After tonight's game, Yao's ppg improved to 16.9, just past Steve's. Smell something? If not championship, at least playoff.
Actually, if I heard right on the radio, they said when Yao scores over 18 ppg, the Rockets are undefeated this year. Think it was close to 8-0. IMO, there is definitely a correlation between Yao being the top scorer and the Rockets winning consistently. Plus, when he's scoring the majority of points, he will have close to 4 or 5 assists per outing also just like tonight. I don't need to explain that logic.
I think you mean the Blazers (Abdur-Rahim, Ratliff) and the Knicks (Mohammed). This Hawks team is currently built to lose, though tonight they didn't get the memo.
Of course i can smell something, but's probbably just my socks from my ride into work this morning that are next to my desk
This game that Rockets VS Hawks is supposed to win. but there are 2 surprise for me. 1>Rocekts won it by so close, so hard work. 2>Yao's performance this game is really really amazing!
As Yao goes, so do the Rockets. Yao leading the Rockets in scoring is a great thing and it will only lead to greater things.
Ya know I realize this was a tough game against a below .500 team in the Leastern conference but the Hawks have beaten some of the elites that we haven't even beaten all season yet, if ever this season. They have wins over New Orleans (Eastern but stil a legit team that would be tough to beat in the Western Conference.) Seattle (Haven't beaten them yet.) Denver in a blow out 112-98 win, and again on the road in a season series sweep. San Antonio Toronto (Lost to them this season remember?) on the road against Detroit. Against Minnesota in an 8 point route Boston once (Lost to them remember?) and last but not least the Dallas Freakin Mavericks who we haven't beaten in over 2 years. Don't just look at this teams record and think it should of been an easy win. It was off a back to back game in a tough loss where some of our guys had to play 50+ minutes and nail game tieing threes to keep our hopes of a victory alive. The Hawks as bad as their record is have been a thorn in a lot of good teams sides, and I think this win was a whole lot bigger then people are making it out to be.
If our big fella is not able to step up and become first option, I don't think our chance of making the playoff is good. Hopefully, after Yao sits on the top for a while, our guards and coach will take his no.1-option status for granted and Yao will score more consistently.
The significance of this game is that Yao was taking it upon himself to carry the team on his back when it counted. He was beating double- and triple-teams, which he hasn't been consistently doing until this game. If this team is to make it, Yao's got to beat the double- and triple- teams on a regular basis. Otherwise, he'll be right back in the 14 and 6 on 5/9 shooting territory and a loss.
Either you heard wrong or they don't know what they're talking about. The Rockets have lost a few games when Yao has scored 18 or more points. I think the Rockets are 10-6 when Yao is the highest scorer in a game this season (not including pre-season games). I spot-checked that - someone can verify. Moreso than Yao being the highest scorer, he needs to be the biggest threat to score. Then the perimeter guys need to hit open shots when they double or pack down on him. If the defense doesn't do that, then Yao needs to have a field day. This is exactly the offensive mindset Rudy and Hakeem used to have a great offense. I think Yao's aggressiveness lately is obvious - he's taking shots that he was passing earlier this season. One other thing I've noticed is that he's been able to force his way deeper into the paint quickly as of late.
could that be 18 shot attempts instead of 18 pts? I didn't check the stats, but that way it seems making more sense. -- Yao surely had more scored 18 pts in a game more than 8 times anyway.
That Yao passed Francis for the team scoring lead says more about Francis' struggles shooting this season than it does about Yao taking over as the primary scorer -- which is what I assume you're getting at here. If Francis was shooting his career average and getting to the free throw line at his career average, he'd still be ahead of Yao. To have your primary offensive weapon shooting poorly doesn't bode very well for championship aspirations.
