Miller and Smits all over again?

Miller was a shooter, and great without the ball; coming off of screens. He's one of the best, if not the the best, 3pt shooters.

But I would refrain from calling him "one of the most prolific scorers." No, he does not fit that description. He's was not that kind of scorer.

Averaging 19ppg is not what I call "prolific." Also, you can't just say, "Hey, he could score 19. Why doesn't he have a ring?" That's way too simplistic. It's just like saying, "McGrady averages above 28ppg, why doesn't he have a ring?" No, you need a team for that. And Miller came close. But was beaten by a better player and team: Jordan's Bulls.

As far as Yao. His greatness is in his hands. It's up to him. Yao is already a better rebounder. Needs to increase that to 14rpg, and 20ppg.

IMO, I feel that the McGrady/Yao duo is a better core than Miller/Smits.

Please take a look at Smits rebounds per game...

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/rik_smits/index.html

 

Actually AB, not a bad comparison.

However....

Tmac is better than Miller ever was...Miller could never get his own shot, the majority of his were on catch and shoot jumpers etc, and he is not that great of a playmaker. Whereaas Tracy is a better overall offensive force, and has much better handles, AND is a much better defender than Reggie.

Yao, in his 2nd year, is already as good as Rik Smits in his prime. Yao is a better passer, better shooter, and is a much better defender.

Not a bad comparison, but Miller and Smits will fall WAY short of McGrady and Yao.

IMHO

DD

 

If the Rox pair was only as good as Indy's, would that be so bad?

Here's the biggest point in Rox favor -- neither Indy man required a double team. Both Rox guys do. Therefore, the Rox' supporting crew should be more effective.

 

There may be some valid comparisons with Smits/Yao until Yao grows a sack and gets more aggressive. However, I think Yao at 23 is already considerably better IMO.

But Mcgrady is waaaaaaay better than Miller was in his prime. Mcgrady can drive and create his shot whenever he wants to. Miller had to run off of 17 picks just to shoot a three.

 

One game does not make him prolific...he is a great great shooter, no doubt.

BUT, would you rather have Miller in his prime or Tmac?

I would take TMac each and every day.

DD

 

It only shows he's so inconsistent. At this rate, he should break
Wilt's record hands down.

TMac is better than R. Miller. That's for sure.
Yao is already better than Smits ever was.

 

That was one game. Did he do that night after night? Prolific is doing it every night; 40pts, 28pts, 35pts, 32pts, 50pts,25pts...etc... <---McGrady

Miller wasn't a player that could get his own shot. He relied on screens. That was his strength.

 

Wow.

You are kind of reaching aren't you.

Miller and Smits were both at the tail end or entering the tail end of the prime years.

T-Mac is just entering his prime years and has already lead the league in scoring twice. 32 points a game is a little different than 19 points a game.

Yao Ming is just 23 and already averages more points, more rebounds and a higher shooting percentage than Smits.

I would also argue the point you made about Smits being one of the 5 best big men in the league during most of his career. Dream, Laimbeer, Robinson, Shaq, Morning, Dougherty etc...just to name the ones right of the top of my head that was in the league the same time Smits was.

 

If he could do that every 8.9 secs, then he would be prolific! (Or at least mentionable in the same breath as Rodney Rogers.)

 

Yao is already better than Rik Smits.

Statistics aside, people didn't formulate a game plan just to stop Smits. People didn't double, or triple team Rik Smits. They never had to. The Dutchboy in the Paint was good but never great.

When teams are that scared of you at 23, your ceiling is very high.

 

TMac can create his own shot and is a monster defensively compared to Miller.Yes Reggie could shoot and move without the ball,but....TMac is,on top of everything, a very good shooter compared to the rest of the NBA these days,He creates match up problems,as does Yao.
Smits had many foot problems,but at his best,was pretty good..and that's it.
Now,Yao is different type of player.Yes,he has the finesse of Smits,but brings the future power game also.This is a guy who will probably have half the offense run through him eventually.Look at the way Yao is built.He will put on at least 40 more pounds IMO...upside here is huge.He's already a better player than Smits.(Although I'd like to see it on a more consistent basis,now,I think it will come with more time and weight).
Fill in the blanks around them.That's it.

 

Only during times when there was seconds on the clock. They would deny him the ball.
This was one of the problems with having Reggie as the go-to player. There were many times when the Pacers were down by 2 points and they couldn't inbound the ball to him. Reggie would be denied. Their team didn't have that other player they could go to. And even if they could get the ball to him, he didn't have the one-on-one quickness to break down his defender in order to get the shot off.

What Reggie (and if you saw the finals; Richard Hamilton) is one of the best at running through screens, backdoors and reverses. Most of the time he'd have ONE defender on him, chasing him through revolving picks, back and forth he'd go (without the ball), changing direction, trying to get a pick for the catch-and-shoot.

He was the master at this. But this is not the same type of player that McGrady is. McGrady can create his own shot by catch-and-shoot and ISO, post, and screens. Many ways.

McGrady is one of the top five players in the league. Reggie never enjoyed this ranking.

 

Yeah, I used to love watching that...especially when it started to get down to crunch time. Miller just running back and forth along the base the line through multiple screens while the guy guarding him chases him like he's the most dangerous person on Earth. All Reggie needed was for his man to get get delayed for one instant so he could get his shot off. That Reggie/Spike Lee game is still one my favorites ever.

But back to the point of the thread, I think the combo of McGrady and Yao definitely brings a lot more than Reggie/Smits. However, as a whole, the Rockets are nowhere near the level and depth that those old Pacers' teams had. It'll take a few more acquisitions of smart, savvy players, and some time playing with each other before they reach that level...and I'd be very happy if they could reach it.

 

I am sure Yao is humble enough to oblige and honor any such comparison to Smits out of kindness. But I guarantee T MAC would not accept anything less than being called the best from the strong competitor he is.

 

Xiki hit it on the head! This is your definitive answer AB... Great players create their on shots and demand double teams almost always.

While one could argue Reggie demand double teams certainly not in the way that MJ did and not in the way that Tmac already does. AMd as for Smits and Yao, there just isn't any comparison. When Yao comes to play noone in the League can guard him one on One, not even Shaq.

Great Players demand Double teams and that makes the game easier for the players around them. Average players become good (Mario Elie, Kenny Smith, Kerr) and good Players become All Stars (Pippen, Rodman).

The Rockets won championships with only one of those players on their team and now we have two. There is no question in my mind that Tmac and Yao have the talent and Ability that should demand double teams almost everytime they touch the ball. Opposing teams will have to pick their poison.

 

Supporting casts are defined by success in the playoffs. The guys that Jordan had around him (if you take away Pipen), or the guys surounding Kobe and Shaq in their championship seasons were not as good as the guys above. But they won championships because...
1. The stars they played with were the best in the league.
2. They knew they were roll players.
3. They were willing to differ to the stars to win a championship.

We don't need better roll players. Hell look at the Queens, or the Mavs they have had incredibly deep teams for 4 or 5 seasons but never knew who the stars were. I truly think that with the addition of two rotational centers we have enough right now to make some noise in the playoffs. The guys that we have around Yao and TMac are roll players and know it. Brent Barry would definitely be nice but we don't need Arroyo or any other young PG trying to make a name for themselves. We have two stars and they are enough. Now we need hungry players with heart that will do whatever they are told on the way to a championship.