Interesting, to say the least...and I do mean the least... Rockets will have tough time making playoffs
Those sims don't manage the passion or the will of the players. Just the stats. They don't have charges, saved balls, or hustle plays as stats.
How are we much worse defensively now.Actually we are probably a little better defensively and rebounding those weird misses which Yao had trouble tracking down.
Dont you especially like the part where he claims that Carl Landry has just "Came On Recently." Thats the problems with these statistics guys. They dont watch the games. Whatifsports.com also did this with the Patriots/Giants Super Bowl and the Patriots crushed the Giants in 69 out of the 70 simulations.
I think w/ Yao out we're worse defensively in the paint but better defensively along the perimeter because our switching will be faster.
Sometimes I wonder if sports writers actually watch the teams/players they write about. I don't think many of them do.
I agree. It may have been Feigen that said we are worse defensively and I couldn't understand how someone could say that (unless Rockets management told him to). Deke is a better defender than Yao and Chuck, who is the best defender on the team, will get increased minutes. I don't see how giving more minutes to two guys who are better defenders than Yao makes the team worse defensively.
people don't watch the rockets. yao has been a big part, but people don't understand we can still play at a high level without him. we have a lot of big men to fill in for yao.
He totally lost me right there. I didn't even bother to read the rest. We are a much better unit, with several guys cracking double figures every night, as opposed to Yao + TMac + everyone else is hopefully > our opponent
You are right not to read anything from FOX, but I happened to skip down to the last paragraph. Let me post it for you... The X-factor to all of this may be rookie forward Carl Landry, the first pick of the second round in last year's draft. Given that he has only played 359 total NBA minutes and has just come on as of late, it is very difficult for us to project Landry's stats for the simulations. Yet he is the perfect type of versatile, interior player who could provide the athleticism, energy and efficiency off the bench that the Rockets will need to run with and outscore their opponents. If he catches fire and McGrady and Jackson stay healthy, the Rockets could be right back in the mix with the top Western Conference teams.
My guess is that Yao is viewed as possessing more of an intimidating factor than Deke or Chuck, and "changes shots" more than them as well.. I think it'd be interesting to see what the opposition's points in the paint are with Deke, Chuck and Yao are the only low post defensive presence in the game for the Rockets..
