Rockets Searching For Assertive Yao

[duncan228]

Rockets searching for assertive Yao
By Jonathan Feigen - Houston Chronicle

Shane Battier knew the answers but asked Yao Ming the questions, anyway,

“I’ve talked to him and said, ‘What set do you like, your favorite set? Where do you like the ball? If you could have any play in the world, what would it be?’?” Battier said. “Even getting him to answer that was like trying to get him to pull teeth. He doesn’t want to make any waves. He wants to be a good team player. It’s a continual project to try to get him to tell us where he wants the ball and where he can do the most damage.”

There are times that Yao does not have the option to get whatever he wants offensively. Teams will usually send double- and triple-teams, many positioning defenders in front and behind him. But late in Wednesday’s game, Yao had become unstoppable, and then did not get the ball. The offense broke down. The Rockets needed two overtimes to finish off the Detroit Pistons 106-101.

“He’s got to demand the ball,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. “That one possession there at the end of the game — he’s just got to go to the post and you tell them to bring it to me. He’s slipping around, playing pick-and-roll. We just scored like six times in a row. He’s just got to demand the ball.”

Few teams will allow Yao to go one-on-one. The Pistons did. The Timberwolves likely won’t tonight, but the Spurs and Jazz — the Rockets’ next two opponents — do go through stretches playing behind Yao with relatively little help.

“I understand what he said that I’m shooting very, very consistently,” Yao said. “I need to be more aggressive, I guess, not looking for other opportunities.

“I’ve been in this situation before. You ask for the ball and ask for the ball and ask for the ball. I think he’s right. In the fourth quarter I scored seven points in a row. I stopped asking for the ball. I scored in the first overtime the first two possessions and then disappeared. I think I need to do more for the team.”

The Rockets do go to Yao down the stretch. He averages more shots per minute (combined field goals and free throws) in the fourth quarter than in any other part of the game and hits 56.4 percent of his fourth-quarter shots and 81.8 percent of his free throws. But when teams are going to let him go one-on-one, Adelman wants him to be relentless, and for his teammates to be driven to get him the ball.

[Kai]

Yao is just too nice of a guy. The difference in cultures is extreme.

[Rogue]

Yao is really a very lethal weapon if he is used well by some smart guards like Brooks. In other words yao is just kind of machine that doesn't have his own opinions and emotion, just like those billions of numb robots living in the land that yao is from. Yao can not make any value with the ball if no one tells him what to do, and it's really a hard job for yao's teammates to tell him something because of his poor language skills.

btw, scola is a nasty got.

[djohn2oo8]

We see that whenever somebody pisses off Yao, like Anthony Randolph, or Javale Mcgee, he dunks on them every time after that. He just needs to adopt the mentality that he owns the paint, and nobody can stop him. By the way Rogue, Suns will be the 8th seed

[Indazone]

Ever since his rookie year, I have noticed a trend. If you get Yao mad he turns into the Hulk. "You won't like me very much if you make me mad". Dude turns into a beast if you try to hurt him, clock him in the head or piss him off. So for awhile there, I was like somebody hit him. Everytime you got him pissed off he'd go off for 30 pts or something. I guess that is still true today....only problem is, how do you get him to play mad all the time?

[robbie380]

Yao is really a very lethal weapon if he is used well by some smart guards like Brooks. In other words yao is just kind of machine that doesn't have his own opinions and emotion, just like those billions of numb robots living in the land that yao is from. Yao can not make any value with the ball if no one tells him what to do, and it's really a hard job for yao's teammates to tell him something because of his poor language skills.

btw, scola is a nasty got.

you are trying WAAAY too hard.

[Roxsfan]

Yao is really a very lethal weapon if he is used well by some smart guards like Brooks. In other words yao is just kind of machine that doesn't have his own opinions and emotion, just like those billions of numb robots living in the land that yao is from. Yao can not make any value with the ball if no one tells actually passes him the ing ball, and it's really a hard job for yao's teammates to tell him something because of his poor language skills.

btw, scola is a nasty got.

If you are trying to say that Yao has a low BB IQ or can't find the appropriate move given the current defensive strategy or time in the game--you're wrong. Yes, Yao does get bumped and hacked and such and instead of calling a foul on the hacker, they call him for traveling or some BS. He is a very smart ball player that needs to demand the ball more and play angry more. Fixed your comments above in red Btw, Yao communicates well, the only problem is that he is deaf in his left ear. You'll notice on interviews the journalist/mi are to his right and his players move over to his right ear. As far as him talking he is pretty good, he just has a deep voice and chooses different words from most to describe a situation. He might say " He keep leaning on me all game, entire game." Instead of " He was leaning on me the entire game"

[robbie380]

If you are trying to say that Yao has a low BB IQ or can't find the appropriate move given the current defensive strategy or time in the game--you're wrong. Yes, Yao does get bumped and hacked and such and instead of calling a foul on the hacker, they call him for traveling or some BS. He is a very smart ball player that needs to demand the ball more and play angry more. Fixed your comments above in red Btw, Yao communicates well, the only problem is that he is deaf in his left ear. You'll notice on interviews the journalist/mi are to his right and his players move over to his right ear. As far as him talking he is pretty good, he just has a deep voice and chooses different words from most to describe a situation. He might say " He keep leaning on me all game, entire game." Instead of " He was leaning on me the entire game"

you got owned. why exactly did you reply to him?

[Indazone]

Stay Angry Yao

[Spursmania]

Most superior winning athletes are born leaders. I'm concerned with how long it's taking Yao to be assertive on his own. He's a great talent, but time will tell if he ever learns to take control and use his natural talents to the best of his ability.

[aka_USAPA]

If Yao hasn't been assertive after all the recognition, accolades, international compe ion, All-Star appearances, first round playoff embarrassments, I don't think he will improve that much in that area at this point of his career. The Rockets should give him roids.

[bdictjames]

Simple - Yao needs to be more American.

[sook]

You can't be assertive unless you can do this...

[Rogue]

We see that whenever somebody pisses off Yao, like Anthony Randolph, or Javale Mcgee, he dunks on them every time after that. He just needs to adopt the mentality that he owns the paint, and nobody can stop him. By the way Rogue, Suns will be the 8th seed

what a pity, I hoped the rockets would make the playoffs again and get spanked again by the Jazz.

[Rogue]

If you are trying to say that Yao has a low BB IQ or can't find the appropriate move given the current defensive strategy or time in the game--you're wrong. Yes, Yao does get bumped and hacked and such and instead of calling a foul on the hacker, they call him for traveling or some BS. He is a very smart ball player that needs to demand the ball more and play angry more. Fixed your comments above in red Btw, Yao communicates well, the only problem is that he is deaf in his left ear. You'll notice on interviews the journalist/mi are to his right and his players move over to his right ear. As far as him talking he is pretty good, he just has a deep voice and chooses different words from most to describe a situation. He might say " He keep leaning on me all game, entire game." Instead of " He was leaning on me the entire game"

don't you think yao should have put in a word like "through" before the "all game" or "entire game"? Yao is so re ed that he can hardly find the proper word when he needs it, instead he uses a replacement which actually makes no sense. although we all understand what he means, I still think he should start to make some efforts on developing his language skills now that he has already been working in this league for over 6 years.

I can easily get the words from even the fastest speaker like Marc Vandermeer, but it's still very hard for me to guess out what yao talks about. Yao is pretty good at speaking compared to those billions of his ass-kissers, but he is still worse even than the worst native speaker on that front. Yao is even a worse english speaker than scola who has only been in this league for one year and a half.

sincerely I suggest those rockets fans scrape their eyes and stop spoiling yao, admit the fact that yao is just an overrated crap.

[robbie380]

don't you think yao should have put in a word like "through" before the "all game" or "entire game"? Yao is so re ed that he can hardly find the proper word when he needs it, instead he uses a replacement which actually makes no sense. although we all understand what he means, I still think he should start to make some efforts on developing his language skills now that he has already been working in this league for over 6 years.

I can easily get the words from even the fastest speaker like Marc Vandermeer, but it's still very hard for me to guess out what yao talks about. Yao is pretty good at speaking compared to those billions of his ass-kissers, but he is still worse even than the worst native speaker on that front. Yao is even a worse english speaker than scola who has only been in this league for one year and a half.

sincerely I suggest those rockets fans scrape their eyes and stop spoiling yao, admit the fact that yao is just an overrated crap.

[Rogue]

My real-life name is Rodriguez, i simplified it to "Rogue" as my screen name here on ST.

[robbie380]

My real-life name is Rodriguez, i simplified it to "Rogue" as my screen name here on ST.

whatever you say

[Roxsfan]

you got owned. why exactly did you reply to him?

stfu little boy.

[Many PackYao]

That's exactly what I think of when I see his name.

[lefty]

Ever since his rookie year, I have noticed a trend. If you get Yao mad he turns into the Hulk. "You won't like me very much if you make me mad". Dude turns into a beast if you try to hurt him, clock him in the head or piss him off. So for awhile there, I was like somebody hit him. Everytime you got him pissed off he'd go off for 30 pts or something. I guess that is still true today....only problem is, how do you get him to play mad all the time?

So basically, to sum up, he need to gets the ball more often

[robbie380]

stfu little boy.

don't be mad because you took him seriously. just learn from your mistakes.

[Indazone]

uh he was assertive last night..just hands of stone. I can't remember or count how many missed bunnies, rebounds, dropped passes he had last night.

[Pelicans78]

Yao needs to stop playing for China. He needs the rest.

[Roxsfan]

don't be mad because you took him seriously. just learn from your mistakes.

I don't even give a little bit of a