I love this article about how former Rockets GM Carroll Dawson, who taught Hakeem Olajuwon a few things about becoming a dominant big man, has been instructing Yao on how to develop a killer sky-hook, cut down on turnovers, and become even more dominant. Yao has been great in responding to the instruction by showing that he’s one of the hardest working players Dawson has ever seen.

This article doesn’t really mention it, but word has it that Jeff Van Gundy didn’t want anyone else other than his own coaches (like Tom Thibodeau) messin’ with Yao (even if it’s Hakeem). That’s a shame since Dawson is highly respected for what he can do with big men, as new coach Rick Adelman believes. Shame on Van Gundy if this is true.

It’s one thing to not want help from someone outside of the organization, but if they are inside the organization and as respected as Dawson is with big men, that’s a different story. If it is true, good riddance JVG.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 17th, 2007 at 2:51 am and is filed under Rockets' off-season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.