we are simply still a team that is going thru transitional period with added piece in Artest, Battier out, Tmac not healthy, Yao not 100%, and poor shooting from alston. given that celtics are also not 100% in form yet, we have rooms for improvement.
I'd say it wasn't one bad game by Yao. He didn't play well against Thunder either. He couldn't do anything inside, he got bwned inside by Collison and Petro.
Yao was HORRIBLE!!!!! Forget about the poor offensive showing. What about defending Perkins? Esp. in crunch time? Perkins hitting that 10 foot jumper??? Is Yao NOT supposed to move out and challenge? I mean c'mon. However fast/slow Yao is, even Yao isn't about to give up a step to Perkins. That was just a pathetic showing by Yao. I'm not even normally this critical of him. But boy... with the right matchups with a good team, Yao can be reduced to looking so slow, so lumbering, and so weak. Jumping??? Does Yao have a one inch vertical or something? OK, so maybe he's not as agile and lithe as Garnett on the boards. But how come Yao doesn't box out more? Bend those knees!!!! Create some space!!! Use those arms!!!! Sometimes I feel like Yao just stands there, with decent positioning but just hopes the ball will come to the exact perigee of where he is standing. FIght man fight@!!!!! Doc Rivers had Yao's number. I'm sorry. Last night's game was just so frustrating to watch. Honestly, unless we find a way to play OUR game, or better, YAO'S GAME, how on Earth are we going to be a true elite team? I hate it when Yao fades in a game inasmuch as I hate that stupid fadeaway jumper. C'mon BIG GUY STEP UP!!!! Attack the hoop!!!! Do that THEO RATLIFF thing!!!! Remember him???!!! VEnt Over. angryangrySAGE
After Yao missed the dunk and got stuffed by the rim....his confidence was lost...he was humiliated and played very timid the rest of the game, it was a mental collapse I gaurantee. I just hope he is strong enough mentally to bounce back from that, it is one thing to miss jumpers and struggle but to miss dunks, get stuffed by the backboard, lose all composure and get called for traveling, that was much more than him having an off night, it was a mental breakdown.
Sorry man, i see your point if he was just missing his shots, but there is no excuse for missing a point blank dunks, standing around and not gaurding anyone.
The turning point is when he got his shot blocked by KG. He was supposed to put both Perkins and KG on a poster right there. Instead he went for a soft squishy yogurt layup. I was pissed when I saw that.
Yao has never been a tough egg, that's part of the reason why we still are 1st round virgins after so many years. If we choose him as our first option on offense as some claimed we must, I dont see a chance we win the championship before he retire.
You can't really excuse Yao for his lack of production on the offensive end (and its not like they were swarming him). But on the defensive end, Yao basically had to guard Garnett as well as his actual assignment, Perkins. If anyone noticed in the game they tried to deny Garnett the ball, which ended up in a lot of easy baskets and offensive rebounds for Perkins because he actually wasn't manning him up. When Perkins took those 10 footers, the gameplan was to let him. I'm sure Yao could've contested it, its not like Perkins is going to drive around him, but then you take away your help defense on anyone going to the basket and you take away your best rebounder should they miss the shot.
Do not know why, but Yao was very bad last night. I know he will play better next game, but this game was just an important one in several aspects.
People are forgetting that the Celtics were EMBARASSED in their last game by the Pacers...the Indiana FREAKING Pacers!! You had to know that the C's have too much pride to come into Houston and not play hard. Give the Celtics some credit - they wanted the game more than us. But it is just one regular season game and in the last 3 games we have played them, we have yet to have our whole team healthy (McGrady missed the first game against them last season, then Yao, and now Battier). I would have loved to see a lineup of Scola, Artest, Battier, McGrady, and Brooks close out last night's game but that is a little hard to have happen when Battier still hasn't played yet. But that lineup I think would have given the Celtics fits. Yes it is troubling to see Yao struggle so much but I think he will bounce back - hopefully, he starts to figure it out when has more of these marquee matchups. Yao has got to start making the game more easy - he is making it too hard for himself. Oh and we are still 3-1 - no need to go bonkers. The Spurs are 0-3 and I doubt their fans are giving the kneejerk reactions that some of the posters here have been posting.
Yes, Yao played soft tonight and Artest didn't have a great game himself. Yao is a stand up guy and will push himself to do better. Do you think we could add springs to Yao's shoes? The most disappointing part for me was the many times Yao got stuffed or couldn't convert a layup or dunk? Anyhow, you know Yao will come back strong and you have to look at the bright side. With Yao playing the way he was, with Artest shooting poorly and Shane Battier out, we gave the Champs a run for their money. I'm feeling a bit optimistic! Go Rockets!!!!
Yao is mentally weak. He doesn't play like a winner. He can't overcome adversity. Once one bad thing happens to him, he's done.
That Chinese dude sounds like he's a true rockets fan, not a Yao groupie, unlike most posters on this board from China.
Despite Yao's performance (and Artests), you have to admire that we still were in that game to the end. The Celtics shot 50% and we shot 39%. We were a couple of defensive rebounds away from a victory. And if you look at the average statistics for this season. We shoot 40% as a team, allow about 42%. And we have a solid victory margin at about 7 points per game. You have to think, if we can get the offense to at least average for an elite team (ie, top 10), watch out league. We literally have everything else. We have bench production, we have defense, we have an outside presence and an inside presence, we can put pressure on the half court offense and get back on defense to stop the easy basket, we have vet leadership (Battier, Alston, Barry) as well as guys that play with heart (Artest, Landry, Alston), we get to the free throw line, shoot well from the line, don't turn the ball over, and we have depth. Just bring the offense up to a respectable level and we got this.
Yao sucked, but atleast he has the excuse of playing against tough interior D. Rafer has sucked in every game so far and no one is even guarding him at all. Its hard for me to be down on a guy who you know is going to bounce back and be one of the top players at his position. Every night so far it seems Rafer has been hurting us more than helping us.
Man I hate to say it, but we need to face the facts. Yao Ming is just another Rick Smits. He's just not championship material. His only passion is/was to represent China worldwide through the NBA, thats it. Playing for the Rockets is an extension of that obligation. Im going to say it now. We better start thinking about making a move before he brakes down again. Last night proves that if you can get any 6'10 yahoo to fluster him and get him into foul trouble, he stumbles. How can you miss a dunk when your under the basket and your seven plus? feet tall? Nice guy, nice skills, but no heart of a champion.
