These finals have told us the obvious....there's great value in having a legit 3rd scoring option. Individually McGrady and Yao impact the game beyond just scoring points. Yao is the anchor of Houstons D and is a good rebounder...unless he's in foul trouble these things will always be there. McGrady is a fantastic passer and can chip in on the boards if needed. Also, he's a low turnover player...him having a poor shooting night dosen't change this. But being the only real scoring options forces them to be "on" offensively every game come postseason. Ignoring the fact that they're injury prone and can barely play half the season together which affects Houstons seeding.....the Rockets might be able to succed with the 2 star system if they were surrouded by dead-eye shooters....given all the defensive attention Mac n Yao draw. But they're far from dead-eye. Trade for Micheal Redd and I wouldn't be suprised if Tracy dropped a couple triple-doubles and Yao avg. 13+ rebounds in a series or 2 in a run to the Finals. C-Yao PF-Scola or Landry SF-McGrady SG-Redd PG-Alston Make it happen Morey!
This finals should not be used as example of anything the rox should do. I'm sorry, but this series has been five games of sloppy basketball for the most part. I know these teams are loaded with world-class talent, but they're certainly not playing like it. Boston is winning because they're playing better defense and Pierce is up against some crappy defenders, that's it. Watching the two conference finals made me think about how far away we are; watching the finals makes me think we're damn close.
There are no guarantees....look at Manu being injured this year..... To win it all, you need to be good and lucky....we are currently good, now we need that lucky part to kick in... DD
The current finals only confirmed one matter. The refs do decide on who get the rings and no team can ever get any ring without the refs against them. The refs decisions may not necessary be rigged but it is important to get minimal bad decisions against us particular at clutch time.
and God has to love your team. God loves the 1993-95 Rockets cause their fans had faith and their was no hate. if the fans with stop bickering about the team's stars and unite, we'll be rewarded. also God doesn't like Bulls fans acting like Rocket fans. those people need to be sent to purgatory. people need to ask themselves why they turned the summit into a large Church? God's house.
My friend Joel agrees with you..... And Joel, if you read this....I can still get by you at will...even with the ...ummmmm...extra baggage.. DD
Also, these Finals have shown me that TMac is doing pretty well against the massive help defenses every team in the league throws against him. Kobe's shooting percentages have been pretty awful vs. Boston. The constant double and triple teaming he's facing looks a lot like what TMac goes up against every night, no?
Our team when healthy could probably hang with the Lakers and Boston. My feeling is we lack that killer instinct.
It tells me that Kobe, Gasol, Odom, Garnett, Pierce, and Allen were all on sucky teams last year. And they played on different teams (except Kobe and Odom). Pulling first option star players from sucky teams and putting them together will do you wonders. Oh, it also tells me that the labels "losers" and "winners" for individual players in a team sport are pretty meaningless.
Well we have that guy here and he did nothing for us. And Battier is better defender than Posey and Pierce have proof to be a better defender vs Bryan than Posey is. Posey is dirty and is offensive limited, he just happen to be in two pretty good teams. If he was playing for a bad team none of his intangible will be notice. Take Garnett or Pierce from that team and they don't even pass the Hawks. Pls do not overate players.
Prior to this year Doc Rivers teams had never made it out of the first round.... There is HOPE for Tmac. DD
That's a great take on "losers" and its something I've been debating on this board for awhile. I think when u get guys that have been on losing teams, they can bring a edge or hunger to a good team. People think its easy being the best playrt on a losing team which is not true. I remember talking about Bibby, Miller, Terry and Davis, but all people kept talking about was those guys played on losing teams. Then Bibby goes to Sac, Terry to Dallas and Davis to GSW and now they're winners. Losing can humble u no matter how much money u make. That why I have no problem with getting guys like that. That edge or hunger can be enough to put a team over the top.