Nice post, I was waiting for someone to bring this up. The C does not have to run the floor on a "fast paced" team. Rebound, outlet, go.... Tracy is one of the worst "star" wings I have ever seen at running the floor, and Shane is just slow as heck. Bad dreams of Rafer trying to push the ball up the floor without a soul running with him... TOF's must relinquish the fact that Tracy is just AWFUL at anything that requires effort when he does NOT have the ball. Can he change? Hehe
Yes they did had better shooters and a better point guard. But their center was much quicker and adapt to the offense way better than Yao. When Yao is in the game, he just slows everything down and the Rockets basically have to slow down for him. Our game with Yao is have Yao in the post and either go 1 on 1 or pass the ball to an open guy. It can be successful but...teams all over the league have figure out a way to shut Yao down is just simply by fronting him. I think that even if Yao had that old Kings team, they wouldn't be able to win a championship just because in a 7 game playoff series, any good teams will find a way to exploit all of Yao weaknesses and the bad thing is that, Yao do not have any counter attacks or he just wouldn't change up his game.
I'm with you, much of what he said doesn't add up with what has actually happened with the team. I am not a big Less fan anyway, so it is hard to be objective, but really.
Seriously? So all this time it was Tmac's fault and we should feel sorry for Yao because he is stuck with one of the worst stars like Tmac? Well I guess Im sorry that over the years, Tmac is the guy that makes this team looks good. Im sorry that during each of those playoff series before this one, Tmac was the only one leading this team by himself when we had guys like David Westley, Jon Barry, J.Howard and Rafer or Ryan Bowen playing the PF. Tmac can be lazy during the regular season but that is just how he is throughout his career. But when it is playoff time, he really does go all out. Against the Mavs... It was all Tmac that was doing the damage. Yao was there but he wasn't the main factor at all. He was doing ok but not anywhere near the level that Tracy was playing. Against Utah 06-07...That was suppose to be the year for us. We had Yao and Tracy. But what happen? We lost. We were up in the 4th in game 7 and Tmac was doing his thing. But the last minute, we changed our offense for some dumb reason and start feeding Yao the ball. After that, it went downhill. He either forces up the shot, or loses the ball. On the defensive end, he was getting torch by Boozer. He couldn't get a rebound when we needed it most. I really wish we had Scola that year. I believe that it was Yao who was the one that caused us to lose that series. Okur even said it, Yao is easy to guard. He do the same thing every single time down the court. I can read him like a book. Against Utah 07-08...Well Yao is out for the whole season. Rafer is limping. Brooks, Scola, and Landry are rookies. Tmac was doing his best but Utah was just too tough to take on when you're by yourself... 08-09....I know a lot of people is saying we made it out of the first round because Tmac isnt playing. Let me say this, it sure wasn't Yao that got us out of the first round. This is the reason why we were successful this playoff. 1. We had a great team and great chemistry 2. Scola and Brooks both were great players 3. Battier and Artest together brought nightmares to other teams 4. Our bench was solid 5. We were just a deep team with plenty of good productive players Even though we made it out of the first round w/o tmac, it doesn't mean that it was his fault all these years. I just don't believe that many think that it was Yao who was leading this team and Tmac was just holding him back. If you take out Tmac all the years before this and just left Yao with ummm maybe steve francis or replace tmac with Ron Artest, we wouldnt be as successful. I That 22 win streak, would we have gotten that far if Tmac would be the one that got hurt instead of Yao?
It seems unintentional. I agree it's only the guards who need to go up and down. It'll be interesting to see what happens with McGrady. It just isn't the way he likes to play. Also can his body hold up playing in such a way? It's about not wasting possession and stagnating the offense. Do something with the seconds instead of just waiting for your center. Two parts, truck and trailer.
You don't have to agree with me, this is just my opinion. You can bash me or whatever, I just feel that my opinions should be stated. I know Yao is a hard working player but I just don't think he deserve all the credits over the years. Yes he gets the credit for hard working but the success of this team? No I don't believe that he had help this team much but financially.
Bad post, and not because of the content. I AGREE with you. All I was pointing out in my post, is that Tracy IS the problem WHEN you are trying to build an offense predicated on 1. BALL MOVEMENT And more importantly 2. BODY MOVEMENT If you want to have a running team, you HAVE to have wings that LOVE to run. Even in the playoffs, Tracy just refuses to run the floor for easy baskets, and he adamantly refuses to consistently run off picks for better shots than pull up 3's... In the playoffs, after his crappy 4th quarter against Utah, he said he was "tired". Maybe that is what the regular season is for? Conditioning? Maybe it would be a smart idea to just make it a habit to push yourself in ANY kind of competition. Yao will never be super mobile, but his position is not as important in terms of running the floor and a motion offense. Kareem and Vlade for example, rebound and outlet... For the type of ball that RA and CD want to run, I don't think that Tracy is ideal. But maybe he can change?
Tracy changing into the running game after microfracture surgery? I doubt that. I mean the only thing I think he will be capable of when he comes back is a facilitator and a pick and roll type of guy. He will still be effective but running the fast break is not his game though. That is why we have Trevor Ariza. I think this year would be interesting to watch.
Running game does not mean 5 guys have to run. It just mean if you have a chance, move the ball upcourt quicker and before the opponent set up their defense. You can't run every possession. You still have to have a half court game. As someone mentioned before, JVG always wanted his players move the ball quicker earlier in every possession. I don't think a team with Yao = does not have a running game.
Yup, I know. He needs to get in awesome shape though so he can atleast run like Grant Hill Does with the Suns. A 1 wing fast break will not be very effective, but yes, Tracy does have his other uses... In this "new" direction they keep talking about, I can't help but think that Morey might build up Tracy and sell high...We will see...
Showtime? The Lakers had Magic and James Worthy who was smooth like an upgraded Drexler. Not sure which is more of an mischaracterization, relegating calling Kareem who was a better player than Dream or Shaq "plodding" or dismissing showtime as a half court offense. Other than both being centers and super tall there's not too many lessons you can transfer from Kareem to Yao... not unless Yao develops a skyhook and becomes an 11 time defensive all-star while he's recuperating his foot. Their playstyles are different and their personalities are about as different as can be. is that you les? why are you taking it so personal? Les has been blessed with some extraordinary luck in centers which has help build value on his team and he's been prudent with his investment. but it's not like he's gone all out like some other owners. does it shock you that much that someone might not like him? and if it doesn't strike you as douche-like that he states outright that he's wanted a run and gun team all these years then what are you listening to. he's the owner, if he wanted a change he should have engendered it. the way it sounds, it seems as if he didn't want Yao at all in terms of basketball... he was simply putting up with a system he didn't believe in so he could milk Yao for all the money in China
now, i can understand the rumor of Amare, Nash. I just wondered why the 'defencive' rockets is rooting for the players with poor defence. But, isn't it too much gamble to totally change identity of team for now? we were just one game away from conference final.
we dont need tracy to run like steve nash..we have a PF that runs as fast as he can EVERY SINGLE PLAY down the court...Scola...and one of the fastest PG's in the league...AB.....so i think if the pg pushes it up tempo, the team pushes it up tempo...which i think AB/Lowery can do quite well.
Years ago I read an interview of then Suns owner Jerry Colangelo. He mentioned how lucky Les was to have won 2 championships in his first years of ownerships. Jerry said he had suffered years of frustration in search of the elusive ring. Les was spoiled by Hakeem and the championship Rockets team. He is showing frustration now.
