The bottom line is wins and losses. If we keep yao's minutes the way they are right now we will see the same results. I think we can all agree that we dont like the results we are seeing right now. We need to learn how to win without Yao before we can win with him. Yao's role has to be a added boost not a must have in order to win. He does not have the minutes to play the superstar lean on me role. The 24 minutes a game he is giving us, gives a false sense of security that ends up killing us in the 4th quarter when he cant be there the whole time. Thats one of the reasons his minutes need to be cut so we can learn to swim with out him.
This is a by product of players wanting to get out and get some early offense, it works when you have a dominant rebounder to get them the ball, but the Rox do not. DD
Aha. Here is where you could solve the "what to do with Yao's minutes" question. The Rockets don't need anything from Yao as much as they need him to rebound the basketball and defend the paint. Let's say that it's in Yao's best interests (short-term) to go at a little slower pace in his reintegration. If Yao's down to about 10-15 minutes a game, and all you really want to see from him is strong defensive rebounding and interior defense (like what we're expecting with Erick Dampier, of all people...go figure....)... ...that does a lot to ease the Rockets into one style or the other. You don't have to adjust the game plan for a role player. If Yao's a role player, then play him role-player minutes and adopt a role-player mentality with him, until he's ready to assume a larger workload... ...or at least until the doctors say Yao can come out and play....
Mrdowe, You won't get an argument out of me, and I think that is 100% why they are signing Dampier.... DD
Actually, I was wondering a little bit whether RA was trying to make a point with Morey on loosening up Yao's minute limit. It's no secret he's not happy that that's being dictated. By showing that the Rockets are completely powerless w/o Yao to play good defense, he can force Morey's hand. I'm not convinced he's doing this, but the thought crossed my mind. Especially given how it looked like he was going to let Yao play beyond the 24 min mark against the Lakers.
I'm very irritated that adelman plays chuck hayes so much at center...why the hell did we sign miller and get jordan hill? Now i wont be suprised that even with Dampier, he will play chuck hayes like 35 minutes and run offesnvie plays for him.
Yao simply doesn't look good out there...he looks to have regressed to his pre-dominant days when he was outhustled for rebounds and didn't dunk the ball. The guy is going to need a lot of time. I am not sure if he is earning his 24 minutes a game to be honest. Hopefully in a few months he will come back to form and then we can talk about extending his minutes. This team has issues. It plays really well at times but doesn't know how to make adjustments in the 4th quarter - it's the same thing i saw last year. It's simply cracking under pressure. We need some players to bring confidence and composure to this team late in games.
I think the current logical remedy for the Rockets is to now Sign Randy Moss as an enforcer at the SG and be a defensive presence.
Lowry, Brooks,Budinger, Scola, Hill to finish the game. never play Yao again in 4th quarter. bench Martin in the 4th quarter too unless Brooks is extremely tired.
