During the regular season it’ll be T-Macs team. During the playoffs it’ll need to be Yao’s team. Same type of dynamic in LA. In the regular season, Kobe is the guy that brings it every single night. In the playoffs, Shaq takes his game up a level and carries the team.
its odd that all the comments point to YAO or BOTH but if you look at the results of the poll, TMAC is winning
Current numbers would lead you to say McGrady. History would lead you to say Yao. But the important thing is, I think, now that Steve's gone, just whose team this is will be an issue in the papers and in this BBS, but not in the locker room. For good or ill.
I just hope we are a TEAM this year. We only exhibited team play sporadically last year (particularly in the 4th quarter). Too much selfishness on the ball. A heavy dose of mistrust. Limited passing. You really need to have guys that can work well together. Lets hope these guys (TMAC, Yao, Howard and Jackson) can build a positive chemistry this year.
People, let's put it this way, Yao is more important that T-Mac. The Rockets did this trade so Yao won't even think of leaving. T-Mac likely will put up more points, but in order to win, you need that big Chinese in the middle.
I can definately see T-Mac being the go-to guy in clutch situations. A couple years ago in the playoffs, T-Mac basically carried his team, i don't remember if they even made it out of the first round but I remember him having "it" in the clutch, and you could tell just by watching him play. I say this is Yao's team, but I can see the ball in T-mac's hands with the game on the line.
Well considering that JVG has repeatedly given the ball to Steve in game ending situations, then it stands to reason that T-Mac might get the call more often then not. But if Yao can improve his consistency in the post then he will definitely get the ball.
It'll be tmac's team, but in terms of where the offense will go through, I think it'll depend on the matchups. Yao is a great talent, but he hasn't developed to a point where he'll say, "give me the ball, I'm gonna dominate and take over". Tmac has that quality and he's good at it too (from the point of scoring, let's hope he's good at passing to teammates as well). I really hope JVG will be creative in developing an offense scheme. Please don't dump the ball to Yao every time. Tmac is a great talent and you want him to help create shots for others. As for Yao, JVG should utilize his great outside touch. Although I'm a Spurs/Warriors fan, I'm really excited about this team and will be rooting for them. I just hope the hard core Rockets fan will give this team some time to develop.
I think for this team to ever win a championship.. Yao has got to be the best player on the team... a team led by Tmac isn't going to win many playoff series..
The team belongs to BOTH...just like Lakers belong to Shaq and Kobe. You can't say Lakers belong to Shaq and not Kobe and vice versa.
can you say pick n roll or pick n pop...... hopefully this doesn't give you the runs, this will be the staple diet
We need to define some terms first.... With two stars, one player has to play 2nd fiddle. Yao does not mind this role. McGrady is "the man" on this team. But he knows that he NEEDS Yao to win a championship. So, as far as titles are concerned, they NEED each other. But the LEADER, day-to-day, will be McGrady. He will push the tempo and be the "go-to guy" in most situations. Yao will benefit. Plus, he wont get a tired all the time trying to carry the team. Think about it. We had Francis last year and JVG tried to make Yao the leader. Francis still ended up trying to carry the load. Besides, Yao doesn't like the leadership role. She's likes being a team-player. Sure, Yao can carry the team sometimes. But not the whole year. Kareem was a great player. But he stepped aside for Magic. Leadership will fit their personalities. No matter what happens, this has to be addressed before the team is conceived. Else it will be a problem come crunch time. Everyone must know their roles! IMO, McGrady = Leader/Goto Guy (carry most games) Yao = Anchor/Great Wall (carry some games)
