Remember, Houston only had 1 "true" point guard in their actual rotation (and I'm really iffy on calling Rafer Alston a "true point guard" in the first place)...yet the truth be told, how many legit PG's are out there who can penetrate, hit 3's and defend on a regular basis? Maybe 5 or 6 in the entire league. Thus you look for people who can compliment stars. Yao, T-Mac and Shane Battier are Houston's three players who will be off limits (as far as a trade is concerned) if this team wants to maintain the same core. Steve Blake, you just became the hottest commodity this offseason for about 4-5 teams because you're probably the best option amongst all the PGs on the market...
Yao Ming scored 29 points on 49% shooting, which is not terrible You're right, that is not terrible. But the 6 rebounds, 4 turnovers, 1 block, 0 assists, were. Yao doesn't play with the same fire that most players have. I don't know if it is because of the cultural difference, but he just doesn't have it in him to be dominant. In America its all about "me, me, me, I, I, I", while in asian cultures it's "we" (not wii). People who brag and boast about themselves are looked down upon. We eat that shit up.
How in the hell do you get blocked when you're 7 inches taller than EVERYONE on the court? When you have a vertical leap of 2 and 5/8 inches and everyone you play can, well, jump.
I agree that Yao doesn't play with the same fire as most other players, but not in the way that you meant it. Yao isn't outwardly expressive, he's not a braggart, he won't be shouting and wagging fingers which on the surface makes him appear to have no fire. This is a mistake. Yao's fire is turned inward, he is highly critical of himself and driven to work on his game. There was an article on this on the SI site a few weeks ago which talked about how when he got to the Rockets he was watching another player lift huge dumb bells and asked the trainer if he thought that someday he would be able to lift the same weight, in the interview the trainer said that this season they bought special dumb bells just for Yao that were far heavier than the ones he was talking about three years ago. There are countless anecdotes like this which shows that Yao is working to get stronger both physically and mentally. He's adjusting to the NBA and the USA. I predict that in a season or two he will be demanding the ball from his guards and demanding calls from the refs.
They're talking about blowing up the Mavericks in Dallas. Let it all set in and see how the playoffs go. Getting great talent is not an easy thing to do by trade, free-agency or draft. That greener grass on the other side of the mountain may actually just be painted dirt.
how about the Rockets and Mavericks trading with one another to fix each others problems...yeah...right, like division rivals would do that (hey, Dallas and the Philly did trade football picks)...
