Rick Adelman is definitely the best coach that has come through H-town since Rudy T. He has managed to give the Rockets a 22 game win streak and this year his team has held up extremely well without TMac. I really had hope that this would be our year. TMac and Yao would finally have the extra player they needed. Someone who could bring ferocity and be the leader to spurn them on. With one of the deepest benches in the entire league, we would at least get to the Western Conference Championship. Then TMac was hurt and we saw a player that once great and amazing transform into a shell of his former self. He floated in and out of the lineup for quite some time. When Rafer Alston was traded for Kyle Lowry, this gave me hope again because the reins of the team were being handed over to a promising young point in Aaron Brooks. Lowry was also young and had also shown some promise in Memphis. When we beat the Spurs and took over second place in the Western Conference, I thought maybe we really do have a shot in the Playoffs this year. Then the games against Utah and Phoenix really exposed our weakness. I feel that they have really let us know where we stand. We are a well built team (thanks Morey) that is well coached (thanks Adelman), but we still have a ways to go. Even though the Rockets have done well this year, we still are some pieces away from winning a championship. Any team that is led by Yao will never win a championship. Yao is an amazing talent and a very unique player. He is the tallest player to ever play and is a great shooter and a good scorer. However, he is not very mobile. That has tremendously affected him as a player. He really is not able to get up and down the court. He is rarely ever able to get those easy baskets. Shaq, Duncan and Hakeem were able to block the shot on one end and run down the court to score on the other. Also, his endurance is not too great. The reason why he doesn't get the ball in certain situations is not due to his teammates. It is due to him either deferring to his teammates and being a team player, or he is just too tired. He has been in the league for years and he still does not have the attitude that he needs to go out and dominate his competition. He never will. That is just not the way he was raised as a person. When he has the chance to slam it down on top of people, he just doesn't because he doesn't want to humiliate them. I'm not saying that we don't need Yao. He is a tremendous help to this team and will continue to be. Artest is another great piece. He brings ferocity and leadership. He is not afraid to body up people and leaves everything out on the floor. He is along the lines of a Vernon Maxwell or maybe even a Dennis Rodman (ha ha!). I really hope we can keep Yao without maxing him out. I honestly don't think that he should be. I believe that max contracts should go to the likes of Lebron, Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, Garnett, Carmelo, or even Steve Nash. Somebody who would be the central piece of a championship. I see Yao as being second or third fiddle. If TMac comes back and can be healthy, then he should remain a key piece. Then it's just a matter of our three stars playing cohesively. If not, then its important to look for a new leader. Tracy's contract will be very valuable coming up here soon. I really want TMac back and healthy, but time is running out on our championship aspirations. Here's to the second round and great experience to all our young players!
I was agreeing with you until this sentence. Carmelo?! He's never gotten out of the first round of the playoffs either. He plays worse defense than Yao. How could Carmelo be the best player on a championship team?
No, but he an essential piece to our team that won the gold in Beijing. Also, his team is sitting in second right now. Granted, he had a lot of help from Chauncey, but he's done pretty good job this year. Yao didn't even dominate on his Chinese National team. He was by far the best player, but still could not be "the man" entirely!
I agree if Yao is your go to guy on a championship team. In the playoffs this year we are going to go as Ron goes. Which can be pretty scary at times. And I wouldnt expect Tracy to come back and do anything as a Rocket.
a well written post by the op. but i disagree. yao a second- or even third-fiddle type of player? what keeps your championship aspiration going right now? is it not yao? or is it artest or aaron brooks to you? a great center in most cases is the building block of a championship team. this team as is, we just need a better and true pg imo.
Watching game btw Rox and Suns， i strongly feel it's a worst mistake to trade AlStOn out. It's a deadly turnover to miss Billups. Thinking about Billups in the Rox team now....emmmmmmmmmmmmm,i'd laughed and will laugh in my dreams everyday.
I totally agree with this statement. As long as Ron plays under control and chooses to go to the basket, he is very effective. He really has a tendency to play out of control. I agree to a point. Ever notice that the point guard always uses the teams opposing big man to set screens? It's because they are able to use Yao Ming's immobility to their advantage. This would not work against the likes of a Shaq, Hakeem or Duncan. I believe that it's the hope that Yao can be the center that we need him to be. Deep down inside though, I know that he just doesn't have it in him.
We do need a Kobe,Wade or a Lebron instead of Tracy McGrady as the 1st option,Yao should be the 2nd best player on the team. That's not likely to happen.
I'd settle for a Reggie Miller/Kevin Martin/Ray Allen type of sharpshooter at the 2 spot. That would allieviate some of the issues with Lowry's not so great 3 point shot.
Probably doesn't matter now unless it's somehow reversible, but Yao used to be very mobile, especially for a 7'6" guy. In his early years, he could definitely get up and down the court. I don't know if it's (a) physical decline, (b) accumulated fatigue, or (c) a product of him bulking up, but he's clearly lost alot of it. Obviously he's much slower now, and you only see flashes of the old mobility (like in the first half of the recent clippers game).
Flawed logic my friend. I agree with everything you said in your OP except the Melo part. I wouldn't call Melo an essential piece to team USA because obviously Kobe, Lebron, Wade, CP3 were all more important. You put those 4 on Team China and they definitely would get bronze and maybe even silver. What I'm saying is it was hard for Yao to dominate in the Olympics for three reasons: 1) The rest of his teammates besides Yi and Wang wouldn't start for any of the top D1 NCAA teams let alone the NBA 2) FIBA rules make it much harder for post players to dominate 3) Yao was still recovering from his foot injury. Just wanted to past that on. Carmelo is one of the more overrated superstars and finally the media is beginning to recognize it. He's great, but he doesn't play defense and doesn't make his teammates better. Talent wise, Yao may not deserve a max contract, but what do you say to the likes of Rashard Lewis getting a max contract? Surely, Lewis is not more deserving than Yao. Also, you have to factor in the team revenue Yao brings in from the international and domestic markets, that is a huge part to why Yao got and will continue to get a max contract.
champion team formula: a elite low post player 1 or 2 elite guards good role players smart coach yao can be part of the formula, but artest/brooks are not elite guards
I thought that first sentence was funny. There was only one coach not named Adelman since Rudy T, unless you count Mr. Mean as one.
I thought that Van Gundy was a great coach in terms of player development. He really worked with Yao to develop his lowpost game. Also, he was very loyal, after all, he's a "leg jockey" who almost got banned from the game sticking up for Yao. He's also a great defensive coach. However, his offensive strategies were very predictable and boring. Mr. Mean's stint was too brief to really consider it as such...ha ha...I guess what I mean to say was that Rick Adelman is just as good of coach, if not better than Rudy T. I know that Rudy brought two titles to Houston, but he also had Hakeem. One of the top five centers to play the game. I think that Adelman has done a lot better with less "name talent".
