It's lucky to face Young Portland,where we are not punished when we play such a mess in 3nd quarter. AB could not organize like that! If you could not pass the ball to Yao, at least you should not forget Schola!
Yeah, if Wallace had half of Howard's post moves and agility the Pistons would have won 2 or 3 more titles.
I guess going 11-13 for 31 pts is Ben Wallace-like I hate seeing fans prop Yao up by taking away others achievements.
The same can be said for people that doesn't see Yao for the dominant player he is. Most of Howard's points were from put backs. Not much offensive skill. If Ben Wallace had Howard's physical gifts, he would probably have the same points.
Yao has dominant games but he's not dominant overall. We have seen many times where he gets taken out of the games easily. Examples would be against the Mavs and the Jazz. Who cares how someone gets his points if he gets it? Last time I checked, 2 pts is 2 pts no matter how you score.
Howard scored 31 points today ... he is much much more than an upgraded Ben Wallace. Howard's and Yao's strengths and flaws are different and yet both of them are great players. That's the beauty of the NBA.
Oh, so its just because Howard has "physical gifts" instead of "skill" -- so it doesn't mean anything. I see. BTW, Dwight Howard has a better left hand than Yao. But I guess that's just another one of his physical gifts.
That was my point. Yao FORCES the other team to make adjustments to take him out of games. It's on Yao's teammates to take advantage of the crazy open shots that Yao provides them. I could just imagine Yao on the Magic with all those wing players AND playing in the weak east. Howard's lack of offense makes HIS OWN TEAM do adjustments to take him out of games. And yes, it does matter how you get points. How can you be a focal point of your team when the majority of your offense is off missed shots or dump offs from guards?
Its like driving 80 mph into a wall my friend. No matter what howard does, its because he's athletic. There are alot of athletic bigs in the league and i dont see them droppping 21-14-3bpg. I dont see gasol dropping 31-16 in a playoff game. People need to realize that you can give a guy credit without trying to downsize another player. Yao is a good player and so is howard. Neither are dominant, but howard puts up more dominant numbers on a more successful team. That doesnt mean yao doesnt play well against him. Paul is regarded as the best pg in the league, but williams kills him and his team every time they play. That doesnt mean paul is not a good player or better than williams either.
Even if the Magic aren't running post ups through him, they'll usually run high PnRs with him. When he dives to the basket, he's such a threat either catching and finishing or crashing on the offensive boards, that the other team has to make a decision. Do they send help, or stay on the 3-point shooters? As a big man, you can definitely have an impact on the offense without getting touches in the post. PnR is the play most good offensive teams will run at the end of games. Even the Rockets prefer to run it in crunch time.
Sounds a lot like what the Rockets do when Yao doesn't get the shot in a posession. But I guess thats the problem these Howard bashers have. When it happens to Yao, its because the other players just aren't giving him the ball. When it happens to Howard, its because he isn't that good or doesnt have the postmoves or skills. I think I understand now.
What's so good about creating semi open 3 point shots? Magics already chuck up a lot of those. D12 fits well by cleaning up after them often. Can you imagine Yao running up and down the court because the Magics player keeps chucking up 3s?
To me, "physical ability" and "skill" is really a false distinction. It's just about what you do to help your team win. Dwight Howard, at the end of games, may not be the designated go to scorer. But that doesn't make him simply a glorified Ben Wallace. He's too good as a finisher, and he draws too much defensive attention, for that comparison to make any sense.
But if we lose, we will keep complaining other guys not feeding yao the ball... We won the first game is mainly because of our good shooting percentage and their suck in O and D not because of our good passing and team ball. One of my biggest concern is so far i don't see it that we have a good game running system like spur. So if our shooting percentage is back to normal and their O and D play better, what will we do? or just keep playing ball like 3rd quater? Gambling our game on AB or Ron's shoot? BTW, Deke is always Deke, he is amazing, too early to think of retired~
Exactly this is a team where others than Yao have to score ! The scoring was evenly distributed in the game last night and look who won. Brooks even looked CP3ish at times and thats what the Rockets organization have said he will be some day so we will see. Shane,Brooks and Wafer have to hit that outside shot to give Yao some working room or it doesn't really matter what the Blazers do on D !!!!!!!!!
We won our first game because we kicked the crap out of them on the defensive end. I dont care what you say, holding the opponent to 81 points will win you alot of games. Why is using Yao to get a great look for other players a bad thing. Battier had WIDE open penetrations based on the other team overplaying Yao. Why is exploiting mismatches a bad play?? If our shooting percentage goes back to normal?? You mean mid to upper 40s?? I'll play a game with ya. ABs average this season is 38% on 3, and 40% on 2. SO lets give him his average: He took 17 shots, hitting 10. But 8 were 3s, so lets give him 3 of them(3/8 is roughly 37% so thats pretty close). That leaves 9 shots inside the arc, he hit 5 of those this game, so lets take 2 of those away. You just took 10 points away from Aaron Brooks, and we STILL win this game in a laugher. Same for Artest, 7 for 12, with 2 of 6 from the 3line, so thats 5 of 6 from inside the arc. He is usually 40% on FGs so with 6 shots, lets take off 6 points from his total. 2 of 6 on 3 is actually lower, but lets just leave it there. Rockets STILL win by double figures....
You could say much the same thing about Scola. Yes, it was one game, but he took that long, skilled athletic player you're always jonesin' for and covered him like a blanket. Did it while scoring 19, grabbing 8 boards, and having only one turnover in 35 minutes. Did it while holding Aldridge to 3-12, 3 boards, and 7 points. Not bad for an "old and slow guy" that you're ready to trade at the drop of a hat. Just thought I'd point that out.
I don't know why you think I am whining. T-Mac didn't dribble a lot. His thing was holding the ball for a long time. But the difference between T-Mac and Brooks is that T-Mac has court vision and Brooks doesn't have much. I am not a Brooks hater. I actually feel more comfortable seeing Brooks shooting 3s than T-Mac shotting 3s. But Brooks is no T-Mac when it comes to creating easy shots for his teammates. I don't know about others. I am not complaining about Yao not getting the ball. I am just curious if the other players, especially Brooks were doing what they were supposed to do. durvasa's Adelman quotes show that they did, and that's good. But I do feel nervous every time Brooks dribbles around aimlessly. It reminds me of the old Steve Francis.
