Yao's Distribution of Minutes

[Indazone]

24 minutes - half a game. Trying to protect against another stress fracture of his feet and getting him into game shape.

How would you distribute his minutes?

Personally, I don't like playing him a little bit in the first half and then a little bit in the second half. Why not just play him a few minutes towards the end of the first half, a little bit in the second half and then heavy minutes for the 4th quarter to clog up the lane and add defense. Right now I think Adleman has him about 12 min first half and 12 min second half.

Work Dampier and Miller in to fill in all the minutes that Yao isn't playing and maybe let Miller run some high post offense when Yao's not in. There is enough personnel to run a twin towers type offense at times. Enough speed with our guards and smalls to run when we have to depending on matchups.

[Indazone]

Bring it on LA and Dallas Flame Boyz!

[Giuseppe]

If I were Morey I'd talk to the legal department, get a strategy vetted and then take it to Stern. He has a strong case for a medical waiver.

You can't do this 24 minute thing. It's crazy.

On the other hand if Morey is satisfied just to sell Yao wampum across the world then carry on, but, I can't believe his rank & file will put up with it for long.

[hater]

send him back to china and get a refund

[noob cake]

1st quarter - 0
2nd quarter - 6
3rd quarter - 9
4th quarter - 9

Let him finish games instead of starting.

[Dex]

1st - first 6 minutes
2nd - last 6 minutes
3rd- first 5 minutes
4th - last 7 minutes

IMO these are the heart of the game and generally where the tides turn.

[slick'81]

for the first half it makes sense no back2backs and under 25min. a game

now after the break i might let him go 30min a night but still no back2backs.As long as hes in in the final two minutes it should still benefit houston

[Indazone]

send him back to china and get a refund

haha as if we could do that with any of the other imports we get from over there.

[Indazone]

1st - first 6 minutes
2nd - last 6 minutes
3rd- first 5 minutes
4th - last 7 minutes

IMO these are the heart of the game and generally where the tides turn.

I think the rest of the team playing hard in the first quarter should be able to hold their own. It's kind of like running a relay. You run your strongest swimmer or runner on the anchor leg.

[hater]

FYI, Pop plays Timmy D all 1st quarter, then rests him most of 2nd quarter. Then depending on how game is going rests him most of 3rd or 4th quarter.

[Indazone]

Clearly the Rockets are out of sync right now. A lot of it is not letting your All-Star player play more than 24 min/game. On the other hand, there is no excuse for shoddy defense. That does need to be addressed and quickly.

Quote from NBA.com

Adelman's inclination tells him that Yao would be best served playing with the starting lineup, which consists of veterans who should be more adaptable and understand the need to milk their big man when he's in the game.

Yao privately believes that he would be better served coming off the bench. He fears inhibiting the high-scoring backcourt of Aaron Brooks, Kevin Martin and power forward Luis Scola, and thinks the second unit might be more willing to defer to him as he regains his game legs and playing rhythm.

Listen to the man Rick! Bring Yao off the bench.

[Giuseppe]

This situation with Yao is untenable, but, you can't bring him off the bench. He'd lose his protocol amongst teammates, opponents & the officiating.

[21_Blessings]

Maybe China can reproduce a better him in 24 years.

[Pelicans78]

I was at the game last night. He gets tired real quickly. When he comes in for his six minutes, he's out of it halfway thru. By the end of his six minutes, he can barely move up and down the floor. He's in poor game shape right now.

[Indazone]

In that case he should definately come off the bench like any other player coming back from injury. Work him into game shape and into the flow of the game until he gets his timing and strength back. The Rockets have to go with their high energy players.

[Sportcamper]

Lets be honest, Yao’s greatest asset is his ability to sell tickets…NBA fans like him & want to see him play...The Rockets need to work on keeping the big guy healthy…Playing just 3 to 6 minutes a quarter he is not going to have much of an impact for a team like the Rockets…Now if he were traded to the Celtics or the Lakers where he could come off the bench for 3 minutes to rest the starters & hold onto the lead that would be different…