With all the hoopla about Miami and how the finals is just going to be Lakers vs. Heat, if you think about it, not much has changed in the West from it. From a league's point of view yes it's horrible and kills the competition and possibly illegal (see dish) but from the point of view of the Rockets who cares? We play them 1 maybe 2 times in the season. We will start worrying about them IF we face them in the Finals. First of all, we have to get to the Finals. Second of all, there is a good chance that they may not even make it past Orlando, Boston, or the Knicks (depending on if Melo and CP3 go there). So let's start freaking out about Miami when we face them in the Finals.
I kinda think we match up pretty well against them. They won't be able to stop Yao or Brooks, and we have better then average wing defenders. The fact that we will be able to draw fouls is likely to take one of their 3 out for much of the game. I'd even consider putting Hayes at the 3 to cover LeBron for part of the time. He can make LeBron work, draw some fouls and give us the rebound advantage. Offense would have to get creative, but if he can even draw one foul on LeBron, that'd be a plus.
Yao will average 30-10 everytime he goes up against the CHeat's weak ass frontcourt. I feel sorry for Bosh.
When Miami goes 82-0, it won't really matter much in the West. We'll all have a couple losses at their hands, and it will even out.
If Battier, Yao, and Scola, can do their job of flopping and receiving fouls , we can take out one of their big 3 giving us the clear edge. While dominating their already weak paint defense with no real centers? Will Perkins or Big Baby Davis really handle be able to guard a healthy Yao, while Garnett is busy with Scola as long as we bring him back?
They can't stop Yao. We can stop James if Shane is around. We can stop Dwade if Yao is back too. It will be less penetration for DWAde
I see what you did there. That said, it'll be quite difficult for them to stop Yao if Chris Bosh is playing the 5. If they get a bigger guy, it might not be so difficult... or they'll just double him.
If you think we are contenders for the NBA championship (and not just Western Conf Championship), or will be one is a year or 2, then you would be worried about the Heat. If you don't, then you leave the Lakers and the Orlandos to do the worrying. I am in the worry camp.
I'd say if other teams, like dallas, for example, start freaking out prematurely, then it'll definitely affect us. Teams are more likely to pull the trigger on bigger trades and try to hit a home run. It could happen anytime from now until the deadline. As of now it has a small effect because their roster isnt complete and they havent played a game...however if they put together a balanced roster and start off well you may see teams, in both the east and west, try and acquire better talent, and that's where it'll hurt us. Hopefully it just blows up in their faces, chemistry wise....
that'll be the key in a matchup against the Heat. who'll be their center? Its clear bosh wants no part in playing center, whether it's against Yao or any other 5. if they can score a 5 that can "contain" Yao, then it's a big win for them. If not, it'll force bosh to move for part of games to guard yao and hopefully that'll put us over the top every time. That's how you'll beat this team,overwhelm them at the 4/5.
I think that you make some interesting points... However I don't think that there is that much talent on the market that would be acquirable by say middle of the pack teams such as Dallas that would make such a big difference on their roster that it would set us back.
things change over half a season...martin went from being available, to not, to thenbeing traded....right now i'm honestly worried about Deron williams' situation. He's already expressed frustration after losing boozer/korver. What will he say if they start off playing like a lottery team? Will he be demanding a trade by the deadline? utah will try its best not to move him, but if he insists they may find it's the best way to resolve the situation and rebuild their team at the same time. Someone like dallas, who has a lot of talent that doesnt fit together, could package them some players and score deron williams. they could also include AK47 who has a huge expiring contract... justoff the top off my head, dampier + caron + kidd is around 30 mill and so is ak47 and deron...utah gets to clear those 30 mill about a year or two sooner and dallas gets deron... DeronW Terry Marion Dirk Haywood i think is a better fit than they have now
