This article is from Xinming Evening News on 11/8. Quick summary. * Yao said he doesn't want to spend 10 games to get used to NBA, like he did last season. He is ready to show more aggression and dominance, like JVG expected, in next 2-3 games. * Yao expects to face lots of fronting and double-teaming in next 10 games. Yao said he talked with JVG about it. He said, "We will find a solution" http://sports.sina.com.cn/s/2003-11-08/132093801s.shtml
I think Yao meant to achieve the level of aggressiveness as JVG expected in 2-3 games. Not just play aggressively for 3 games. If he can achieve that in 3 games, I don't see a reason why he won't keep up for the rest of the season.
Well he picked a right time to finaly get aggressive. If he does what hes going to say, he will rip apart Orlando tonight.
I don't think I'm alone in worrying about Yao's infamous "conditioning." I imagine it will be improved this season, but I can still see him fading down the stretch again. But man, how great would it be to see Yao start taking games over? I'm itching to see that...
This is EXACTLY what separates great players from good players; the drive a man has to become better. Determination, the will to work, and a good coach, creates results.
Yao needs to find motivation for himself just like Jordan did every game. Last season, when Yao was told that he looked similar to Bradley. He marked down the game against Bradley and scored 20+ points and 10+ rebounds. Then in the second game against the Pacers, in order to revenge his first game loss, he scored 20+ points and 10+ rebounds. If he can't score 20+ points and grab 10+ rebounds against the Magic, I will be disappointed b/z people are criticizing him to be too soft. He needs to show people that he can be tough.
I think he's going to hammer the Magic. I hope/think Braggs can do a good job on the undersized PF's the Magic have, so if Yao can dominate, I think we can put this one away, especially with McGrady playing so poorly.
We should play a zone against Magic and collapse on McGrady. McGrady can't figure out the zone. Nobody else on the Magic team can hit an outside jumper except their injuried players sitting on the bench. I can't believe not many players in today's NBA can hit an outside 15-18 foot jumper. They are paid millions of dollars, it just should not be that difficult!
The only problem is, I don't think JVG is a big fan of zone defenses, and besides, Garritty just came off the injured list and he's DEADLY from 3-pt land. Lue is pretty good as well, and he can give Francis some trouble on both ends of the floor. If we let McGrady get his, and keep everyone else in check, we can have this game. The attendance is up for this game, and we're on a 2 game winning streak, the players will be eager to stretch it to 3, since it was so difficult to do that last season. The important thing is that we don't allow any surprises. hopefully, JVG will use more zones than usual, and we'll get a few more blocks from Cato to solidify the interior defense. Cato, Braggs, and Yao will surely outrebound the Magic, so that's definitely good.
