I still believe that Yao and McGrady form the best inside-outside combination in the NBA when they are healthy. I still believe that they will win a championship in the next 3 years. Watching Lebron vs. Wade today got me to thinking. Boy, are those guys both awesome. Wade is just relentless going to the hole and Lebron is simply sensational. But they aren't any better than a healthy McGrady. You can compare them ad nauseum. Lebron still has suspect defense. Wade still has suspect outside shooting. McGrady still has a suspect back. The thing is, Yao is the best big man playing in the NBA today. Illgauskas isn't even close. And Yao has passed a fading Shaq like a rocket passing a shooting star. Yao will only be better next year. And Shaq will only be worse. All the rest of the great swingmen such as Kobe and Paul Pierce are not even in the discussion because they do not play with a dominant big man. Yao IS the dominant big man for the next 10 years. There may be other very good big man. There may be some great power forwards. Oden may turn out to be a superstar. Curry may be a superstar. But they are all playing Marvin Webster, Bob McAdoo, and Artis Gilmore to Yao's Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Duncan is great. But Yao has 4 years on him and Yao is getting better. Duncan has peaked. Yao does so many other things besides just score that those guys don't do. And the bottom line is the rest of the guys may dominate the league but Yao will dominate them. There is nobody out there that has his size, his skills, and his work ethic. And there ain't anybody coming either until Yao reaches his zenith. Now to McGrady. When he is healthy, he is a better defender than Lebron or Wade. When he is healthy he is a better perimeter shooter than either one of those guys. The only thing McGrady doesn't do as well as the other two is take the ball to the rack. The only reason he doesn't is he is trying to protect himself. I believe McGrady will get his health back. Yeah, his back will probably be a career problem. But there is nobody better to play with Yao than McGrady. Lebron ain't com'n, Wade ain't com'n, Kobe ain't com'n, Pierce ain't com'n. We just need the extra pieces that teams like San Antonio, Detroit, Miami, Dallas, and the Laker teams of Shaq and Kobe had to reach the championship level. Don't tear the house down before it is built. Just believe.
get this positive crap out of here. Lets talk about Yao leaving us for Golden State or the Lakers. Lets talk about trading Mcgrady for a bag of chips. When healthy, and with a hopefully better supporting cast, we're probably the sexiest team in the NBA. We might not win 65 games, but we're going to give people hell in the postseason.
I think this injury-riddled season could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. It could force us to pick up a legit third scorer, and more importantly it has resulted in accelerated development of our new/young role players, notably Luther Head, Rafer Alston, Stromile Swift and Keith Bogans. Luther is probably the 2nd best story to come out of this season after Yao Ming. He was picked at #24 and was never expected to play much more than scrub minutes. Today he's a solid rotation player and is already showing starter potential, after overcoming that rookie wall. We've struggled to overcome elite teams without McGrady, but it's already clear that even without McGrady (and Wesley) we're already a playoff team. Next season could turn out to be something special. The key is minimal turnover. Just add a couple of important pieces - especially strong perimeter scoring threat, and keep a majority of your rotation in place. Chemistry is as important to winning as talent, and a lot of people overlook this fact. Do you think it's a coincidence that we're playing better now that our starting rotation has been somewhat consistent for about 3 weeks? I think not. Our worst stretches this season have coincided with roster turmoil - especially combined with losing T-Mac. Look at Richie Frahm: first few games he was absolutely lost on the floor, and bricking everything. A few games later he's deadly when left open. We're probably the most underrated team in the entire league.
I still believe we can go to the Finals this season. think about it. JVG's never had a season below .500. We can easily win 41 games. That will get us into the playoffs. TMac and Wesley will be back. We play Dallas in Round 1; we get our revenge. Bowen and Hayes form a nice Germination duo. Then we play SA. Yao dominates all their big men. TMac dominates Bowen. Bogans and Alston shut down Manu and Parker. We play Phoenix. We sweep them because they have no defense or half-court slow it down game. Then we play Detroit, Miami, NJ, Cleveland, or Indiana.
The only thing i believe right now is that we will be the champion contender in the following 5~6 years as long as we keep healthy Yao and Tmac. Althought with healthy Yao and Tmac i still doubt the chance that we will beat the spurs
I have been a believer to a stupid extent over the years and I'm still one, but that won't fix McGrady's back. "Just believe" won't fix it. It might be better next year and it might be worse. We don't know. What we do know is we've hitched our wagon to a brokeback horse. The problems aren't new either. He's been dealing with this for years and he'll deal with it until his career is over -- his words, not mine. Lebron and Wade don't have that problem. When we're talking about effort or hard play, it makes sense to "just believe," whether it works out or not. When we're talking about a medical condition, "just believe" is nothing but wishful thinking. I hope I'm wrong but I'm worried as hell about T-Mac's health. And all the believing in the world won't do a damn thing about it. A healthy McGrady is a top five player. He could even be top three. But there's a better chance than not that he'll never play more than 70 games in a season and he might play less. Plus, we should know by now that we can never expect him to be healthy for the playoffs -- it's a crapshoot as to when he'll be healthy. And we've seen how we play without him. I've thought Yao was going to blow up since before we even go the number one pick and he has. I couldn't be happier about that. But I couldn't be more skiddish about McGrady. He's a top five player in the league right now if you ask me, but offer me anyone else out of the rest of the top ten that can shoot from outside for him and I'll take that deal in a heartbeat.
I think you meant to say, "But they are all playing Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, and Shaquille Oneal to Yao's Hakeem Olajuwon."
Great post. I've maintained that same mindframe. That's one reason I tell everyone I meet, "The Houston Rockets will more championships in the next decade than any other team." Also, I think most people are blowing T-Mac's back problems out of proportion. Yes, he's missed some time, and yes he might likely miss some time each season, but it hasn't been as bad as some might think. Recent Years Games Played: 99-00: 79 00-01: 77 01-02: 76 02-03: 75 03-04: 67 04-05: 78 05-06: 47 This past season has only been the really bad season. When he was back in Orlando, I had the impression that he missed significant time, but 67 isn't that bad. I think Tracy will be just fine, and the talk of trading him DISGUSTS me.
I'm sorry but I just don't see it guys. This team as currently constructed is simply not capable of contending in the West and that's before we get into peripheral issues like TMac's back, JVG's coaching and Swift's IQ. As Bill Walton succinctly put it today: "they need a MAJOR overhaul" and that can take years. Then there's the little question of who'll be doing that overhaul: if it's Dawson, then you can expect more of the same old same old; if it's the GM "in waiting" then all bet are off because he has no track record at picking personnel. Anyway you look at it, next year looks to be anything but a championship season to me. And remember, while the Rockets have been moving sideways since the TMac trade, the other teams in the West have been moving forward so they have a LOT of catching up to do.
While I think Van Gundy needs to make some adjustments to his coaching style, I like where he has brought us to defensively and what Yao has developed in to. Hillboy, Stro is not a building block nor a focal point of this team. This team is Yao, TMac and everybody else. Yeah, we need to upgrade the PF slot, but the PF slot is upgradable. There is talent to be had and deals to be made to improve our PF play. And we do need a 3rd scorer, no question about that. And Luther needs to develop his ball handling and passing skills so he can run the point. But those are all fixable issues. Just look at the teams out there without the base to build off of. Look at Golden State for example. Major cap dollars tied up in players that are not upper echelon players. We have 2 of the best 10 players in the NBA. There are only a couple other teams out there that can even make that claim. We've just got to make the right moves this offseason. This offseason is crucial to us as far as our role players and the development of Luther. And this is the offseason that Van Gundy needs to evaluate his coaching style and make some adjustments to his coaching to take full advantage of the rules changes. No longer will the slow it down, bump and grind defense work. No longer will defense be the sole factor above all others that determines the championship. But rather the best blend of defense and offense. The game is speeding up because of the rules changes and Van Gundy needs to spend some time developing offensive sets that take advantage of those rules, plays that run the opponents perimeter defenders all over creation, and wear them down and create the foul bonus situation as early in the quarter as possible. He needs to get defensive with his offense and more offensive with his defense. In other words, Van Gundy needs to use his offense to help his defense by having our guys run and develop a quick, fast breaking style that increases the pressure on the opponents because of our ability to score quickly while also being able to set it up and run the half court sets with Yao and TMac. Granted you've got to have the horses. We've got to get them this offseason. But we are not as far away as our record indicates. This team with a healthy Yao and TMac wins 50 easy this year. And the 50 wins mask our deficiencies.
Healthy is the most important things... I believe that Yao is the dominant big man for the next 10 years if he is healthy.
Never?? Based on what, one season out of 9?? As another poster succinctly has pointed out (BarryXYZ I think) if T-Mac is healthy, no way we trade him for a lesser player. If he is not healthy, no way another team gives up a top-10 player to get him. Therefore, we have no option but to wait and see if he can return to form.
Great post, totally with you. I just watched the TMac 13 pt in 35 sec clip. I did that every time when we beat up badly. I wanna cry this time I'm serious!
i'm just worried that from here on out tmac will only get worse. his back may forse him to miss 10-15 games a year until he retires...which, by the way, may be in his early 30's instead of late 30's. don't get me wrong. i think tmac is the best player in the league when healthy. i love the guy, but i'm thinking in the best interest of the team. his back is not safe! the problem is we won't be able to get back equal value. so we are stuck hoping and praying that he is able to put together a healthy playoff run on route to a championship.
