“I don’t think it should (wear him out). When one of your two best players has such a production decline in the last month of his only two seasons in the NBA, included in that is the playoffs this year, … there has got to be concern and you have to find out the answers, because if … one of your best players doesn’t play his best when his best is needed, then you’re going to be continually frustrated. Certainly we’ve got to come up with, along with Yao, a solution so he’s playing his best and we have a chance to play our best in April and hopefully May and June.”

– Coach Jeff Van Gundy saying he’s not too concerned about Yao’s summer Olympic training schedule, but then backtracking a bit, 4/25/04

“One of the things he is going to have to realize is that Shaq already comes in with the mentality of hitting you first. So when you hit back, it’s obviously going to be a foul, even if you think it’s protecting yourself. So Yao might have to get the mentality that he’s going to have to hit Shaq first, maybe be tougher on him on the offensive end so maybe he can draw some of those offensive fouls like he did in Game 2.

“I know he’s frustrated. You foul out of a playoff game, it’s overtime — you’re frustrated. But at the same time, we can’t let him get away from what he does. He still has to be Yao. He’s not Shaq. He still has to focus on doing the things he does.”

– Rockets power forward Maurice Taylor after the Rockets lost Game 4 where Yao fouled out of the game, 4/25/04

“He doesn’t have bravado, which a lot of players have — but he does have true confidence, which is very distinctive. I think a lot of players in our league don’t have as much confidence as they appear to have. It’s more that bravado.”

“He’s very humble, which is a blessing and, at times, a curse.”

“I think humility’s a great thing. I think one of the great demeanors he can learn from is Tim Duncan, who’s obviously a humble, team-oriented superstar, but also a fierce, fierce competitor who understands his impact on the game…

“He [Yao] is in his second full year and it remains to be seen where he’s going to take his career. Is he going to be a very good player, which is what he is? Is he going to be a great player, one of the all-time greats? I don’t know. We’ll find out over time…

“I’m not sure that he always appreciates just where he can take us…. He doesn’t mind being a backup singer and maybe at times, too much.”

– Miscellaneous thoughts from Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy, 4/23/04

“Yao has to be able to change his mind-set. His first dribble on any post move is at the lane versus into the lane. When he’s going into the lane and getting deep, he shoots a really high percentage. Yao has to do a better job of getting to where he wants to.

“We know we’re not going to win the series if we don’t go to him.”

– Rocket head coach Jeff Van Gundy after the Rockets fell behind 2-0 in their playoff series with the LA Lakers, 4/22/04

“I’m not going to say he surprised me, because I saw the skill level that he had. It’s just a matter of that skill level maturing to the point where he’s really confident in what he can do.

“Confidence is the key. He can really be the most dominant player in this league in three or four years, if his confidence continues to grow. It’s all in his mind.”

– Rocket teammate Jim Jackson on Yao’s potential, 4/22/04

“All those years we had (Hakeem) Olajuwon here, it was pretty easy to get good free agents. A center attracts free agents pretty well. Shaq has done that for the Lakers, and Olajuwon did that for us.

– Rockets General Manager Carroll Dawson on how Yao makes the Rockets an attractive team for free agents (like a power forward), 4/22/04

“I think Yao has definitely made some strides. He still has a long way to go. He needs to be a more dominant individual, not just verbally, but also in his presence on the court.

“Yao has the potential and the ability to take over games not only offensively but defensively. He just has to envision himself doing it. He’s so laid-back. Sometimes, I think he takes too much of a step back when he needs to be out in the forefront.”

– Rockets assistant coach Patrick Ewing describing the type of player Yao needs to be, 4/21/04

“That excuse that he’s tired — well, guess what? That’s tired. No one cares if he’s tired, least of all me, least of all his next opponent. Here’s a good quote: `I’m tired of reading that he’s tired.’

“I never hear Shaq (O’Neal) say that he’s tired. Never. I never hear that. I never hear the great players say that they’re tired. It’s interesting.

“He (Yao) goes through this a lot; two weeks or so his play is mediocre. He bounced back the last time he had one of those two-week periods. I thought (against) Seattle he was back on the upswing. So I was surprised to read about his state of fatigue.”

“We need him to always be on an upswing. As you saw by our record in his downturn, it’s hard for us to win if he’s not as good as we need him to be. That’s where maybe our lack of depth hurts us. We found it hard to make up for it. If we’re not getting his best, it’s hard for us to win whoever we play or wherever we play. I don’t think it’s any secret. He knows he’s got to play well.”

– Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy on Yao’s recent fatigue, and how important it is for him to play well, 4/14/04

“We need him to play big minutes for us. If we’re going to beat anybody of quality, he can’t be taking the kind of fouls he’s been taking. We need him to play at a high energy level over a long period of time. In the playoffs, he’s going to need to play 38 to 40 minutes if we’re going to beat anybody we play. He’s got to deliver late. I think that’s critical.”

– Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy mentioning what Yao will need to do in the playoffs in order for the Rockets to win, 4/13/04

“That would be a generalization. I can’t believe how many things are because of his culture. We are of a diverse populous. Everything is cultural now. He’s not aggressive — it’s his culture.”

“Is everybody from China the same? That’s so ignorant to say that, it drives me crazy. I do think ‘everything’s his culture’ is way wrong. If it was, I’d like to go over there and scoop up about 10 more.”

– Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy debunking the theory that Yao is who he is solely because of his culture, early April 2004

“In the five-game stretch, he hasn’t played very well. Overanalysis by Yao over his own game or over-worry … is needless. He has to free his mind, react, play as well as he can, and the results will be as the results will be.”

“Some guys in the league don’t take the game or the results seriously enough, some at times, a little too much so it inhibits the play. I think Yao has been (worrying) too much right now. He just needs to play the game, and the results will be whatever they are.”

“This conversation has happened a few times, now. There have been a number of times it has been addressed. I’d rather take a guy who cares too deeply and wants to carry a burden, too much of a burden, than the other way around. I would say that you’re not going to find too many players sleepless at night over the results of a game. For him, his play would be better served not to get over-worried and overanalyzed. It’s counterproductive.”

– Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy on Yao’s state of mind during the Rockets recent 5-game losing streak, 4/7/04

“I don’t think defensively (Yao has) reached a level yet he can compete with Shaquille. He needs a lot of help and he needs a lot of time off (of O’Neal.) He’s going to get in foul trouble. He needs a lot of guys to tag-team with him and he needs a lot of double teams to help him against O’Neal.

“But he’s the best offensive player that Shaquille’s had to play against since (Hakeem) Olajuwon, and that’s Olajuwon in ’94, ’95. So that says a lot. This is a guy that’s got a great touch. He’s averaging more points per game against us (26.7 in the first three games vs. the Lakers) than he is in the season (17.7). He looks forward to matching against and playing against Shaquille, so that’s key about his competitive instincts.

“You look at (Dikembe) Mutombo three years ago. He was still an extremely good player. That was Shaquille’s biggest challenge back then. So Shaquille has measured his game offensively. He has not had to contend defensively … with real good offensive players. This is an entire different thing for him.

“Now he has to find a way to work against someone where he has to focus all game long on the player in front of him, rather than playing team defense and patrolling the lane, so that’s a different match up for him entirely.”

– LA Laker coach Phil Jackson on the challenge Yao is for Shaq (potentially trying to psyche Shaq up for their matchups), 4/1/04

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 25th, 2004 at 11:11 pm and is filed under *What they said about Yao. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.