Creativity is needed if you can't consistently get good shots in your offensive sets. How creative was the offense of the 95 Rox? Just throw it to Hakeem and he will score or get wide open shots. What's better than that? We have 2 superstars who can't be stopped one on one and some good outside shooters. Basketballl is a simple game. You start on the low post and you work your way out to open shooters. Let the other teams be creative. The Rockets offense has gotten more efficient as the season has gone on and when Yao gets back it will be so much better. 60% of the plays should be to throw it down to Yao where he scores or he finds cutters or shooters. 30% should initiate with Tmac on the elbow or at the top of the key where he gets all the way to the hoop, kicks it out or takes the shot. The other 10% is Bonzi on the post or Rafer pick and roll and ball movement.
Two superstars who can't be stopped one on one, that is the best case scenario. If Tmac settles with his jumper while hes having an off-night. Mavs double team Yao, and we are screwed. And Yao/Tmac needs to take a breath on the bench, and Yao could be in foul trouble. Two superstars can't beat five, it takes five, well at least 3 stable scoring sources.
The good news is that they (Mavericks) are still weak up the middle. The bad news is that with the zone rules, this is no longer all that big an advantage when playing teams like Dallas & Phoenix.
I don't know they still have to collapse around Yao which opens up large spots on the floor for midrange and 3pt shots.... DD
look, ppl talk about match up problems. I know we aren't good at playing with small lineups. But would Dallas be good at defending Yao and 3 shooters? We should use our advantage to attack their disadvantage, not the opposite.
A lot of you guys forget that the Yao in the 04-05 is not the same Yao now. There is no way in hell Dirk can stay with a healthy Yao.
I don't think the Mavs in 04-05 are as good as the 06-07 Mavs.. but you're right Dirk wouldnt stand a chance against Yao
the mavs will be tough no matter who is in the lineup for us, but a few observations allow me to be a little optomistic: 1. T mac lit them up until he got double teamed. With yao back, we can run that high/low post entry that we run with juwon and tmac all the time with t-mac and yao, or just pound it to yao on one side, and failing that, swing it around for an Iso for tmac on the other. 2. Rebounding. we got crushed on the boards. Yao = huge. enough said. 3. Defense--though we arent as fast with yao on the court, he's such a presence inside that he deters drives, changes shots, and cloggs the lane. He also makes the mavs play dampier/diop more, which reduces their offensive efficiency a little bit 4. bonz--more 1 on one scorers mean less double teams if they do go small, both sides may be in trouble. I would anticipate them to play zone when small swarm yao, or bring immediate double teams. Yao is smart enough to hit open shooters when doubles come quick, so as long as our shooters don't do what they did today, hopefully 3-bombing/ yao dominance will make them pay. However, the fact that yao can't gaurd anybody on the permiter means we might also have to play zone on D, though, which means that with 5 shooters on the court they could burn us. Either way, if the mavs go small, expect a bloodbath.
Dirk at the 5 when the Rockets have Yao?? Dallas will get killed. Dirk is a a terrible defensive player going up agianst the most dominant post scorer in the NBA. Yao will score EVERY time or get fouled every time. He destroyed Dampier and Diop in the playoffs in 04-05, and he is a way better player now. We can't judge Mavericks vs. Rockets until unless we see them play with Yao. Dallas also has no answer for tmac, if they can't run 3 or 4 guys at him like last night, he will light them up for 45 like the first gm in Dallas. Phoenix is the matchup we really need to concern ourselves with. I think we could handle the Mavs with the whole team, and we may even beat them thurs night at Toyota Center.
When Yao is back, Teamac will score easilly and mavs will not defend our two super stars. And with Synder garding terry, mavs will be our dinner.
I'd love to see Mark Cuban and The Little General take a Deke elbow. That might be the greatest Rockets moment of all time.
Hello everyone... this is my first post as a rookie. My thoughts on small ball.... I thought in the 2004-05 series that we should have tried something new... like going big when they go small... we were getting beaten because they were bringing Yao outside and driving by him... we eventually got blown out by 30... I thought at the time maybe we could've experimented by putting Yao and Deke together on the floor. It is a very slow lineup but JVG's brother Stan Van Gundy tried it in the series between the Heat and Pistons and it actually resulted in a swat party and was quite successful against the Pistons ( that was before Shaq got injured that year). It forced them to shoot outside... and when their outside shot turns cold.... they're done. I actually think that the Miami Heat exposed the follies of small ball by sticking to a well-balanced lineup. Also, Greg Poppovic committed one of the biggest coaching blunders by matching Dallas' small ball by also going small. This actually cost them the series because when Dirk drived by his defender only Ginobili was there to contest the shot resulting in a three point play( the deciding basket). I think the Spurs could've won the series against the Mavs last year if they sticked with a well-balanced lineup like the Heat did and had a secondary shot blocker aside from Duncan. Lastly, if the Miami Heat , the dark horse of last year's playoffs, can do it I'm positive that our houston rockets can go all the way. Go Rockets!!!
There is nothing new that can be added to this thread. I'll just restate the points I agree with in my own words. 1. Small ball won't work for Dallas if Yao is on the court. If Dallas goes small and shoots 65% it means they probably have Dirk on Yao so not only will Yao shot 80% but Dirk will be in foul trouble. 2. We don't need another guy who can get his own shot with Tmac and Yao on the floor. We actually need guys who can move without the ball and hit open jumpers. Juwan, Hayes, Battier all move without the ball quite well. Head, Battier and Alston can all shoot the 3 well. The right pieces have been placed around Tmac and Yao. 3. There is not much point in comparing 04-05 playoffs with the teams of this year. Dallas is a better overall team with a few new faces but Houston has completely remade its lineup outside of Tmac and Yao and Yao is a much, much better player now. Before we had guys like Wesley, Bowen, Barry and a crippled Bob Sura playing big minutes. We have upgraded significantly from those guys. When healthy we can match up with Dallas' athleticism as well as anyone BUT we have the big guy in the paint.
Only until Yao and Bonzi comes back with full strength!! No joke...Im serious!!! p.s. Half game behind spurs!!!!!!!!!!!!
