comment about "race" to mean playoff race. No disrespect to Rudy, but IMO JVG hits the team on the head with winning the championship more often.
Sorry about the translation...but Yao actually meant Asian players may lack stamina compared to American athelets.
He's probably wondering why it seems like everyone else can do it but he can't. So, he looks at what is (mostly) unique to him in the NBA and thinks of race. That's understandable. He should also consider though his work-load and his height, which both might be contributing factors.
It is becoming more clear why Rudy had him on a strict playing time limit. Seems the Rockets can get the most out of him if he plays 30-32 minutes. The other extra, he seems to be laboring and gets beat on the boards.
actually, many of the chinese coaches say genetics is the main difference between asians in certain sports compared to other races. they say they are very good in sports that require quickness, agility and fast twitch muscles like ping pong, weight lifting and diving, but blame race for why their basketball teams won't be able to compete against black athletes. I dont know if it is actually true, but this is a oft repeated belief in the chinese basketball camps.
I don't even know why it's racist to think that one race is better, on average, at doing certain things than other races.
I mentioned before that Yao really needs to take next offseason off from all basketball in China. He needs to get in the weight room with Falsone and get on a proper mass building program. He will get killed in the long-term by guys who are shorter than him but much stronger. A muscular build will cushion the hits that he takes in the paint. There's no way he can be Shaq, but he can still put on enough muscle to make a big difference with his low post game. As far as the team playing like garbage, Yao needs to tell Van Gundy that the team needs to get a good passing point guard. The number of scoring opportunities that are wasted on this team is at least a dozen each game because the player holding the ball does not have the necessary court vision and passing skills to get the ball to the player at the right time.
