I think now we are sort of missing Rafer Alston in the point guard position. Aaron Brooks has not been very good at the point guard position. He just cannot run the team the way Rafer did and he lacks true point guard vision.
Big, athletic, and extremely talented teams have a way of exposing your weaknesses. The Rockets are very inexperienced at the guard positions, and undersized. We have no "real" back up center. Battier is an extremely nice guy and a good defender, but.... Yao is not exactly a playoff terror. For what ever reasons, he can't elevate his game in the playoff atmosphere. This is not all his fault, but he isn't blameless. Our bigs aren't big. Artest is an elite role player but he can't consistently carry a team offensively. This team has tons of heart, and often plays over their heads, but, talentwise, the Rockets are simply not elite. I thought they were really fortunate to get past the extremely long and talented Blazers.
Yao is only going to have good games when he gets touches. Anyone who questions his intensity isn't watching the games. The guy works like crazy to establish position but if he doesn't get that position in the first 5 seconds, then AB decides that he's not waiting for Yao and ignores him. Pure rookie stupidity. I do agree that Yao was less intense in the second half of this game, but come on, the guy was playing on a bum ankle. Most of you guys criticizing him probably couldn't have even walked on a bum ankle but Yao still got a double double.
Solid, great post! I think fans get wrapped up a confuse playing hard with talent. The rox have to play full throttle because they don't have the talent not. Everytime the rox play La, the rox players are down the list in terms of talent. I mean Odom is more talented than anyone on the rockets. He can do things no rocket can do except tracy. There isn't 1 matchup the rox have that is as wide as the gap from kobe to any rocket player. This is kinda starting to turn into what I thought it was going to be at first. A yound, long, atheletic team vs a small try hard team. The spurs had the same problems and for the rest of the west its going to be a problem for the rest until they can close the talent gap. BTW, I think denver matches up very well with La. I say that cause martin and kleiza can matchup with odom, smith and anthony will make kobe play defense, billups will kill their pg, andersonn and nene really matches up with gasol , and denver is a tougher more intimidating team.
We shouldn't be bashing our team right now. Let's just enjoy the games (win or lose). We have already done what people didn't think was possible for us to accomplish.
Yes we should and we should not be happy with just a first round win like Artest has said. The Rockets have lost focus and came out like a bunch of losers last night. The Rockets have not overachieved so far because they can take LA. It's just a matter of doing it but you have to play smart. The Rockets have not done that. By the way, was Deke in the house last night ?
Yao is a very good player, BUT he simply does not have the athleticism (speed, agility, balance, quickness, explosion, stamina, durability, etc.) as most elite NBA players. He is "intense" in his own way, but he is not intense in a game changing way. Kobe Bryant is intense. Yao is a wonderful person, very skilled, trys hard, doesn't have the best support (he gets some really pathetic passes), but I have never thought you could build a team around he and TMac given the current NBA rules. What Yao would be like if he were not the focus of the offense would be interesting. What he would be like he was surrounded by a high level of talent would be facinating as well. I think Yao would like to play more of a supporting role.
yeah i really miss all those bricks he threw up.. AB is the future and is learning on the go so chill out.. remember were not even suppose be in the 2nd round..1 bad game so what, it wasn't game 7. we just have to regroup,hope yao can go and limit these careless turnovers and forced shots! stick to RUDY T's game plan!! pass it to the big man!!!!!
are u crazy he takes worse shots than ronn ron plus hes undersized at the 2 spot and hes a below average defender
After a good nights sleep I am now prepared to comment. The thing which got me last night was how badly most of the rockets played! The only one who looked like he was doing his job was Battier,they were so bad that they looked as though they didn't belong in the playoffs or that they were missing their best player or that their Point Guard forgot how to play. A repeat of this type of performance will cause hopes to move to next season. Or possibly a coaching change of a dual head coach of Adelman and JVG
If Yao had all-star talent around him, Yao would be a role player, similar to how Zydrunas Illgauskus is used in Cleveland. Just look at the all-star games. Noone passes to Yao because hes not athletic or quick enough to keep up. And don't give me the "all star game is a guards game" bullcrock. Duncan ,KG and Shaq all get their touches in all-star games because they are able to play with all-star talent.
