The only stat that matters is... Win and loses And we are better with Yao than without. Case closed. GO ROCKETS ! DD
definitely true. but then again we have yet to see the t-mac of the last 9 games together with the yao in november and december. i believe that's all there is to this story. the league has to watch out when yao is back and tracy stays healthy and plays the same way he plays now. i don't think jvg wants tracy to defer too much to yao so jvg won't be the problem. health will be.
I agree. We all can see these recent games, almost no any pass to Deke when O. So lower the TO. That's Jvg's job to coach our O and how to use yao. Maybe don't force to pass to yao will be better? And I have to say if Tmac play like this all-star level, then Yao can focuse on R like Deke and shot a little bit more than Deke. We will unbeatable (but Suns, I don't know).
greg anthony with just bash yao with anyway he can... according to him wtf does the rockets need yao?? they are better reb, lesser turnover, and quietly asserting themselves in the west. And guys have more freedoms on the court to execute their offense...
Jon just mention that Yao makes the game easier for everyone and is also the reason why Head and Alston is struggling b/c of bad floor spacing. So whats the deal, is Yao better for us or not?
The difference is on TMac, who sets up the plays for others in a better way than Yao. It is reasonable since no one would expect that from a low post player. However, it is up to JVG whether the Rockets should have Yao play some time around the elbow area, which imo would open the paint for others. We are so much relying on TMac's role of playmaker, which should be done by the point guard.
It's been fairly obvious both this season and late last season that trying to run the offense through Yao will usually result in a high number of turnovers. On the other hand, it also usually results in a pretty good FG% and fouls drawn. So, you take the bad with the good.
The truth is that T-Mac was really playing great in the first 6 of the last 9 games. And the best of it is he took less shots when he shot badly than he did when Yao was on court. He also handed out more assitants when he lost the feeling of shots. So the offense efficiency is better. When yao come back, we will definately be a much better team. However, we need to balance our offense. We need a balanced team. The team will play better if Rafer take less than 10 shots in case that he couldn't improve his shooting. As I always preferred, no one should take more than 20 shots in order to have everyone involved in the game. This is how Suns is playing, team ball.
It's amazing the lengths some of these analysts will go just to stir up some controversy. How it's possible for any basketball team to possibly be better off WITHOUT maybe the most dominate player in the league is beyond me.
Just found this on another website,I think it is pretty interesting. For those fans who think the Rockets may not need Yao since they have been playing so well without him having won four in a row, I would like to remind them about what happened during the 1990-91 season that is strikingly similar to what is happening now. On January 3rd of that season (compared to December 23rd for Yao), Hakeem Olajuwon received an ‘accidental’ Bill Cartwright elbow around the left eye that broke the bones around it. That injury sidelined Hakeem for 25 games, taking him all the way to the end of February before he could return (sound familiar?). Everyone thought that injury would doom the Rockets, who were a respectable 16-13 at the time. Instead, with an old veteran and rebounding specialist (sound familiar?) like Larry “Mr. Mean” Smith putting up astronomical rebounding numbers, and role players like Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, David Wood, Otis Thorpe, and Buck Johnson stepping up, the Rockets put together a shockingly nice run of games (sound familiar?). During that stretch of 25 games while Hakeem was out, the Rockets at one point won 11-of-14 games, and were 16-9 overall. I remember during that surprisingly nice stretch of wins, many fans were asking if Hakeem was really that important to the team after all? Perhaps by the offense revolving around him so much, and his being parked in the low post all the time, maybe he was creating too much stagnation in the offense? Or perhaps the other players’ talents didn’t have a chance to come out since they relied too much on Hakeem to do his thing down low? Now with Hakeem out of the picture, they had a chance to emerge from his shadow, and they were better off without him, right? I have to admit I was wondering the same thing. Back then everyone knew Hakeem was a great player, but it was before he had shown he could really win a championship, which he proved in 1994 and 1995 he could do. There were also a few questions about his overall ability to win and lead. And he had a few run-ins with the Houston front office questioning his work ethic (if you can believe that). I remember anxiously waiting upon The Dream’s return to see if he would disrupt the chemistry that the other players had developed with him out of the lineup. Well, everything turned out better than expected when Hakeem came back. After his return, the Rockets ended up winning 13 games in a row, and pushed their 32-23 record to 52-30. I think the main reason for their success that season was because everyone else had a chance to get some playing time while Hakeem was out, and that bench strength really helped them down the stretch when the rest of the teams in the league were starting to fatigue from the always grueling NBA schedule. Not to say this season’s Rocket team will do the same, but history does have a way of repeating itself considering we’re talking about two very similar big men like Dream and Yao who are just dominant offensively. On top of that, this year’s Rocket team has an advantage over that 1991 version – they have another superstar in Tracy McGrady who can carry the load (when healthy) for when Yao or the role players have an off night.
i think the offensive rebound skew should be overlooked. when yao is on the floor on ofense, he's looking for the ball, shooting, scoring passing. when deke is on the floor on offense he pretty much has one joband thats to get the offensive reobund. no one is looking to pas to deke naturally if deke is always looking for that offensive rebound, he'll get his rebounds
^ I think that puts a end to most of that thinking... thing I don't understand is... why the Rox dont play like this when Yao goes out... for his 2 to 4 minutes a quarter... is it there the Tmac factor maybe... is it the JVG factor maybe... on his scripted play... even when Yao goes out... I remember a couple of games this year, where Yao had to come back in... too soon... or with little rest.... when he went to the bench and the other guys couldnt hold onto the lead... all I know is... these guys should get free reign to do what ever they are doing right now... when Yao gets back, and goes to the bench... maybe Yao should sit on the bench/get more rest... when he gets back.... 7 or 8 minutes a quarter sounds good to me...we all know he can be very effective when he isnt tired... my guess is he will put up big numbers even with lets say 6 or 7 minutes a quarter.... come playoff time... we can always adjust.... thats where everyone picks up their game...and the time we need our two superstars performing at 110% let out role players get play time and experience and some confidence...
we're not a better team without yao. that's just plain stupid. good post about the dream, basically the same situation.
The recent performance is because our role and bench players really step out. They played with more energy and more concentrated in games. This may be the return of TMac as a offense organizer. But there is no way that our team will degrade if we add Yao in. I would say that when Yao is back, Rockets will become a serious contender.
Let's look at this ESPN statement from a different angle: We are a better team with Deke / Hayes as center.
Agree. T-Mc has had two consecutive sub-par games, and the Rockets still won. Credit the "second-tier" players -- Battier, Deke, Luther and Howard. Are we better with T-Mc having sub-par games? That's as ridiculous as the suggestion that the team plays better without Yao Ming. Also, although I still believe JVG needs to be replaced, he deserves a lot of credit in micro-coaching the team to success.
