He is an allstar for a reason? Fan votes? China is the biggest nation in the world? Other than the past 3 seasons, he had no reason being in that game, but was due to the fan voting. I never said he isn't one of the best centers in teh game, I am saying that the game doesn't really fit his style anymore so he makes it hard for us to succeed. We are playing hard I agree, and we finally are on defense. That happens when you get rid of a player who is injured and has a bad attitude (mcgrady). New Orleans was showing hints of playing well at the time I posted this, this was before the Dallas game, and before the Suns lost Amare. Yeah we have rallied and beaten some bad teams, and one playoff caliber team (dallas) at home well rested. Can we win on the road back to back? Can we consistently beat teams we are supposed to beat and always compete against hte elite teams. With this lineup? I am not sure, but so far it looks promising and I hope to hell we can pull it off.
I am not arguing against your whole post here. But number of assists does not necessarily equals unselfish/getting teammates involved. It does show that tmac was a great individual player who can create assists by driving past his defender or drawing double teams and pass to an open teammate. He does have great court vision. However, it (tmac leading in assists as SG, when most pg should lead in this category) also show that how much he is dominating the ball. This style gets tmac (a great individual player) great stats, whether he scores or assists. But it does not garantee victory in the playoffs.
I am not totally against Yao, But maybe he is right. We have built this team around Yao with spot up shooters who can't create for themselves and during the playoffs we lose. Not on Mac, but his supporting cast. Both times we played Utah no support. First time with Yao that man got torched by Carlos Boozer and Memhet Okur. For god sakes Okur Blocked several of his shots. What other center does Okur block?....... No One.We have had Yao for seven years and every problem has been pointed around him. Maybe our problem is staring us in the face and we have not realized it. Gentle Giant equals push over and lets not forget Nate Robinson's block on Yao. At best Yao equals Rik Smits. Hopefully Artest and Wafer can save day.
Absurd. Smitz was a career 14.8 PPG and 6.1 RPG. Check your facts before you make stupid comments (http://www.nba.com/historical/playerfile/index.html?player=rik_smits). Unless of course you are stupid in which case I apologize because you can't really help it. So, which is it?
I feel better about this team's chances of getting into the playoffs than I have about any team in a while. Last year, it did take a 22 game win streak. This year, it won't. I also feel better about this team advancing than I have about past teams. That's for a few reasons. First, everybody in the starting lineup gives 100% hustle and effort, at all times. You couldn't necessarily say that before. Second, the starting lineup is better defensively than it has been in any of the teams recent playoff years...assuming they all stay healthy. It will be the first year with Yao and Scola in the playoffs, which is better than Yao plus Hayes or Scola plus Deke. And Brooks/Lowry is no worse than Rafer/Brooks, especially defensively (regardless of what Rafer does or doesn't do in Orlando...which, NBA Finals aside, has no bearing on this Rockets team now). Look at the playoff (potential playoff) teams from this and prior years: This Year Projected (08-09): PG: Brooks, Lowry SG: Artest, Barry SF: Battier, Wafer PF: Scola, Landry, Hayes C: Yao, Deke Last Year (07-08): PG: Rafer (missed 2 games, though), Bobby Jackson, Brooks SG: T-Mac, Head SF: Battier, Mike Harris, Steve Novak? PF: Scola, Landry, Hayes C: Deke, Loren Woods? 2 Years Ago (06-07): PG: Rafer, V-Span, John Lucas SG: T-Mac, Head SF: Battier, Snyder PF: Juwan, Hayes C: Yao, Deke, Tsakalidis 4 Years Ago (04-05): PG: Mike James, Bob Sura SG: David Wesley, Jon Barry SF: T-Mac PF: Ryan Bowen, Padgett C: Yao, Deke Honestly, it's very very very hard to look at the above and not argue that this year's lineup will be one of the best we've had with Yao ever going into the playoffs. The key loss is obviously Tracy. I'd love to have a healthy Tracy...but he isn't. So without him, does Ron take his place? I think so. He obviously isn't as dynamic offensively, but is a better defender (which has even more importance in the playoffs) and you can argue a better leader, at least as far as playoffs are concerned. The other key change is the recent Rafer trade. But again, I don't see how it's possible to really say the team was enormously hurt or benefited from that trade. It doesn't matter who they play, the team will be going against another solid PG and it's not like Rafer played lock down defense on PG's in the postseason. Brooks likely won't either but will be a little more dynamic offensively. And, as already mentioned, a first playoff appearance for the Yao/Scola combo. In general, the best PF tandem we will have had going into any playoffs since Barkley retired. Brent Barry takes Jon Barry's place - a solid, veteran player who is a great shooter. Lowry is no worse than any of the previous years backup PGs. Wafer is a question mark, but again we're talking about a backup, whose minutes should go down come playoff time. To summarize, the best starting 5 for a potential Rockets playoff team since the late 90's (or at least as good as the 06-07 team, but a much much better bench for that particular year). A bench generally as good or better than any of the previous. Ranking by the position the last 4 years (last year, prior year, 2 Yrs. Ago, 4. Yrs. Ago). So for example, I'd rate PG as 2, 4, 3, 1. That is, this years combo of Brooks/Lowry to be 2nd best behind the Mavs series of Mike James, Bobby Sura...sorry, Rafer plus nobody backing him up isn't great PG play). So, PG: 2, 4, 3, 1 SG: 3, 2, 1, 4 SF: 2, 4, 3, 1 PF: 1, 2, 3, 4 C: 2, 4, 1, 3 Averaging them out (lower the better), you get: 08-09=2.00, 07-08=3.20, 06-07=2.20, 04-05=2.60 Not surprising. Last year's playoff team was the worst, talent-wise as Yao was out. 06-07 was good, though, as Tracy and Yao were both at the top of their game, and to be sure, we should have won that series against the Jazz....home court, lead going into final five minutes, etc. But we didn't. This year's squad strikes as very very balanced, and as is the best, on average squad we've had. If Yao, Artest (and to some extent, Scola) step up their game even a little bit, they can be that much better. Then look at the state of the league. Jazz, Hornets, Mavs all have injuries, too. Nuggets and Blazers strike me as considerably more "beatable" first round opponents. Coaching is what it is. Phil Jackson isn't exactly making the NBA Finals with no talent either. The Lakers surround Kobe with a bunch of talent, including All-Star caliber teammates, and the Lakers are dominant again...shocking. Whatever you think about Adelman, he's made deep runs and Finals appearances before, and it comes down to talent first, always. So, I see reason to be optimistic...or at least realistic...not pessimistic.
Jeez - I'd hate to be around you when you get negative. The reality is we have had a ton of injuries and we're still the 5th seed in the WC.
Strongly agree, great post. You shed light on something I didn't think about, the first time we have had a strong center/power foward tandem entering the playoffs. On offense that is money, on defense they both will be suspect but I hope its enough to keep things interesting. We do have depth, and talented depth. I still think wtih a healthy tracy there isn't a team in the NBA that could beat us.
I agree a little with your post, but saying he equalts rik smits is an overstatement. Yao is talented on offense, on defense he is suspect I agree. and the nate robinson deal- that happens to everyone if you play long enough, when i was entering the 9th grade I played against Drew Tate in my first 7on7 game as a DB, and i picked off one of his balls and took it to the house. Does that mean I am going to a d1 college and going to be better than Drew Tate or that Drew Tate was horrible? absolutely not.
I am not hating on the whole team. Aaron Brooks has was surpassed my expectations this season and is doing a hell of a job, the team as a whole has responded great (so far) to losing T mac. Yao has been so much better on defense lately then he has been in the past ,and has had a very consistent year that has helped this team win. I love Von Wafer's athleticism off the bench and many other things about this team.
Your a stat guy so you are stupid, Bring up smits career averages. Smits played for a while. But they both have the same make up.
What about hte Okur and Boozer thing. Seven games in a row. Okur is not even a good low post defender. If you are that talented offensively than it should never happen. I' ll admit Yao's is best when he just plays and does not try to read the defense. When you get the ball be decisive and go!
maybe your not as huge as a fan as you think you are! have you been watching the games? who cares about rafer and mcrady they are gone so live with it! maybe you should be on the magics fan boaord? we play better w/out rafer and we looked pretty good so far. artest is on fire after being inserted into the starting line-up, maybe you should start a well educated post next time, you FAIL
Totally negative! What we need is a 20m$ SG, not TMAC. I love Rafer. But the one who make him no good in rockets is TMAC not Yao. Although u r serious I doubt u have been watching the games.
Season ticket holder for 5 years, also despite not living in houston, come to at least 4 or 5 games a season. Watching on tv wise, I will say I watch 70 out of the 82 games a season.
ncagg, First, rafer will be better off in Orlando because they have 4 players that can score, and he is the exception. (unless he gets a hot streak, every 5 games or so typically) Second, the rockets will make the playoffs. You have to realize that the suns losing amare stoudamire and the mavericks losing jason terry hurts their team more than tmac's absense from the rockets. We have depth this year, ala ron artest. Rick Adelman has a 67 percent winning percentage with the rockets in the short time that he has been here. The next coach is Rudy T with 56 percent. This is regular season only of course. From a numbers game, Adelman by far has been the best coach this franchise has every had. He is mature enough to look at the season from a big picture perspective, so he does not micro-coach his players. This might seem like not having control over his team, but from his percentages, he looks like he knows what he is doing. Tracy Tracy Tracy. What does one say about the biggest dissapointment in pro sports. Its heartbreaking yet gutwrenching at the same time with this guy. We do NOT need him though. Not this year, and probably not ever again since he is having microfracture surgery. His era is gone with the rockets, and we are going to not only make the playoffs without him, we are going to advance, with Yao Ming leading the way. Now for Yao Ming. He is one of the top 3 centers in the league, if not the best, statisitcally speaking. He has a post up game, can shoot the ball, and most importantly, he hits his free throws. NO center in the league is anywhere near his skill. Dwight Howard is just strong, but his offensive skills are mediocre at best. Shaq has better offensive skills than dwight howard will ever have. Ron Artest was playing with a sprained ankle practically the entire first half of the season, and now that he has had some time to settle down, he's coming into form just in time. Give it some patience and you will see. He is an elite defender, and come playoff time, he will be more atttentive, and play even better defense than battier because he is much stronger. He is our dark horse in the playoffs. Last but not least, we are nowhere near a rebuilding period. We have young talent that will only get better. Brooks, Scola, Landry, Lowry, even Yao is still in his 20s. Plus, when you are in a rebuilding period, it means you have a team with no talent. The rockets are a team loaded with talent. So lets just say that this team blows this year and its time for change, then you trade talent for talent, you do not give it away. Tmac's contract expires next year, which is an asset. Yao is the biggest cash cow on the planet, other teams would salivate to get him just for his name alone. Brooks and Scola and Landry have been coveted by practically any team looking to make a deal this year. You have to realize that this isnt Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley and thats it. We have alot of talent. Daryl Morey has done nothing short of a spectacular job since he has gotten here, and he understands that it is possible to be a contender every year, yet still plan for the future. ( the spurs have this nailed down ) Please reply if you agree or disagree. kharboosa
theres 15 pages in this post so im not sure if this was covered. just to kind of shed some light on the OP's comment about yao would not be starting if he wasnt american. On the Rockets certainly not. Yao bring a very reliable offensive game to the table but as the OP mentioned can be among the worst players in the league as far as athleticism goes. Along with Yao we got a large fan base. Im talkin 1 billion large. where did the money for toyota center come from? point taken? i hope so. Second Yaos lack of ability on defense and predictable offense. You think teams dont have scouting reports? especially at that level? take a team like suns who come with so many different looks every game...do you know what a pg like nash or paul will do with the ball? no way. thats what makes them so good. they can always give you a fresh look that the defense cant read and all they can do is defend tohe best of their ability. it is obviously much easier to defend when you KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN...yao inside...pass out...prolly back to yao...wow so complicated... i like seeing wafer running the court when all our go to guys are off the court. now theres something that you wont be reading easily. we never know where this guys gonna go. with that being said, yao is still the best center we have, and in my opinion he should not be franchise tagged. we need to find an all around center and bring yao off the bench for some offense. He is 6th man of the year. Ginobli and R. Hamilton dont start, and those are two amazing guys on both ends of the court. So yao gets to start when hes only useful in HALF of the game? the offensive side that is. id rather see deke out there ready to make some blocks and hit up wafer or lowry on the other end for a fast break. On top of ALL THAT, yao is easily the worst officiated player in the league, and that wont change... PS- remember that little 22 game win streak we had last year...yeah the one thats 2nd longest all time...RAFER ran that...it was RAFER derived...so now we trade RAFER...make sense? i think we should change the scheme to fit people that are producing not people that are inconsistent or not reliable. if yao goes up for a game winning ****, i would not be surprised to see a foul that doesnt get called, and making a shot when fouled is not high percentage unless your a kobe.
