When a sports franchise acquires a great young player, the saying always goes: "so and so will be our [enter position] for the next 10 years." When you pair two great young players or many great young players, "these guys will be our nucleus for the next 10 years." Wade Miller and Roy Oswalt were going to anchor the Astros' staff for the next decade. Eddie Griffin, Posey, Yao, Mobley, Francis - now that was a starting lineup that would grow over the next 10 years together, right? That was the plan atleast. In this new era of player movement, how often do two guys stay together through their prime years? Only Stockton and Malone come to mind. (I leave MJ/Pippen out because Jordan is the ultimate anomaly and should not be included in any discussion). Every single time, a franchise assembles a great young duo or nucleus, touts it as their foundation for the better part of the next decade, and then something goes wrong. Ralph and Akeem. Price and Dougherty. Shaq and Penny. Webber, Hardaway, and Richmond. Kidd, Mashburn, and Jackson. Kemp and Payton. Garnett and Marbury. Marbury, Marion, and Stoudemire. Carter and McGrady. Hill and McGrady. The list goes on and on. None survived. Shaq and Kobe is the closest example to a star duo fulfilling its potential but even this pairing died prematurely. Malone/Stockton is the only modern day pairing that died of natural causes. We assume Yao and McGrady will both retire in red. They're both unselfish and seem to like each other. But history seems to point otherwise. Will these guys make it? I personally don't know.
All the more reason, as fans, to just enjoy this experience and this unique chance we have to enjoy watching two great young talents who haven't even reached their peak potential. I think some franchises spoil their fans with great talent for soooo long that fans come to expect nothing less. But as was often the case, most fans have been/will be disappointed. How do you think the Lakers fans feel now that their team went in one off-season from being a championship favorite to a team that probably won't even make the playoffs? Things change, this is a league of change, true franchise players are rare and far inbetween (Duncan, Garnett, Kobe, and Yao only come to mind). We as Rockets fans should be thankful every day for having a great team and a great product for us to root for. We are one of very few fans of a team than can say that. --Tiger
I'm the skunk at the garden party who thinks Van Gundy will keep looking for the opportunity to cash in Yao for a superstar with a stronger will. That opportunity might never come, or Les or CD might veto it, or Van Gundy might end up getting the axe first. But look at all the acquisitions of the last year and you'll see mental toughness up and down the roster, with one increasingly conspicuous exception.
Historically, great duos are separated either because of big egos or injuries. Barring any major injuries, Yao and T-Mac WILL stay together.
I think Gumby will be canned within the next 3 years. The odds are against us winning a championship within 3 years and he will pay the price. And that's unfortunate, because he's a damn good coach. I should have added another option, will Gumby make it with these two like Sloan did? If the titles don't start coming in, he's gone.
I think we'll win one within the next three, and that means I think JVG will stay...he's won me over this season...
Agreed. But no big man over 7'3 in NBA history has not suffered leg/foot injuries. Let's hope Yao can be the first. And as far as T-Mac, with his slender build, I think I'm glad he settles for outside shots.
A fundamental advantage that TMac/Yao have over a lot of the precocious superstar duos of the past (Shaq/Penny, Payton/Kemp, etc) is that theres a lot less ego going around and our 2 guys are good kids with their heads screwed on right. They just want to win by any means possible... there's no power struggle. Their chemistry seems great. Both have said they would like to retire as Rockets. Also, unlike a lot of the other duos, our guys complement each other well... the inside outside game, TMac being such a good scorer, yet also having great ballhandling and some point guard skills and being so tall that he can easily dish to a posting Yao. Yao being able to draw defensive pressure off Tracy, and being a great passer for a big man. Its always good to have good passers. On the other hand, for example, Marbury and Amare's game didn't really have that same synergistic effect, nor did Shaq/Kobe... who kinda just did their own thing and were able to win because of their enormous individual abilities. As for injuries, you can never predict them. Who knows, maybe if Penny didn't get kicked in the back of his knee by Joe Dumars and the Orlando media didn't cause Shaq to leave leave for LA, the Magic would have racked up 4-5 rings by now. However, just going by their track record thus far, TMac and especially Yao have shown that they aren't injury prone.
Price and Daugherty did survive, until Daugherty retired (seven years, by my count). They just didn't win. Payton / Kemp were together for eight years. Shaq and Kobe something like seven? Sure, maybe they won't retire as Rockets, but there's no reason to believe T-Mac and Yao won't be on the same team for the next 8 or so years, at which time I think both will probably be near retirement (hasn't T-mac said something to the extent that this is his last contract?). Whether or not they'll win a championship is another question altogether, one which nobody can really answer.
It all depends on how well the team plays. If 3 or 4 years from now, the team is not any closer to a championship then they are now, the Rockets may have no choice but to trade one of them. Yao and Mcgrady are really the only tradeable assets the team has so trading one of them may be the only way to make a significant change.
