you guys are forgetting something....our bench in 04-05 was pure ****!! This year we have probably the best bench in the league with 6th man of the year and lowry, our bench has won so many games for us this year and our bench lost so many for us in 05. I think thats what it will come down to and chuck defending Yao who was as soft as charmin toilet paper that year.
dude they won 51 games, they didn't overarchieve, they played to JVG's philosophy. Yes I expected us to beat Dallas, especially after going up 2-0. Regardless of the refs, no team with heart would ever get destroyed by 40 points in a game 7. Dirk didn't beat us that series. they exploited our weaknesses, they played fast instead of playing half court. We couldn't establish any rhythm on offense. game set match.
Because we are talking 04-05 Rockets/Yao and they played a 7 game series against the Mavs that year. If I could pull a 7 game series against the Clippers to make them look good, I would.
the Mavs and Avery Johnson exploited the Rockets weaknesses, which I'm sure Rick Adelman would do to. It wasn't a big secret on how to beat the Rockets. The Laker series lasted 7 games because Rick Adelman knew old Derek Fisher cannot guard Aaron Brooks.
OK, but why does yao have trouble sealing his man off? Because the defender is reaching and poking for the ball, that threat is what causes yao to stall and start shuffling his feet, which leads to the defender spinning in front of him or simply reaching to slap the ball. Yao has no reason to worry about chuck reaching, he's not long enough to be a threat in that way, unelss he's facing chuck, which he isnt in a post up. Thats my point. He wouldnt try. You said chuck would keep him from going around him, but why woud he even bother when he can rise for the shot without much challenge from chuck? chuck can strip the ball, but he's never been a threat to challenge a shot up top, especially on a 7 footer+. all yao has to do is not put the ball directly in front, he's huge enough where he can palm the ball with one hand and go up away from chuck. Yao wouldnt be reduced to a turnaround jumper shooter. He could face up or back down chuck enough to post up. As good as chuck is as denying position, his best defensive performances come against shorter or thinner big men. He doesnt exactly have a great record against decent extra large centers, meaning around 300 lbs and over 7 feet. For example shaq. Big Z also. i agree yao has' had issues learning on the fly, but that's when he has to learn multiple things/outcomes. In this case it's one thing, don't put the ball in front of chuck. He's smart enough to handle that. DA might actually do better against yao because Yao isnt fast enough to go around DA or chuck, but at least DA can challenge a shot better than chuck. neither can really keep yao from backing them down because they need a combo of decent size/length and quickness to do that, and neither do. The current team wouldnt have anyone out there above 6'9. That alone is a disadvantage they start with. Like i mentioned before, it's 5 on 5. the rebounding battle doesnt begin and end in the paint. Sura 5.5 wesley 2.6 tmac 6.2 Yao 8.4 Howard 5.7 the 05 team's 4 and 5 players at least match this year's frontcourt in rebounds. But the 1,2 and 3, spots collectively are better rebounders on the 05 team and sure would probably kill Brooks in that area. Not to mention the current team has virtually no good rebounders on the bench, and only one decent one in Landry, while the 05 team has a great rebounder on the bench in deke. And yes, deke is a threat to score, anyone who is capable of scoring in the immediate are they are in are threats to score. chuck is reduced to pretty much layups, he rarely attempts any hooks and a shot is out of the question. Deke has layup ability too, but also has a great hook shot. his jumper isn't great, but he's capable of hitting it within 10 feet in and will take it. Many forget that early on, and for most of his career, he hovered around the 10-15 ppg range, shooting well over 50%. He's by no means a scorer, but he's definitely enough of a threat where you have to defend him and much more of a threat than chuck.
I must say that this post hits it hard on the nail. I completely agree with this assumption, JVG was a great coach but his offensive scheme was to archaic and rigid. Adelman can take bold steps in order to beat his opponent, and I'm sure the rockets would have beaten the Mavs if they played according to that philosophy.
the rookie pic you posted has him relaxed...in the second one he's flexing his bicep and in the third he's flxing as he dunks...taking that into consideration there's not much of a difference. and you still have to compare it to battier. So you mean juwan howard would have problem with scola, period? As in, regardless of age? Im not disagreeing with you, but when you say a "young/er" juwan, you're implying juwan's lack of experience would be the issue, whichis what i disagree with. Scola is just a better player.
Another thing to add about the 04-05 team, Yao was definitely not as a good as T-mac that year. Only last year did I think Yao was tough enough mentally to be a low post thread on both sides of the ball. And for T-mac? he spent alot of energy guarding Dirk, which in turn on the offensive side, made him settle for jumpers. When T-mac is a playmaker, he's better. if he's a scorer, especially one that just jacks up a bunch of 3s, he's not going to help that team get far. If the current team was playing non-stop fast break basketball, they would negate Yao Ming, and it would be "All on Tmac".
our bench in 05 wasnt as bad as you make it seem. our back ups were old, but experienced. Deke was still going his thing defensively and would give this year's frontcourt bench players fits.
More than the reason you stated. The player fronting Yao leans backwards towrds Yao. Yao pushes back to seal him off, which he should. However, he opossing player constantly shifts position which results in Yao losing his balance and having to readjust this position. It is not Yao's fault. It is the physics behind his 7'6 body and high center of gravity. Rockets figured this out back then and started to develop special excercises to help him with his balance. He has shown improvement since then but it will always be a problem he will have to deal with. The problem here is that you are assuming that he would dominate but 3 playoff series that he has been a part of has shown otherwise. Based on Yao's playoff history and given that Chuck Hayes is a better defender than anyone he has faced so far in the playoffs, my money is on Yao struggling against Chuck. Rebounding at the 1,2,3 positions are a bonus. Majority of the rebounding is done by C, PF, which 04-05 team is at a disadvantage at against this team. I dont think this team relied on Brooks for rebounds. Current team has virtually no good rebounders on the bench but the 04-05 team had no bench. Deke, your scoring threat, has averaged ~ 2ppg since 02-03. In the 04-05 Mavs series he was about a whopping 3ppg. I guess they never used the secret wespon. I think you forgot to count the number of times he had fumbled the ball on a good pass thrown by McGrady.
battier wouldnt be guarding tmac back then, it would be ariza. you put ariza on the taller and longer player, battier on the shorter one. and why did we eventually lose the series and get blown out by the lakers?? SIZE. 7 footers. What does this current team lack? SIZE. what does the 05 team have? 7 FOOTERS.
the current team doesnt have dirk, which means tmac would be able to be that play maker... And the current team can't play nonstop fastbreak...that's been an issue this year, the first team can't keep up. So that's a big "if".
Your arguments have a number of assumptions. This is another one. Adelman is smart enough to go based on matchups. If Battier would be doing well on McGrady, I dont see why he would have Ariza on him exclusively. Gasol + Bynum + Odom >>> A young Yao and a 14mpg Mutombo. Replace Yao and Mutombo with that trip and its a no-debate. It has to be talent + height. Heck, the 04-05 Mavs team had Bradley, Dampier, and Nowitzki, all footers, yet they were all useless in that series. Rockets lost to Mavs because of their smaller quicker players, not height.
I just joined this site. It seems like someone complains about every thread as either stupid or misleading (by title). Is this what I have to look forward to?
You're describing what happens once the defender is in front of yao, that would be a non-issue if yao could keep him behind him, which is what i was refering to. If yao keeps hi behind him long enough to fire a quick entry pass then the front becomes a non issue, but the threat of a lanky center reaching around him keeps yao from focusing on the quick entry pass and instead of keep the defender's arm back. I admit i forgot yao wasn't that great then, but the argument that he still would be able to shoot on chuck is still a valid one. chuck has issues with extra large centers. He can only hold his own so long against them. I never said deke was a secret weapon, i was careful in how i described him as a scoring threat. His ppg is irrelevant as he was never asked to score or in that role. Had he been involved more offensively he was a capable 10-12 ppg scorer, even in 05. He has to be guarded and would still be able to get some hook shots in against chuck. chuck would have little effect offensively, if any.
Sura was one of my all time favorite Rockets; he had grit. The current team does too, but in a seven game series, Sura's team wins. However, when the current bunch get really jacked up, who knows. Right now, they don't look to scary.
these two team have never and could never go up against each other. Therefore, aren't all of our answers based on assumptions? and you covered the tmac-battier/ariza matchup, but what about wesley and sura? you put ariza on sura? suran is no brandon roy, but you're going to get the same result, Ariza can't stay in front of sura well enough. a young yao and a 14mpg deke > Scola and hayes what does the mavs' 7 footers vs the 05 team have to do with this? it's not the 05 mavs against the current rockets, it's the 05 rockets against the current team. It's not the same thing. You're comparing 7footer to 7footers. but this thread is about 7footers versus small power forwards.
Tinman, you can't just say you're going to run it down the 04-05 squad's throat to negate Yao. That team knew how to dictate tempo and they did that well. The current squad isn't good enough offensively (unless they're nailing 40% of their 3's) to dictate tempo against a more talented 04-05 squad. It seems to me that the Rockets have had a hard time containing star perimeter players this year, which can be attributed to the fact that they no longer have a 7'6 wall behind them to erase mistakes made on the perimeter. T-Mac may not have been as good as Kobe is today, but he was still pretty damn good. He was a superstar despite his playoff failures, and he would destroy Ariza and Battier if they tried to cover him 1-on-1. That team also shot 3's really well, so if the Rockets tried to double McGrady on the pick and roll like Zboy is advocating, he could swing it to Barry, James, Sura, or Wesley for an open 3. If that wasn't open, Howard could cut to the foul line and get an easy 15 footer which he made consistently that year. I just don't see how the current Rockets would be able to match up well with a pretty good center in Yao (already a better scorer than Howard), and a 6'8 SG with a great overall game. The only way they'd win is if they play perfect defense and dominate the opposing bench with their own bench.
Remember the Dallas vs Golden State series where GS beat them by making Dallas play street ball. Denver vs Seattle. Anything can happen, it takes good coaching and a team with heart.
Can you imagine that, T-Mac doin 13 in 35 the whole game. T-Mac puttin up 1070 points with the 04-05 Rockets winnin like 1070-50??????
