Most players of note from the teams struggling financially have already been sold off to the bigger clubs in Europe... If Dynamow Moscow need to do more cost cutting Nachbar could find himself back in the NBA or there's Robertas Javotkas whose draft rights are held by the Spurs. If the Rockets are simply looking at more cost effective free agents from overseas to keep 2010 cost down or open. At PG Pablo Prigioni will be a free agent or looking at a international big to backup Yao. All these PF/C would measure at least 7ft by NBA standards: David Anderson (player option to leave for NBA, draft rights held by Hawks) Joel Freeland (draft rights held by Blazers) Robertas Javotkas (draft rights held by Spurs) Matt Nielsen (option, not sure if it's team or player) Except for Freeland all those players are key players for European powerhouse teams. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-draftreportcards062808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
In listening to the audio, I think Morey said this has been a problem since Yao has been here which suggests the problem goes beyond McGrady's injuries this year. It seems to indicate the Rockets have had a problem with a reliable option 2 since Yao has been here. If that's accurate, I can't see how they would expect McGrady to become that reliable option 2 now. The Rockets have talked about building around Yao and McGrady and bringing in a 3rd scorer (Big 3) to help the team get over the top. However, if the above is accurate, they are still looking for a 2nd option. If they are looking for a 2nd option, what is McGrady's purpose/role?
quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- the Rockets look at "high leverage momenets", where the game is in the balance, and the Rockets are the worst playoff team in the NBA in those situations ... we're poor at it since Yao's been here ... he's our best offense but its hard to get him the ball late .. have struggled to find a second option particularly this year ... in the past Tracy was that option .. when he gets back to where we need him that will help ... thus far, we've struggled to get consistent offense in key moments of the game ... coach is aware of the issue and he's trying to address it -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry: I should have referenced this quote in my above response
I think when so much of your offense is centered around one player, and that player can be neutralized in key possessions, that can make you a shaky team in those instances. Even if you have a great second option, if you tend to look to your first option most of the time (hence, "first option") and that gets taken away a lot, there will be a tendency for the offense to stagnate. Ideally, the Rockets need two things: (1) a great second option they can go to when the first option is taken away, (2) a way to get to that second option fluidly when the first option is taken away. To me, that's been the crux of the Rockets problems. When they don't have McGrady on the floor, they lack that strong second option, but because the offense runs in a more, let's say, egalitarian manner, there's more fluidity when the Yao option is taken away. Everyone has to be involved, and there's no hesitation in some players that if they make a move or take a shot, they are passing up T-Mac. In the past, the talent elsewhere on the court was so low that the results were disastrous. This year, the Rockets have a more offensively balanced team and they've performed better (though not great) without McGrady. With McGrady and Yao on the floor together, it's the opposite. Now the Rockets have a great second option -- namely, run a PnR with an extremely talented offense player. But the continuity, the fluidity, gets lost. So as a result, what we tend to see is Yao and McGrady apparently taking turns on offense -- it doesn't appear to go from one to the other seamlessly. What the Rockets need to figure out as a team is how to seamlessly go into that second option when the first one is taken away, while at the same time utilizing the tremendous offensive talents of their best players. If the other team is neutralizing Yao by sending extra defenders to him, we need to instinctively take advantage of that. It should be like Gravity -- Yao "warps" the defense, and the rest of the team, particularly McGrady, reacts to that like a law of nature. Ok, that analogy probably doesn't make much sense, but I hope you get the picture.
Its called get a point guard thats worth a d@mn. Point guard starts out with the ball so naturally having a point guard that was actually feared by the other team would be ideal. If we had Nash, Bibby, or Hinrich running down to feed Yao and then they can't get it to them, a high percentage shooter can pull up for a jumper. Guys like Nash and Bibby especially are clutch as hell at the end of the game. Thats why I would give up Rafer and Artest if I had to just to get a decent starting point guard, its what we need all rolled into one.
This is a good description of the problem. there is too much confusion and hesitation at the end of games. If Yao is unable to get in position, the team just stands around and waits for it to happen and then they panic and put up a desperation shot. The perimeter players need to recognize when Yao is being taken away, and they need to quickly and confidently go in to something else. The players who are best at doing this to me are Aaron Brooks, Tracy Mcgrady, and Brent Barry. Landry is pretty good in these situations also because hes able to use his strength and athleticism to beat his man and get to the rim. I love the idea of finishing games with brooks and someone other than Battier and Scola on the floor. As much confidence as I have in Battier and Scola as starters, they are too dependent on other players to get them shots and if the ball is swung to them in this type of situation where there is a little less certainty, i dont feel good about them trying to create something. Last year I recall us finishing alot of games with Landry on the floor instead of Scola and it seemed pretty successful. This year Brooks has been a guy that has finished games very well too. I'd love to see both of them finish games more often even now with all the guys we have back from injury.
if you watched the teams play throughout the tmac-yao era, yao has never really been a primary option in the 4th until last yr. under JVG, it was all tracy.
Most of the problems in terms of gettic yao the ball is stamina related. Also since yao is limited in terms of the ways he can score, that's also a prblem. Yao needs to work for the ball just as hard in the 4th as he does in the 1st. When he's strong and fresh, he can do some good things.
I think were just too predictable at the end of games. Yao is a great player but he is limited as a go to player down the stretch. If teams know what youre going to do, its alot easier to stop. We need to be less predictable at the end of games, and alot of that has to do with who is on the floor. Its definantly not on Yao.
Durvasa: You make some great points. However, I am still baffled regarding McGrady's purpose/role. Morey seems to indicate that the teams needs a reliable 2nd option when Yao is not available. If you have an inside / outside approach and Yao is the inside, now you need to find a reliable outside option. The Rockets, until now, seemed to sell McGrady as that 2nd option, as the outside option. If you are looking for a reliable 2nd option, what is McGrady? Do you really want McGrady as a $20million third option? Does this give some indication of what they may be looking for at the trade deadline. Again, I am shocked to hear that the Rockets have been searching for a reliable 2nd option since Yao has been here. Isn't that 7 years now? Don't get me wrong, I agree that the Rockets need a 2nd option. I'm just shocked to hear the Rockets admit it with McGrady on the roster.
Yes I do. If Yao's stamina was better, it wouldn't matter. That's what made dream and shaq such a force in the 4th. When the game was close, they had another gear and was still a force. Just because they focus on yao, doesn't mean he shouldn't impact those moments. What happens is yao turns the ball over or shoots a fadeaway because of fatigue. So during those crucial times, we come away mt.
My comments are based upon Morey's statement. He is saying that in crunch time, the Rockets need a reliable 2nd option with Yao being the first option. For better or worse, I always thought that McGrady was that 2nd option. If the Rockets are looking for the 2nd option, what does that make McGrady?
What he meant was that McGrady has not been as effective as that 2nd option compared to past years because of his knee problems. The Rockets are hopeful that he'll be better in the second half of the year, and he can fill that role as a 2nd option more effectively compared to the first half of the season.
But see, that's just it. Morey didn't say it was only a problem this year. He said it has been a problem since Yao has been here. According to Morey's statement, the Rockets have not had a reliable 2nd option in past years.
He's said its been a problem in general, but it's been particularly a bad problem this year without a 2nd option. That doesn't imply we didn't have a 2nd option previously. It implies that having a 2nd option helps, but there's more to it.
