Yep. Last year WITH Yao we were struggling to beat the worst teams. I think our role players w/out Yao or Tmac have a good chance to scrape out some wins.
No way would I tank. Like Clutch said, we've already got 16 wins. It'll take a craptacular effort to even sniff a decent amount of ping-pong balls. And if this team can just stay afloat, with the way Yao is playing and the way the defense can turn itself up, we definitely have a chance against anyone. Hell if we can just get to the post-season with Yao and Tracy healthy, I firmly believe that we can beat anybody. As for Yao's injury situation the past couple of years, I look at it as freak injury after freak injury. I mean we never hear about him having nagging knees or favoring anything. Whenever he comes back, he just seems to be 100% healthy and keeps on performing at a high level physically. He's had some bad breaks, but comes back strong every time. As for the silver lining, hopefully guys like Bonzi and Luther can step up their game while Yao is away and we can hit the ground running when he and tracy gets back.
well, from the management's prospective, it's best to go for the draft picks and win it all next season.
Give Bonzi 25 shots a game. let battier have a bigger role on offense. give Novak some playing time. cut alstons minutes.
You don't tank at this point. It is too early in the season and our guys might get back for a run. However the team (JVG) is going to have to think outside the box a bit to get wins. We basically have no half court offense whatsoever. That means this team needs to run and run and run and score in transition. That means drive and kick all night long. The supporting cast on our team was brought in to augment Yao and Tmac. Now that they aren't there they will look as exposed as ever. To me Head, Battier and Bonzi should be shooting all night long. Because our half court is gone, and we have to run, now might be the right time to dust off Vspan and Novak. Things have to change. Around March, I think we can assess where this team is at. If it looks grim, then play the young players and develop them (Morey should FORCE JVG to do this)......and then if it happens we lose games in the process, ok.
the Rockets have just turned into the Seattle Sonics sort of. fortunately, because of their relatively strong start they only have to play about .475 ball the rest of the season to get 42 wins. if Yao and T-Mac are playing in all of April and parts of March they can finish the last 20 games about 13-7 or something. so in between they only need to win 13 out of 35 games. impossible is nothing.
Even though the West is better, the separation between teams that make the playoffs and teams that don't is greater this season. The only team that is out of place is the Clippers. If we play .500 ball with Yao and/or T-Mac out we'll still be in the thick of things. We might probably end up as a 6-8 seed, but who cares. I would love to see the Spurs in the 1st round with our full squad.
We can’t keep throwing away seasons every time our stars have injuries, but we may have no choice. I think the key from this point on is not to build the team with the assumption that Yao/Mcgrady are going to play every single game. The Rockets have been very picky choosing what role players to add, sometimes even choosing a less talented player that’s supposedly a better “fit” (Battier, Alston, etc.) over a more talented one (James, Gay, etc.). Every role player had to be able to “fit” and adjust their game to compliment Yao/Mcgrady. We need to throw that philosophy out the window. It’s turned us into an extremely unflexible team. The Rockets need to start stockpiling as much talent as they can, regardless of if they fit Yao/Mcgrady. Make sure the role players compliment each other and make Yao & Mcgrady adjust their games to fit the role players. Basically, build two teams. One that’s capable of playing without Yao/Mcgrady and one with them. Last season, Phoenix was able to make it to the Western conference finals without one of their superstars (Amare) and this season the Lakers have managed to play very well despite having one of their superstars out (Odom or Kobe). The Rockets need to be able to do the same.
Good post New Jack. I hate to bring this up - but Yao, in his fifth season - has now had three foot/leg injuries in the last 12 months. That does not bode will for the future.
dont you mean we are men not mice? thats cool we all make typos. i think we have a better squad this yr than last, so i say go for it,try to hold the fort, tmac cant be out forever,then in feb we take off
Le$ is looking after the dollar signs. He really should consider bringing in a new head coach, but it is very doubtful he will. Let us just hope NO ONE in the front office accepts "injury" as an excuse.
These threads come up almsot every year and I can't believe there are people who even contemplate such an option. We could aspire to be the Bulls, with 8 top 7 picks in 8 seasons and no playoff series wins. It's not an attitude conducive to success in sport or life. Rudy T: "Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion!"
Well, it's not like they have much choice, there just aren't many Japanese people around, and even less looking for a job in the restaurant industry.
Mc Grady comes back and plays with caution- Playmaker 12 asts/gm We pick up Chris Webber and let Padgett go Bonzi gets his legs and becomes the leading scorer while Yao is out! We hold our own as 6th -8th position in the playoff race . Yao comes back earliest March 1st or latest April 1st If March 1st we then win every game and move up to 4th position and have home court in the first round.- Let all be aware that the Rox are going places if all this works out.Y NO TANKING - 100% every game is what the fans are paying for!YY
T Mac will never again be able to carry this team! But he can be the GLue and Playmaker that makes it work and win. T Mac must play with caution so as to try and avoid another repeat before the end of the playoffs.
hold the front and squeeze into playoffs... when yao and tmac returns with good health and add a bonzi and all the experience head and other ppl gains playing without the 2 stars for now, this is a team dallas, spurs, sun or jazz won't want to face
