your statement is valid as long as our players play @ the same level of intensity and Tmac doesn't "take a back seat" when Ming comes back. if they go back to their old selves and the Orlando Tmac goes back to the Houston TBack, it's gonna be tough...
tmac as option 1 is better otherwise it looks like he just runs around with no purpose. but that being said..they should work together more. like earlier in the season tmac had that behind the back pass to yao for a dunk, instead of the regular throw it to yao then kick it out to alston for a clang.
7 games that TMAC out, YAO TO average 3.8 and equal to his season average 3.8 per game. Alston turnover 3.5 per game compared with 2.2 season average. ROX TO season average is 14.8 per game. But for those 7 games, 16.5 So how can you come up this conclusion "Alston doesn't turn the ball over"? TMAC is our playmaker, not Alston. When Alston was our ball-handle guy, see what happen
1991, Olajuwon goes out an injury after the 30th game or so. They're barely over .500 when he goes out (3-4 games or so) Insert old Larry Smith at center. You figure the team's gonna collapse hard. "Mr Mean" does an admirable job filling in, grabbing crazy boards and playing defense. Mad Max, Kenny Smith and everyone else pick up their play and the Rockets record slightly IMPROVES while he was away. Right around when Olajuwon comes back after 25 or so games the Rockets were really playing excellent ball, leading to talk if Olajuwon would DISRUPT the flow and chemistry, and he doesnt even start his first few games back. (I believe he also had disagreements with management at the time, too?) Olajuwon shakes off some of the injury rust, rounds back into shape and shortly regains back the starting role. Once he settled in the Rocket went on a 13 game win streak won 17 of their next 18 games, ! No that team did not have another superstar to take control during Hakeem's absense but I hope this current situation can have results like that when Yao gets back.
woops, my bad with the 2-5 record. apparently it was 2-4. sorry! still though, some people are downplaying these achievements, saying "oh, its because they developed so well with yao with tmac out, these are the results." what? maybe they did a little, but thats just a ridiculous statement. they're playing a pretty different brand of basketball right now, and the way the would have developed alongside yao in those 6 games w/o tmac are not the reason they're playing well. they still play inside out, but they do it more by dribble penetration and kicking now. before that, some were downplaying the wins because of the easy competition. since then, though, we've destroyed utah, dismantled the lakers, and come back against a gritty chicago team. i dont agree with the notion that the team is better without yao. i dont think many people do. but cmon people, there's no need to downplay the achievements of the team in the last 10 games just because tmac is getting all the praise. he's the one leading them right now, so its only natural that he gets the props. when yao was leading them, even with tmac in, he was getting the props. so, dont be suprised when tmac gets the praise for carrying this team to victories.
beautiful/correct basketball with yao in? and now we arent playing correct basketball? we are winning because tmac has raised his game and the role players are hitting their shots, partly because of all the attention mac gets. (as we all saw last night in denver.) i personally am happy that the rockets still win despite a horrible performance shooting wise and energy wise. the only way to win consistently, and 8-2 is pretty consistent, i think, is by playing correct basketball.
without yao... this team is not going to go deep into the playoffs period whether greg anthony, barkley, smith, and all those other bashers like it or not
Umm, hello????? Yao, unlike Tmac, can't create for himself. For example, Yao have a hard time getting Yao the ball because in the NBA you can't just toss the ball high up in the air and pass to yourself. Seriously, why is there even a discussion here? TMac is a guard. He can get to wherever he wants and shoots however he wants because he's a guard. Yao is not a guard. He needs competent playmakers to pass him the ball, and he's can't score without shooting the ball. Same with Shaq, he needs good passers to get him the ball for postups and reposts. As someone mentioned already on this thread, Rafer has not once, helped Yao to repost this season. Tmac happens to be a the best passer in the team. So I'm not surprised when the Rockets struggle without him, even with Yao in the game. Without decent playmakers, Yao's good for nothing. And neither is Shaq, Hakeem, DHow, etc...
Thats what I think too... I think for us to win a championship this year... Tmac needs to handle the ball... as in dribble it up... and Yao needs to get over 30 points a night... I know what your thinking... that will affect his offensive production... and put more wear and tear on him.... but im talking playoffs... the ball needs to be in Tmac's hands until he decides to shoot it or pass it,...
Statistically I agree that we're playing better without Yao, but only in terms of Wins & Losses. Yao can EASILY keep us in the game until the 3rd Quarter. The Tmac factor is keeping us get a good finish. This combo can make us even a better team if our coach makes a better adjustment when Yao comes back.
Man, this topic shouldn't be brought up at the first place. But since its already there, let's do a quick analysis. The difference w/o Yao and w/o TMac w/o Yao Defensively we got Deke, we don't really lose much Offensively we got TMac, Battman, Juwan stepped up, not enough to make up for the loss of Yao. w/o TMac Defensively nobody can make up for his absence. Maybe a in-shape Bonzi or healthy Snyder could help a bit. But they were not. Offensively we got Yao, Battman, Juwan, Luther stepped up, but not enough to make up for the loss of Tmac. The difference is at the defensive end. We have got nobody close to TMac's level. So the conclusion is losing TMac is worse than losing Yao. Does that mean we need TMac more than Yao? yes. Does that mean TMac is a better player than Yao? no The fact is our reocrd is better with TMac than with Yao. However, imagine if we had a mediocre backup center, would we be able to win all of those games we won recently? Imagine if we had Bonzi and Snyder in full strength, where would the last second loss to Warriors and the double OT loss to Lakers end up? To compare the 2 stars is simply stupid. They play different positions with different skill sets. You will have to put a player in a team to play basketball. (if you want to do a TMac/Yao one-on-one game, then go ahead). With the current roster we have(given their condition), we are better off with TMac than with Yao(if we have to choose between them). Given another situation, the result could be different. (i.e. NJ would probably rather lose RJ than lose Kristic) The good thing is we don't have to choose between them. We have them both.
You seem to be trying very hard to make this a competition between Yao and Tmac? Who has problem with Tmac's great performance and contribution to the team in the last 10 games here? Why don't you just sit back, take a deep breath and enjoy the performance of the team lately?
I'm not sure where all of this "Rockets are better without Yao" business is coming from. Personally, I think our guys are just stepping up to the plate when they are needed, much more than last season. I think there are several reasons for that. -We had to do it last season. This is nothing new to our team. I think we have a much bigger drive to win, especially after the hardships we faced last year. Having T-Mac or Yao is much better than not having either, obviously, and our team has had to deal with all of those situations. -Our offense works better with T-Mac making plays than with Yao trying to pass out of double (and sometimes triple) teams. Yao doesn't quite have the passing skills that T-Mac does, and consequently, T-Mac is still able to affect the game, even without his scoring. Yao, on the other hand, doesn't quite do that. -Our chemistry is finally coming together. With all of these new pieces, I think it was just taking our team a little while to gel. Remember, when T-Mac came to our team in '04-'05, we weren't even playing .500 basketball until January, really. With all of the new pieces we've added, I wasn't going to be surprised (even if half of this board was making "the sky is falling" posts) if we were just barely over .500 at this point in the season, with our team finally coming together. Much to my surprise, we are playing well over that mark. -And finally, the number one reason: Shane Battier. Mark it down. This guy is THE difference between our team last year and this year. I know that sounds pretty simplistic, but I believe it wholeheartedly. I think he was the heart and soul of that Memphis team last year, and even though Gasol is back, I think that they will be missing Battier's presence terribly. This guy is almost always going to find a way to win us ball games. I mean, last night, the guy is down on his knees against Sac-To, dribbling the ball to keep the play alive. Who else does that? I really think his drive to win and tenacity has made all the difference this year when Yao is out, as opposed to how we were last year. I think that last year we were missing that guy with Sura out, and now we have it again in Battier. Trade Yao? I don't think so. With all of this just making our team better and more vicious, I think we're going to be scary upon Yao's return (after about 5-8 games), and even moreso come playoff time.
I agree with Durvasa. T-Mac makes this team go. He is the reason the Rockets are winning right now. Nothing against what Juwan, Deke, and Battier have done, because they have been spectacular. But Tmac creates for them. He is the reason Juwan gets those wide open mid-range jumpers. Battier's threes have more often than not been a result of teams overplaying Tmac. Tmac makes good things happen, whether he is scoring or not. It is much more difficult to game plan for a T-Mac team than it is to gameplan for a Yao team. That being said, Yao is the best center in the league and a monster of a matchup if you cannot put 3 guys around him in the post and deny him the ball. With T-Mac on the floor, no team will be able to do that. If both of these guys are healthy, and if Battier and Howard keep shooting the ball like they are, this team is as good as anyone in the league. Throw an efficient Bonzi coming off the bench, they are better than anyone in the league! But make no mistake about it, we need both Tmac and Yao. As a side note, with Yao and Tmac on the floor, Rafer should take a maximum of 8 shots a game.
I don't know why people make it about one player. The bottomline is that this team is winning AS a team. Something they should have been able to do but Jeff Van Gundy took away roles. With Yao playing Van Gundy severely reduced the minutes of Mutombo and Howard, which was stupid. Now he is playing them out of necessity. If he keeps playing them a lot when Yao comes back and keeps spreading the offense around instead of pounding it in to Yao constantly the sky's the limit for the Rockets.
I was also worried watching T-Mac's play in Denver game. It almost looked like he was bothered by his back again. I hope it wasn't the case and he was just a little tired, because he had been playing so GREAT since he returned.
i seem to be making it a competition? my post was a reply to a lot of the posts in the previous pages; posts that would downplay the team's achievements in the last 10 games, probably because they worry that yao's impact will be forgotten. there are people who have a problem with the credit tmac is getting for the current rocket streak, otherwise i wouldnt have any posts to reply to. i just don't like it when people dont give credit where credit is due. i'm enjoying the streak as much as anyone. as soon as one game is over, im psyched for the next. so, methinks i'm doing a good job enjoying the team's performance, thank you.
Yao should touch the ball more and shooters should be expecting passes when he gets double! That's the game JVG is running since he knows that Yao is such a good passer.
