obviously the rockets future (at least next 2-3 years) seems to depend on a healthy yao... and when he returns I expect certain players to improve and certain to play worse with yao in there Players who I see playing better Budinger - seems to be the type of player who would know how to take advantage (drive to basket if given a seam, for example) if opponents were to pay too much attention to yao Ariza- not as confident about him, but I think he might improve for much the same reason as C.Bud - although really considering where he's at he has nowhere to go but up. Battier- likely more spot up 3's when opponents collapse on yao and he kicks it out Scola- he is good enough from mid-range to benefit from the attention Yao will get. and his interior game is deliberate enough to let Yao move away and take his defender with him. Brooks- while his numbers likely go down, i think his efficiency will go up , since more open 3's and less pressure to take tough shots with yao in there. Players who I see playing worse - or at least with worse numbers Landry - as much as I like him a lot - he needs space to work, and i don't think the rockets can give him much with yao. but when yao is resting then I think he can really continue to take advantage of opponents bench Lowry - Yao clogs up the middle too much for his style. although he does make great passes when driving, Yao's never had the best of hands to get those type of passes. I see him continuing to work well with Landry off the bench. Not much change Hayes - his responsibilities on defense will lighten, but doubt this helps much otherwise. I see him being use mostly when yao is in foul trouble, tired. Anderson - won't play much with yao in there Having said the above about Lowry and Landry - I don't think we could get fair market value for what they would mean to the rocket's bench, and thus I'm not advocating moving them right now - even though I usually believe in sell high and buy low.
Yao will DEFINITELY return. Why are people acting as if he's done? He's 30 years old and still has a few 3-4 years left on him. It's not like he relies heavily on athleticism, although I'm sure many people consider his ability to play basketball at 7'6 athleticism. I'm sure, even if he were limited to 25 minutes a game, he could be very effective. He is skilled and talented, not just big. Anyway, I think it's obvious that anyone who plays 5 feet away from the basket would/should improve. I would love to see Budinger and Brooks shoot their 3 pointers next year, with Yao anchoring the middle. Battier, too, if he is still around. Ariza, not so much, because I hate his guts. He just sucks and doesn't deserve any points. He can't do anything else. Actually, come to think of it, everyone should improve.
man... they all get better. the lane will be a little more clogged than now, but with the post presence like that, you can bet everyone will get more open looks and they will capitalize on it. he's exactly what we need, now if he can stay healthy, that's a totally different question.
The bigger question is who gets better When Hakeem returns. Do you guys think Landry's post touches will decrease when Dream suits up and demands the ball late in the game? do we go to Dream in crunch time or do we stick with Landry?
everyone gets better. on offense he commands double teams freeing up ppl to score. on defense he anchors the middle and controls the paint, allowing everyone to guard their man better there's no downside. it's like Chris Paul is hurt and you're like, "uhm, how will get better/worse when he comes back. everyone gets better. hayes will get less PT that's about it
Yao/Hayes/Andersen Scola/Landry/Dorsey Battier/Buddinger Ariza/Taylor Brooks/Lowry +draft picks The Rockets will have a much different team when Yao returns. I see no wholes up front. I think Andersen might get some minutes next to Yao so he can help spread the floor. If Morey can find another gem in the draft, let T-Mac expire, and retain everyone then this team will be a contender in 2011.
Regarding our PG's and PF's, whatever you said is the opposite of the truth. Brooks will do much worse--the paint will be clogged and he is not enough of a passer to reliably get the ball into Yao consistently in the post. Scola also has benefited this year from the absence of another better post option, and his numbers would go down with the reinsertion of Yao into the top of our rotation. Lowry can pass. He is our only PG can do this consistently. He should start on a team with Yao as the center and Brooks as the only other PG competition. No, he cannot shoot the open jump shot too well, but he has already improved a lot this year from his past years, and a jump shot is just about the only thing a veteran can actually get much better at as he ages (see Jason Kidd). Here are Lowry's 3pt%'s the past three years: 07-08 - 25.7% 08-09 - 25.5% 09-10 - 30.8% Still not good by any means, but it's getting better. Lowry has a better chance of developing a jump shot than Brooks has of developing court vision and cutting down on his TOs. As for Landry, you look at his skillset and his performance this year...and he would probably dominate even harder were he given starters minutes opposing Yao. Yao creates such a mismatch that he draws the entire defense towards him. This leaves the weakside post open for Landry to exploit with his athleticism and proclivity for Dunkin' on Fools. Yes the paint is more clogged just by nature of having Yao there, but Landry basically got his start as a Rocket by taking advantage of Yao drawing double teams to get good position on the offensive glass and make them pay for being unable to rotate back to the weakside. And when Yao really is working in the post and he needs to pass the ball out and swing it to the weak side? I trust Landry's baseline jumper more than Scola's top of the key one. That shot will only get better for him. So, you want me to pick between Brooks and Scola or Lowry and Landry, to me there's no question you go with the latter two.
he asked whose game would suffer with Yao, not whose production will go down. scola's production will go down SLIGHTLY but his game wont suffer one bit. remember that scola was brought into the fold originally to play the weak side off Yao and pick up the trash behind Yao. looking at his numbers, he's like 2.5 points PPG less than last year, but balance that with the fact that his PPG have been increasing by about just about a similar amount each year from 10.3 (07-08) to 12.7(09-08) to 15(09-10). like ginobli he's a statistically freak in that he has no weaknesses... his FG% has remained a freakishly consistent 52% (give or take). combined, it leads one to infer that with Yao he'll probably go for about 15 and 8 ppg/rebounds when Yao returns and shoot about 52%. he's a fully developed player and he does not take bad shots. brooks is a better fit with Yao than lowry. brooks' development depends largely on brooks, not on Yao whether he can cut down on his TOs and develop better court vision. brooks was drafted again, brooks was a GOOD 3 point shooter in college, since moving back to the pro 3 point line he's hit: 07-08 .330 08-09 .366 09-10 .391 again, it's dependent on how much brooks develops himself, but it's far far from the case that his game isn't suitable to Yaos, quite the opposite. all the pieces that Morey assembled play well with Yao. the team is built around the fact that they'll all benefit when they have the big fella back in the paint
I agree with you. We don't know who will be on the team next year, no matter what the team needs a good back up for Yao because I don't Yao to play lots of minutes his first back from his long rehab. I believe it will take Yao most of next season to get back into NBA game shape. I am not to convinced that Yao will be able to play a whole season though and having a good backup C will be ideal.
Everybody's numbers will go down, but all of their scoring efficiency will rise up especially Trevor Ariza's.
Doesn't it depend entirely upon the nature of Yao's return? I mean he may not make it back...at all.... And if he does the more likely scenario is him playing only 20mpg in his first year. Then it is contract time......this is not an easy thing to solve. DD
I respectfully disagree. Scola benefited more than anyone when the opposition double teamed yao. He has even said so
I don't think he can lose more athleticism(he didn't have much to begin with). His stamina may go down and play less minutes but I believe he can just as good as before because his play doesn't depend on quickness or explosiveness.
