(The original article was published on October 28 by The Athletic writer Rhiannon Walker. The content of The article does not represent The translator’s point of view.)
The week-long training camp, two exercises and a warm-up match are all preparations Yao Ming and Houston Rockets can make for his NBA debut. Even if it is called demanding, it seems too understatement.
In the past five years, Yao Ming only played for the Shanghai Sharks of China men’s basketball and CBA. So when the 7-foot-6-inch (2.29-meter) extraordinary player was chosen with the first prize in the 2002 NBA draft, he became the first top player in NBA international players-and he had never played American college basketball.
Therefore, Houston carefully put Yao Ming into the league. On October 30, 2002, the Rockets lost to Indiana Pacers 82-91 in the first battle of the new season. Yao Ming played as a substitute. The time was the second lowest in the team-nearly 11 minutes. He didn’t score, but he caught two rebounds.
Although Yao Ming did well in The new season, former Rocket coach Rudi-Tom Janovic told The Athletic that entering The NBA in that way would be difficult for any rookie, let alone Yao Ming.
“For a new NBA player, it is not an ideal situation to come to training camp so late.” Tom janovic, a new member of naismith naismith memorial basketball hall of fame in 2020 and head coach of houston from 1992 to 2003, said, “we are always worried that that will bring injuries, especially when you are still a young player. In some cases, you may even delay a whole year. Then, the pressure will begin to hit, allowing you to integrate into the new environment for a long time. But Yao Ming came with all the attention and immediately wanted to fight against athletes like Shaq here. We can’t even predict how things will develop, because we have only done some in-team exercises. I can’t even remember how many warm-up matches he played-if Yogueta really played-but he handled the situation well.”
“That (integrating into the new environment) is the most important thing-especially for young players-because you will hear something, they are completely different from what you hear in college or international teams. You will find that different skills need to be completed in different ways, and the attack and defense tactics are the same. Moreover, know every player, such as their favorite receive the ball position or the way they get along with you…… It is also extremely important. Yao Ming has been very successful in this aspect.”
During the draft conference, the 21-year-old yao ming was under the pressure of tight ventilation. He attracted the attention of americans. In the year when he was chosen, china’s new rule is that any Chinese player playing in NBA should hand over half of his income, including salary and endorsement income, to the government and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
After that, CBA asked yao ming to return to china to participate in the national team. It was not until the morning of the draft conference that he got the permission to play in NBA after his consultant team and rockets assured the league that they would choose yao ming.
Yao Ming’s delay was expected because he came to Houston after following the Chinese team to play the men’s basketball world championships in 2002. But besides being a rookie, he also overcame some additional obstacles with the Rockets, which also attracted a lot of sharp criticism for him. Several basketball experts predicted that he would become a parallel and even bet on how bad his performance would be.
Charles barkley was so sure that yao ming would fail that he made a bet that if yao ming in the rookie season scored 19 points in a certain match, he is going to kiss Kenny Smith’s ass. But in the eighth NBA game of his career, Yao Ming scored 20 points in the 9 shots of the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.
Contrary to doubts, some people believe that Yao Ming can finally help the Rockets revive the glory of the 1990 s. At that time, another big player olajuwang led the team to win the NBA championship for two consecutive years.
Tom janovic also coached the champion teacher, and he had unparalleled confidence in the new yao ming. Rockets are very interested in yao ming, even if it means they have to wait for him to give full play to his potential, because his talent and skills are completely different from those they have seen before.
“He is a player that makes us feel like a once-in-a-lifetime player.” Tom Janovic said, “he is outstanding in height and comprehensive in technology, showing a super high basketball IQ in the game.”
The biggest difficulty tom janovitch and his team face is to prepare yao ming to face elite players every night in NBA. Although the experience of CBA has made Yao Ming have some experience, the talent reserve there is pale and weak compared with NBA. But Tom Janovitch and Yao Ming worked together to narrow this gap.
“Be ready to face different types of players (it is his main challenge).” Tom Janovic said, “they may be stronger and more athletic than most of the players he has met before. He was prepared for double team and similar defensive strategies. Among the young big players, he is an excellent passer. Of course, he can also make a decision after reading the opponent’s defense.”
“He is too selfless. My basketball philosophy is to let players play with passion. When a player has a wonderful performance, I will call a tactic and say, ‘let’s do it again. Pass the ball to him again. If that guy is always in a hot state, I will always take him as the main point of attack. I am said, this is my style of action, which is also a kind of incentive factor that I am born. But Yao Ming would say, ‘Oh, coach, I can’t do that. I will be embarrassed. He said: ‘I don’t want them to pass the ball to me many times in a row, do you know? I said, ‘well, you are really a rare person, do you know? ‘”
The first restricted area confrontation between Yao Ming and O’Neal reflected Tom Janovich’s idea. Experienced O’Neal got better data-31 points and 13 rebounds-but rookie Yao Ming laughed to the end. With ten seconds left in overtime, he used a dunk to ensure a 108-104 victory for the rocket. He sent out six cap in the whole game, two of which were blocked against O’Neal in the first few minutes of the game. And at that time, Yao Ming got six of the ten points he got in the whole game. In addition, he also took off ten rebounds in the game.
After o ‘neal made many criticisms and jokes on yao ming-o ‘neal said that he had always regretted it-his fate had an ironic turn. Yao Ming and O’Neal found themselves on the list of the 2016 Hall of Fame at the same time.
“Once, he was at the low position to single me. He turned back and jumped. I tried my best to jump to cover him and found that I was still 3 feet away (0.91 meters) to reach the ball.” O’Neal said on NBA TV, “I thought to myself: ‘Damn, this guy is too tall. ‘And when I first confronted him, guess what, I thought, well, he is a big man. I have to lift the ball to his head. I chose to pick a basket, but he covered my first three shots.”
In Shanghai in 2011, Yao Ming announced his decision to retire from NBA at a press conference. Multiple injuries to the ankle and foot shortened his career, making him miss 250 games in his last six seasons. Many people in basketball felt sorry for his short NBA trip.
Tom Janovic still keeps in touch with his former disciples-the latter is now the sixth chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
“Let me put it this way, I am very grateful to be a part of his life.” Tom Janovic said, “Sometimes, I can still receive his call. He is so grateful and modest. That (coaching him) is one of the joys in my life. I wish I could have been his coach at that time, but then I got sick. How pleasant it is to have him in my team.”
Yao Ming was selected as NBA All-Star for eight times and the best team in NBA for five times. In 1999, Yao Ming helped Rockets win the next round of playoff series for the first time since 1997. His No. 11 jersey was also retired by the Rockets in 2017. Since Yao Ming finished his first season, O’Neal has established friendship with him. He gave a higher evaluation of Yao Ming, believing that Yao Ming could have become one of the greatest centers in the history of the league when he retired without the obstruction of injuries.
“He is extremely agile.” O’Neal told NBA TV, “he can score both inside and outside. If Yogueta didn’t suffer those injuries, he would have been the top five center in NBA history.”
Original: Rhiannon Walker
Compilation: asteroid falling
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