What's up with the Rockets?

[SkipToMy_Lou]

He's still averaging 20/10 he ain't the massive superstar, but he's the second best centre in the league behind Shaq.

So hell no he ain't a tragedy

[SkipToMy_Lou]

Rockets got a win! Was winning by 26 at one stage, but Arenas was on fire as usual.

Alston's back too, 17 points/10 asssists.

Juwan Howard played well for once with 24 points, and T-Mac was his usuall self with 36.

[j.23]

He's still averaging 20/10 he ain't the massive superstar, but he's the second best centre in the league behind Shaq.

So hell no he ain't a tragedy

what about camby?

[H Rock]

Yao as your franchise C is tragedy. Hell there is no real "C" out there worthy of being a franchise cornerstone

So tragic...I mean he's doing a horrible job. I mean, 20/9, how bad can you get?

Ya stupid dumbo, what do you want? Chamberlain numbers? Sheesh, I can't believe how biased some people are.

[J@3]

I don't think 9 rebounds is exactly flattering for a 7'6 C.

[H Rock]

Height has nothing to do with it. FYI Yao has a lot of factors going against him that neutralize his height advantage. He has a very low vertical, and also short arms.

[kevC]

Yes, Yao could be a better rebounder given his enormous talent but it's not like he's a bad one. The reason his oh-so-glorious PER GAME rebounding is so "low" at 9 is because:
1) He doesn't play a lot of minutes.
2) Rockets play a low-posession game so there aren't as many rebounds to grab in the first place.
His rebounding rate is around 16 which is way above average.

Now, the "Oh he should be averaging 20 rebs per game because he's 7'6"" argument is completely meritless. Let's put things into perspective here:

League average rebound rate: 10 every season (which make sense since there's 10 players on the court, meaning there's a 10% chance that a player's going to get that rebound)
Manute Bol(7'7")'s career RbR: 12.2
Shawn Bradley(7'6")'s career RbR: 15
Muresan's career(7'7") RbR: 17
Ben Wallace(6'9")'s RbR: 20.2
Dennis Rodman(6'7")'s career RbR: 23.4

Statistically, it shows that height, although does correlate with high rebounding by common sense, at such a professional level, really does not yield better rebounding and it shouldn't. Rebounding is more about positioning, quickness, timing, and versatility than sheer height.

Per game stats sucks.

[J@3]

Height has nothing to do with it.

Fine, Yao has no heart or desire. He must also have a low basketball IQ since positioning is a mental thing and he's by no means a small man so surely he should be strong enough to box someone out. I think that's a bit less flattering.

Rebounding is more about positioning, quickness, timing, and versatility than sheer height.

He's not exactly playing in a league full of cat-like speedy C's with amazing quickness.

[H Rock]

Might I ask you, Jae, why do you expect Yao to do so well even though history proves that being tall has nothing to do with rebounding?

[J@3]

Might I ask you, Jae, why do you expect Yao to do so well even though history proves that being tall has nothing to do with rebounding?

History doesn't prove that at all. The all time leading rebounders in NBA history were big men, so what exactly are you infering?

[kevC]

Height has nothing to do with it.

Fine, Yao has no heart or desire. He must also have a low basketball IQ since positioning is a mental thing and he's by no means a small man so surely he should be strong enough to box someone out. I think that's a bit less flattering.

Rebounding is more about positioning, quickness, timing, and versatility than sheer height.

He's not exactly playing in a league full of cat-like speedy C's with amazing quickness.

He is playing in a league full of cat-like speedy PF's . It's going to be hard to see C's getting a whole bunch of rebounds like in the past with Wilt, Ewing, and such because of the ever-increasing long range game which yields longer rebounds.

[J@3]

I don't expect Yao to be getting 15 boards per game or anything like that. I was one of his biggest supporters when he was drafted, I just think that honestly he could be utilising himself alot better than he does. He has more talent than Bol, Bradley and Mursean put together and multiplied by 10 but he doesn't apply it as well as he should.

[H Rock]

I think you're forgetting that Yao is only 25. Big men don't get to their prime until they're 28 or so, except in very rare cases (Shaq). Yao has been steadily improving throughout his career, and sooner or later, he'll be the franchise player everyone wants him to be.

[kevC]

Whatever the case may be, he's still the 2nd best center in the league (Yes, better than Camby) whose injury is killing his team.

[H Rock]

And some people say that he isn't valuable to the Rockets.

[Matt]

and yet he can't take over in late game situations because he's too tired.

[Matt]

Yao as your franchise C is tragedy. Hell there is no real "C" out there worthy of being a franchise cornerstone

So tragic...I mean he's doing a horrible job. I mean, 20/9, how bad can you get?

Ya stupid dumbo, what do you want? Chamberlain numbers? Sheesh, I can't believe how biased some people are.

20/9 is not franchise player numbers....being in foul trouble and not being fit enough and not being able to take over the game in late situations is not worth the MAX.

When a guy get's MAX he's a franchise player....how do you justify him being a franchise guy when he cant take advantage of Boris Diaw.

Btw, as long as Amare plays C he's better than Yao.

[H Rock]

20/9 is not franchise player numbers

It's not? What is? He does happen to be sharing the ball with T-Mac you know.

being in foul trouble and not being fit enough and not being able to take over the game in late situations is not worth the MAX.

Yao Ming is at the fittest he's ever been, and FYI he happens to be shooting very well in the 4th this year--somewhere around 55%.

[J@3]

Yao over Camby? I don't think so.

And some people say that he isn't valuable to the Rockets.

Wtf? Just because people don't think he's the greatest big man to ever step onto a basketball court doesn't mean anyone thinks he isn't valuable to the Rockets

[Fenix]

When healthy:
1. Amare
2. Shaq
3. Camby
4. Yao

[Matthew]

Vank, nice list.

Negative one, do you consider kobes numbers to be worth more becuase he had to share the ball with shaq? Same with Wade now..

[H Rock]

Just because people don't think he's the greatest big man to ever step onto a basketball court doesn't mean anyone thinks he isn't valuable to the Rockets

You'd be surprised. I've seen some pretty strange things when people reveal their true (biased) opinion of Yao. Really, really strange and biased.

[Matt]

Given that Ben Wallace has dominated more games on the defensive end of the floor than Yao has on the offensive, i put Ben above Yao. This isn't even mentioning their encounters where Ben, no matter what happens through 3, beats him in the 4th.

[kevC]

Yeah, because points are worth more in the 4th quarter .

[air gordon]

Yao as your franchise C is tragedy. Hell there is no real "C" out there worthy of being a franchise cornerstone

So tragic...I mean he's doing a horrible job. I mean, 20/9, how bad can you get?

Ya stupid dumbo, what do you want? Chamberlain numbers? Sheesh, I can't believe how biased some people are.

20/9 is not franchise player numbers....being in foul trouble and not being fit enough and not being able to take over the game in late situations is not worth the MAX.

When a guy get's MAX he's a franchise player....how do you justify him being a franchise guy when he cant take advantage of Boris Diaw.

Btw, as long as Amare plays C he's better than Yao.

lol did you see that game? The Suns basically crowded the passing lanes to Yao. The Rockets players are pretty crappy to begin with and add to the fact that Phoenix players are so athletic, they were able to rotate back and recover...Houston couldn't take advantage of this

The guy's only making 5.5 mil this year