I like Aaron and I see what you mean, but I'm simply going off of who has consistently rose to the occasion. Von hits the three to tie, Von hits the jumper to tie, Von hits the jumper after two bricks to bring us within 4, Von Von Von. Von gets the critical block etc etc. Von's skills may not fit as the goto guy. But Von's performance proves that he should see the ball a lot more. Yao has the skillset, but Von has the mentality. AB can have both when he's hot, but as it is he has not been that reliable. Honestly, Ron needs to recognize that he took away the chance that Von gave us tonight. I am fine with Ron trying to take the game over when he has earned that over the game, but when Von/Lowry are practically the reason we are in it, he should have deferred. I just hope that this is recognized.
yet him.. along with Brooks and Lowry.. were the only ones providing a counter-attack on the offensive end.. let's not minimize that.. against the best team in the league.. which has showed up against... twice this season..
... a healthy Tracy McGrady. Those kind of players are hard to find, and there's a reason why the Rockets have tried to stick with McGrady for so long. McGrady used to be one of the best pick and roll players in the league, and that's what you need in crunch time.
It's ridiculous how even after 3-4 tries/turnovers after trying to force it into Yao, we continued to do it. Clearly the opposition has adjusted and canceled that out. What to do what to do! Take Yao out? No, use him differently! Let him set some SOLID, not half assed, picks for either Brooks, Lowry, Wafer or Artest. Sometimes set a screen for a cutter or something. Have one of the guards drive and dish (it would be difficult to switch to a zone right away as the drive happens, so we can draw fouls like that too). Work a high post game with Luis, the guy doesn't get any attention late in the 4th, from the opposition AND from our team. Then after alternating different plays that have a higher chance of a success rate(if missed, we get to get back on defense>re-establish>get a stop) than a force feed (which leads to a turnover>transition offense>easy basket), we can try to see if the low post is open for Yao to work. Not to mention there's only 24 seconds, don't waste too much time looking for the latter. Move to something else right away, have a plan b to the post feed, let Scola come and set a pick or even Yao to get out and set one himself and mess the defense up with that. It's just so sad to be an 18 year old and notice all these things, and see the high paid coaching staff, and team not do much to try to fix things late in a game, or in this case at the start of the second half.
i'm so upset by this loss.. I actually typed .."showed".. of course I meant.. *which he has shown up against.. twice..
Play P&R and make some outside shoots and we score. Trying to force the ball when is clear that the other team is trying to denied him, is not the way to go. Take advantage don't fall into the trap.
you have to go inside out even if yao just catch the ball and not do anything.... Tonight is what happens when artest and von wafer forced too much by themselves. If artest got kobe's ability then i'll shut up because when kobe force shots up, they are in and when artest force shots up, bad things happen to the team basketball concept of this team
I wonder if they might even just hold onto him after the surgery even despite all of his BS/drama this year, if he's remotely healthy. i hope to god morey can make a great trade because this team needs to move on, but great perimeter players are so hard to find.
i think he crucial distinction you are missing is between a perimeter "scorer" and an overall great perimeter player (playmaking inclusive). you have to have a guy that can not only score for himself off the dribble but set other guys up. basically what you need is a guy that is an offensive system by himself. someone that can do anything he wants with the ball in his hands. wade, james, paul, williams, bryant...the old mcgrady. alot of guys can put the ball in the hole but when they are cut off can they make something else out of it?
And that's why I shake my head when I see people call Yao Ming a superstar. We know Yao can dominate against certain teams and play awful against other teams. It completely depends on the matchup. That's not the characteristics of a true superstar. If we have to first win a game of rock, paper, scissors for our best player to perform well, we're in deep trouble in playoff time. I really hope I'm wrong, but I don't think we'll ever win a championship as long as we try to rely on Yao to carry the team.
sorry, but this had to be bumped. disregard the thread title as i am referencing a debate that broke out in the middle of this thread. it's now plain as day that this team desperately needs to acquire a wing scorer this offseason because yao ming is completely unreliable in the fourth quarter. tonight, in the biggest game of the season, at the hands of the fronting defense, the rockets just blew a clear path to the WCF. unbelievable.
You bumped it ... yet you want to disregard what you started? When should we disregard what you said just now? The next time the Rockets win a game?
you're not very bright, are you? reading comprehension is your friend. the primary argument in this thread was whether the rockets could win big with yao as their primary option and ever overcome the fronting defense.
The game is not lost due to fronting Yao in the 4th. It's lost because the team got away from Yao in the third. Dallas went right at the Rockets from the start. Had it not been for Yao, they wouldn't even have that 14 point lead. The team got sloppy and didn't play the designated offense involving Yao. Dallas chipped the lead away. Besides, Adleman put Yao in there for too long in the 3rd. It's completely biased to suggest that Yao is the problem in the 4th.
So you don't the Mavs were doing anything different defensively with Yao? His teammates just forgot about him?
If you're seriously suggesting that the fronting defense had no correlation with the team not playing "the designated offense involving Yao", I have to question whether you even watched the game.
