Link Jeff Van Gundy showed Yao Ming the "after" picture. And then he showed him the one after that and the one after that and more after that. In a meeting with Yao at the Rockets' offices following the Tracy McGrady trade, but before Yao's Olympic expedition, Van Gundy lined up a series of pictures of Heat center Shaquille O'Neal, ranging from his days in an Orlando uniform to recently. It's about the progression, Van Gundy said. It's about the progression of the franchise being in direct proportion to the conditioning and shape of the man in the middle. In each picture, O'Neal was maybe just 5 or 8 pounds heavier than in the previous season. But from the first picture to the last one, O'Neal ? though dominant ? had added some 60-70 pounds and was lumbering and laboring more than ever. It's about understanding these kinds of little things. It's about knowing T-Mac will be no different, no more successful in the playoff win column than Stevie Franchise if Yao doesn't continue to improve in the middle. read more from the link
This is exactly why I believe that sending over Francis and Mobley for McGrady was a mistake...but I also believe that Yao will get better. A lot better. Houston needs him much more than they need McGrady, and I hope Tracy realizes that and tries to play team ball, not "me ball" :thumbsup:
Yao and McGrady Yah if they play as a team they will have alot of potential they are both great players we will just seen when the season starts
I really hope Yao is much improved conditioning-wise, this year. While he'll never have the speed of a David Robinson, the quickness of a Hakeem, or the agility of a Shaq, he can still be THE dominant presence in the league in coming years as long as he has top notch conditioning. When Yao had the energy, he was an absolute beast last year. WHen he grew tired, that's when his play slipped dramatically.
I kind of disagree with the article though. T-Mac is a scoring machine and can wreak havoc on the offense anytime he likes. He can just score at will. Now last year when we needed points the most obvious option excluding Yao was either Francis or Mobley. If you noticed Francis didn't exactly have an "on" season and Mobley was only on target SOMETIMES. During those times NO ONE could hit a shot. Those times the opposing teams went 10-0 on us. You can't say that if we had Tracy during the playoffs we would'nt have done better. Or thats my view on it.
Well, the one good thing about T-Mac is that he can give you 30 points every night on a consistent basis. As I2emix said, we had stretches last year where no player could score. That won't be the case with T-Mac. Now that we also have two great scoring PF's, our scoring should look to increase.
