Wow, why are people arguing with this guy low basketball IQ? All he ever does is spitting out Yao negative points. Nice try. Nice finding all the positive thing about Deke. How about all talking about Deke`s negative to this team? Can`t stand idiotic posts that`s so one sided. Nice try. Come again. We all know you have a thing against Yao, so don`t try to hide it.
@leebigez That`s all you ever going to come up with? That last year 7 game against the Jazz? Even though Yao averages 25ppg in the serie? If you were smart enough, you would understand bench players were the reason why we lost and also the BS call against Yao. Don`t be ousting just one particular player. Most of your posts makes me laugh. Anything to do with Yao positiveness, you will always have a negative crap to say about him.
i think he's just frustrated we play at the same level without yao as we do with you statistically and winning-wise (%). deke has been more than a capable replacement from yao, esp. on the defensive end. there's a reason in the last 2 years, we've had a 65% winning rate without yao ming.
What's the problem with my argument? I pointed out Yao did own Boozer before too. And that if Boozer's 18 fters crazy shot after crazy shot didn't happen to fall again, he could be terrible against Yao too. Did you watch the games last year? Tell me how many of Boozer's points were from the 18 fters. Did you watch game 1 last year and the games in the regular season? Did you see how bad Boozer looked if those 18 fters kept hitting the rim instead of the net? So I did also support my opinion using previous playoffs performance. And I asked how could someone be so sure as to how the two players will fare against each other in the future if he doesn't have a crystal ball. Is it also a legitimate question? What's wrong with questioning someone speculation about the future? I own you in this discussion, But that doesn't mean I will own you again in the next discussion. Or you think I will own you again and again in the future since I own you this time?
Without Yao's help, we were washed up and worn out by the end of season. With Yao, we would've been a lot fresher coming playoffs against the j*zz. Don't understand why the Jazz is feared, they are always a bunch of pretenders. Last season we nearly beat them with zero bench and a starting pf that can't score. This season, we had a bench and a capable starting pf but we were missing more than last season. We were missing Yao and a starting pg for games, playing with a bad shouldered T-Mac, a center that can't score and an injured Battier. Still, the j*zz looked nothing phenominal against a very depleted Rockets team. They make me yawn. They don't strike fear into minds at all. Only the Celtics stopped us when every team was geared to stop us.
especially? how about "only"? and less than 30 minutes? and yao missed 27 regular season games. 27 missed, 55 played. to suggest we had the same winning % with and without yao is statistically baseless.
we went 20-12 last yr and 18-7 this year without yao. it's a commendable record to play without one of the dominant low post presence in the league.
What u and others fail to do is watch a game and be objective of what is really going on. I dont judge yao,tracy or any other players based on points,rebs,asst and stats like that. Since i used to scout a little, let me give u and example. If Yao gets the ball with 2 ft on the blks, take 2 dribbles into the paint, that a negative play. Now u may look at it as a pass out to a open teammate, but if Yao takes a dribble or 2 and gets in the paint, he should shoot it. Many coaches and anyone that has watched basketball will tell you passing up a high percentage shot from a high percentage player is a negative. Why? Because now the player that is passed to is in a harder to score area than where the ball just left from. I've discussed this many times with guys like ibm and other that its not just points,rebs,and asst. Back to the Jazz series last season, Yao did and seems to have problems with the 6'8, Jefferson,Brand,Boozer types. The main reason is he doesnt play long. He's 7'6 and for some reason, those guys light up when they see Yao. The main reason is because those guys know they have a quickness advantage so Yao is off balance. Ur idea of off balance is probably different from the normal idea of balance. When you're as tall as yao and playing against those small types, its imperative that Yao plays with leverage. Leverage is back bent,ass down, and arms up and feet spread. Yao tends to have his head over his feet, back straight and arms down. Those brand types are so quick off the floor and yao balance is bad, it wind up being a uncontested shot. So those so called circus shots are the same basic shots that most nba types nail in the gym 20 of 22 times. No player is off limits on this board. I've never used any harsh language when describing faults of players, whats wrong with that? I never said Yao was the reason, the question was how far would the rox have gone? I merely stated the same problems the rox had last yr still persists this yr because the Jazz have matchups the rox cant overcome in a 7 game series. Yao cant guard Boozer, Scola cant guard Okur, and no one on the team can guard williams. So when they need a bucket, they have 3 options. When the rox need a basket, they have maybe 2 with Yao. The numbers that you pointed out clearly backs what i was saying. The Rox are suppose to have a advantage with Yao against their frontline, but if Boozer cancels him out and the combinations of williams/ak47 cancels out mcgrady, who do u think has the rest of the matchup advantages? U may not like my criticism of the rox players, but i'm consistent. U can pull up every thread i started or post that i've made and you'll see my points on 95% even if u dont like what i'm saying. The truth hurts, but i can look at this team vs the landscape of contenders and tell u if major changes arent made, this team will never come close to a ring. I hope i'm wrong, unfortunately, i've been right about this team alot lately.
I am a realist and a Jazz fan. If the Rockets had Yao, the finals would be over and the trophy would have stayed in the west. I am going to go wash my hands now.
Did you even read my post? You know, the big part in the middle? The body? Where I agreed with you? I already talked about Boozer missing shots but thanks for repeating it for me. I'm saying calm down with the hater name calling and saying you own people. It's not very becoming.
The Rockets as a whole this season have gotten a lot better at playing team ball than in years past and that's despite the relapse at the end of the season. Without T-Mac the team went 9 and 7 this year and that includes the meltdown in December. If you just track the period in January when it's commonly accepted that the team bonded while T-Mac sat out with injuries the Rockets went 6 and 3 without T-Mac. Team chemistry and team basketball can make up for a lot when injuries become an issue. As I've pointed out there were any number of games in the streak where Yao didn't show up (Chicago), T-Mac didn't show up (LA) or both didn't show up (Cleveland) and the Rockets won anyway because the rest of the team stepped up. In the face of that individual contributions are going to place a distant second in terms of ranking the factors behind the streak. Even with that though I have a hard time believing that Yao wouldn't have made a huge difference in the Utah series, maybe enough to push the Rockets past the team which was arguably their toughest matchup in the playoffs. Yao was the 2008 Rockets leader in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. There shouldn't be any doubt that losing him left behind a huge hole.
Maybe this will clear it up for all those calling me a hater. If the Rox had Yao, maybe they win a few more games and don't play Utah. Maybe they play Denver as a number 1 seed. Who knows? Maybe the Rox lose some extra games that Yao has trouble matching up with. All I know is the Jazz is the worse matchup for Yao and the Rox. Its almost similar to the Sonics in the 90's. We had no answer for Payton,Kemp, and Shremp. Dream had to guard Perkins, who would pull him to the 3pt line. Kemp was too atheletic for any of out 4's. Payton was too big and strong for Smith and Cassell. Detlef was to versitile for Horry or Clyde. Styles make fights and that was a fight the rox couldn't matchup with. The Jazz is that matchup. Just like the mid 90's rox, this team has to make some changes to beat a team like that. That's just the truth.
I think that's exactly right. Matchups and styles are everything in the post season. Sometimes you run into some guy who you can't beat, but the guy who can beat him you can beat easily. The best way around the Jazz is not to play them. They're legitimate, but they can be taken down by a team like LA or SA.
LA soared through the Western COnference playoffs, because they didn't play any quality defensive teams (outside of SA) and the Spurs were looking tired and couldn't run for another series. I think LA would've struggled a bit more against Phoenix (matchups) and us (healthy or unhealthy). Since, both teams have players who can be score all over the court and both have really good front lines with their best players being at power forward and center. Shaq, even at 35 or so with Amare would've made mincemeat out of Gasol. While, Phoenix has enough scoring to avoid getting behind or making big runs and comebacks. Diaw/Hill against Odom/Walton is kind of push. Bell probably wouldnt stop Kobe from an occassional outburst, but he is good defender. Fisher might could give Nash some trouble, but I think Nash would get his numbers in some games. SA, on the other hand, I think were built to stop teams who like to play small and fast and teams who are oriented towards half-court. What killed them against the Lakers was momentum and Odom. They didn't have anybody to guard Odom or body him up. Because, Bowen was over on Kobe. That left Ginobili/Finley or Obracio to guard him. Mismatches. At the same time, I believe if the Spurs came up against the Celtics, I believe they would have the series at 2-2. I believe the slower pace would benefit them against the Celtics. Parker would expose their PGs a little bit more on defense than Lakers can, because Vujacic and Fisher are not that kind players. He would be everywhere...and averaging over 24 ppg. I don't think SA would play Duncan straight up to Garnett, at least nto The Hornets wouldn't have enough depth to beat the Lakers. They could neutralize Paul, very easily or let him score. Another team that would give them problems are the Jazz. They wouldn't keep Okur or Boozer off the boards. Also Williams would be kind of match up problem for Paul, because he is so big. As far as Houston, if they snuck past the Jazz, it would've been LA. Mutombo against Gasol...with Chuck Hayes off the bench vs. Turiaf. I think most people would easily give the advantage to LA. But I think Mutombo and Hayes slow Gasol down alot, both would body him up and even keep him to outside. I would even say that makes him somewhat of non-factor. Radmanovic/Odom/Walton against Scola and Landry. Scola would've seriously schooled Vlade, Scola may not be athletic, but Radmanovic is good matchup for him. If he has to guard, Odom, he might not look as good on defense. But, I don't think Odom is the type of defender that could slow him down. I think Landry is the same, he really doesn't have anyone that could stop him on the other side. Because, LA doesn't really have any kind defenders, like that, except Ariza who I think is probably too small to guard Landry. Odom for the most of the series would guarded T-Mac, that is good matchup for us. Unlike, SA who were undersized against him. T-Mac is tall SF/SG, he could easily keep Odom to outside with occassional switch with Landry, Scola, or Hayes. Utah did fair job at it in some games. I think we slow Odom down, too. Battier vs. Kobe (on offense) is sort of obvious. Kobe will get his points in some games, but Battier probably could slow him down a bit. But be realistic, Kobe would average at least 29 to 32 ppg in series....thing would be to keep his FG% down. I think we did a good job of it, this year. We have enough good defenders and great team defense to make him give up the ball. While Kobe on defense probably neutralizes T-Mac. Fisher vs. Alston matchup, alot of people probably would favor Fisher. Because, he is more consistent and more clutch. But I think Alston actually has very good series against Fisher and has a few 20+ point games. Fisher is good defender, but I think quicker PGs (or younger) can sort of make him non-factor. Alston could take him to basket and hit a few shots against him. Thing is Alston would let Fisher hit shots against him at the wrong times of the game, during a big run or near closing minutes of 4th quarter. Bench ------------------------- Turiaf, Walton, Ariza, and Vujacic vs. Jackson, Hayes, Head, and Landry Again, I mentioned a few of these above. I think Landry would be unguardable for the Lakers. The Lakers bench is slightly better than ours, not superior. Just watch the FInals, you can see that they are very average bench. Vujacic would hit a few shots against us, but he wouldn't be making a show against us or anything. Rafer was having his way with him and Fisher. It's hard to say if his defense has improved enough to guard someone, like T-Mac. Who would probably see that as sigh of relief, if Bryant is resting? We were breaking down physically in the Jazz series, but Rafer was coming back. But he was hurt, too. I think we would've stole 1 of the first 2 games in LA. I think the fatigue gets to us by game 4 or 5, and the Lakers finish us off in 6. For next year, it's hard to say, because offseason moves and injuries. But if it comes down to simple matter of Bynum added to Lakers and Yao added to the Rockets. I believe the Rockets would get the edge, because Yao is much better player than Bynum. Even though, Bynum saw an explosion (17 ppg and 12 ppg stretch) in his numbers and the media think he is the 2nd coming. Yao is probably the best center in the league. I don't see that changing alot, unless someone like Oden rises takes over the league with iron-fist. Most of the talking heads or media analyst would say the matchup is in favor of Bynum or push. But, if anyone is foolish enough to disregard Yao Ming. A player who is legit 20-10 player with height/weight matchup advantage over pretty every other center. Yao is too much of mis-match for the Lakers to stop, I don't think Bynum can guard him by himself. Gasol or Odom can't really cheat over, because that means Battier or Scola is sitting open somewhere. They could put Gasol on him, but that would be like throwing water on him.
I think we would have been in the finals and playing game 7 against the Celtics. I honestly believe that.
This is a very good post and I agree with basically everything that you said there. At least in this post you didn't talk like you knew exactly how something would have happened even though that something had never happened. That's the way you posted before you went extreme and that's why I respected what you said back then.
