Something I have been singularly griping about since trading for Battier. The Rockets (erroneously IMHO) built a team of one-dimensional players to place around Yao and TMac. With the possible exception of Kirk Snyder, the Rockets chose personnel whose strong suits were tailored to play alongside 2 stars.They banked heavily on McGrady being healthy. Talentwise, it's a mediocre team when only one star is on the court. You gotta luv 'em 'cause they are Rockets but seriously, how many NBA teams could Chuck Hayes, Rafer Alston, Luther Head, & Juwan Howard start for? That's 2/5's of the starters and 2 important rotational players on this team. IMHO, the Rockets management rolled the dice on McGrady's health and "Win Now".
The solution: Other players, especially alston and battier to get hot early. They can't just rely on Yao in the first two quarters. If they can shoot as they were in the 4th, then we don't have to exhaust yao early. This gives us a lot in the fourth. As simple as this.
Let us just hope Tmac's problem is not as severe as last year. I would even sit him down till the San Antonio game- no need to take chances with him returning early. Battiers inclusion was great- he is a defensive stopper. But I would like some more offense from him early on. The search for a reliable scorer goes on!
I just found out in the last 2 losses, we have allowed opponent shooting 47%. That is way above our season average. Does TMAC have more impact on our defensive end?
Exactly! It's not just a TMAC issue. The fact is that when we don't have a legit #2 go-to-guy, it all becomes very simple to defend us. Like in the last game vs. the lakers, Yao had like 20 at the half and then Phil Jaxson pretty much focused on shutting him down in the 2nd half without having to worry about someone else stepping up. It is easy. Tmac or not, we need someone. Get AI or whatever. With no #2 we are done against the good teams. Just look what happened last night against a team that wasn't good. Don Nelson figured it out.
I'm gonna laugh at this instead of cry. I knew GEORGE BUSH SUX AS PRESIDENT!!!! in the year 2000, so I voted AGAINST him twice.
me too, but why would you want to cry? his reign of ignorance is almost over, go vote again in 08 and hopefully we will get someone who can say nuclear properly!
initially i thought that this was a sort of solution, because as far as i can tell jlIII both gets to thew basket more and shoots better than rafer (he actually hits floaters as opposed to rafer's consistent 5/16 shooting nights, where 3 of the 5 were open threes). I was yelling at my bootleg chinese TV for JVG to put him in, especially with the starters playing what seemed like a lot on the first night of a back to back. then i realized....JLIII would have to gaurd baron davis, a skilled post up guard....who is also rediculously strong, and don nelson would just call the "baron davis will post jlIII's midget self up" play until we had to take him out again. we just dont match up well against these guys without Mac
Baron Davis just got lucky. His horse teeth is his lucky charm. It's not like he had 13 points in 35 seconds. He was just lucky he made that shot. The warriors may not even make the playoffs anyway. So let's just give them that win as a consolation.
Well, not to take away anything from Yao, but if he had hit his last shot (hell even if he had hit the rim) the Rockets win the game.
I haven't read any posts in this thread yet, so I am sorry if this has already been said. I think the fact that we CANT win without Tmac proves that he is the most important factor in the team. dont get me wrong, Yao is probably the best player on the team right now, but what makes a difference is their positions. Yao is a center, Yao is a great center. all you need to stop him is put 3 guys on him, he has to pass it to the outside --> BRICK, low percentage shot (even if its 40 percent, that's still low percentage). now when Tmac, or any dominant guard/Small Forward is by himself in a team, he can still win way more games than the team with the great center because a guard is mobile, he can move around, create his shots, and even if he gets triple teamed, he can pass to cutters (since there are no 3 defenders jamming traffic in the middle) and create easy shots. that's why today's game is dependent on Guards. and this explains why the greatest (and most famous) players in today's game are Dwade, Lebron, Tmac, AI, Kobe, Pierce, Melo and others compared to only Yao and Shaq for big men. now back to Tmac, I really think losing all the games without him prove everybody that he is the best fit for this team and explains why I wouldn't trade him for even Kobe, nor AI ballhoggin a$$. Tmac can work with Yao, Tmac makes Yao's life much easier. Tmac makes sure that Yao is not out of gas in the 4th quarter when we need him to step up. Tmac is a great player, we cant win without him. he WILL be back and his "chronic back problems" are not back. he was shooting yesterday before the game and he looked sharp to me. get well soon Tmac because we really need you. and for all of you guys who want to trade Mac for a ballhog like AI, think about it twice.
Two reasons, 1. the coach; 2. no backup at 5. Had we have a decent backup for Yao, he would be able to get 5 more minutes break, and be fresh at the end of the game. I was at the game, a few rows from the court, could clearly see that Yao was dragging his legs up & down the court in the 4th, totally exhausted. I opened a thread on the URGENT NEED for a backup at 5 before, but many "smart" people here didn't think that's urgent, ignoring the factore that Yao can only be effective at ~35 minutes, and Deke is 100+ old, we need someone who can provide 10 -- 15 good minutes at 5, not just through any body out there.
