Check mate. I knew you would come up with this argument. Then question. What kind of basketball do they play over there in Europe? Bingo. Team basketball with no real No 1 or No. 2 options. However, we play a different game in this league. To your question. Yao Ming was not the No. 1 option so far and when he was in the couple of last two years he was injured. Before it was ON TRACY. He played out of his mind in 2006 before he got injured in the Clippers game.
Even with Francis? Francis was actually a really good player. He was the best player on that team. Take the Yao blinders off. I've posted on here before the records without TMac and without Yao. The team has a winning record without Yao. The team before last season had an abysmal record without TMac. Yao isn't what he is made out to be.
Alright. I take 'em off. But ask yourself do you need a Gasol. Scola is getting there. Why a softer Scola with more scorer mentality? Answer that.
Good. I thought of his weakness, the dribbling to the end of the shot clock. Francis was a bona fide scorer and slasher but he wasn't going to make his teammates much better.
The Blazers were inexperienced. That is fact. But they had a great young core with an upcoming superstar. And we had no Tracy. Figure that out.
My thoughts exactly except i am not asian. I don't understand how people can call him dominant/franchise player when he hasn't gotten to the conference finals or nba finals or a championship. In the regular season his teams have not done any better than a mediocre 5 seed. Not to mention 4 consecutive yrs of foot related injuries. Hakeem/kareem/shaq/Dhoward. these are dominant/franchise centers not yao.
You missed an important number - $16,378,325 for those stats over the next 82+ games. I certainly wouldn't offer him the max come 2011.
That's a big IFF on Yao. Sure he played out of his mind in 2006. He played out of his mind in Game one against the Blazers this year. Then what happenned? Oh yeah they figured out how to stop him. Front him because he's not athletic enough to catch the lob pass. Sure he has more potential maybe more upside than Gasol, but we've been waiting 6 years for Yao maximize his potential and become more agreesive or dominant and he has failed to stay healthy time and time again. We can wait on him even more, but most importantly. With Gasol, he may not demand a Max contract given us more flexibility to sign better players around him essentially making our team better. As long as Yao ming is on the books for his Max Contract and not playing. The Rockets are going no where fast.
They have a great core, and a young superstar, but they we had the matchup advantage. We had an amazing disadvantage against the Jazz. McGrady is the reason we took Dallas to 7. Had we had Battier then, I think we would have been past the first round.
If you want to win a title you gotta think long term. Gasol won't make us a contender. Nor a good play off team. Be realistic we won't get a Kobe or Lebron kind of player so what do we do? Add tough players who have got talent. Pau does not count in that. He's feeding off Kobe's, Fish's, Ariza's competitive nature to succeed. And sometimes that of Lamar.
I don't necessarily disagree. The point I want to make is that I don't think a player's playoff success is a great indicator of his value as a player.
What kind of contract do you guys think Yao will get after next season? What about Gasol? People arguing that Yao is more capable of "carrying" a team should rethink that. In this league, centers can't be relied on to carry a team's offense. You need great perimeter players. You need great pick and roll players. You need versatility. I'd rather have Gasol (who I suspect would demand less money than Yao a year from now), and then put a star wing player next to him to be the true number 1 in the 4th quarter.
it's sad, but bball-wise and for this team...yes. esp. when you count in health concerns going forward. But monetarily, I don't think the Rockets brass would allow it. Marketing losses, attendance losses, apparel sales losses, Chinese TV losses, sponsorship losses... no way unless they got someone back with equal appeal (i.e. Lebron)
He's a much better athlete, and taller than Scola. I want him because he is healthy if we talk about this season. Without a top wing player, I don't think this team contends with either. I don't resign Yao from a basketball standpoint. I would trade him for a 1st round pick.
This is one of those bizarre situations where I don't even know toward which aspect I want to direct the sarcasm. I can't figure out what's better: the fact that this scenario is so preposterous that the Lakers would laugh the Rockets off the phone or the fact that an overwhelming majority here actually wouldn't make this deal.
I'll agree with you on the fact that without defensive juggernauts such as the Lakers, Celtics, partly Spurs and Cavs we might succeed with Gasol because RA would maximize his talent. HOWEVER, he's no defensive player. At least you heard often enough that Yao's impact on the defensive end is more important than what he does on offense. So what if the Blazers were figuring out how to stop him. With a healthy McGrady and an efficient RonRon we would be in the Finals. AND that IF was close to coming TRUE. All we need are healthy wing players who can score and defend with Yao. You gotta have FAITH in the surgery. YAO was injury prone but he has NEVER had his foot rest. Playing for the National team does is not conducive to good health.
I guess I just never felt the team was a title contender because I don't like Yao as a secondary option.
