I dont want to make this team any smaller.. come on guys. He dont have enough tall athletic type players and pure shooters. My Ideal Yao Centric Team (with a possibility of happening) would be PG - SNash his stats have taken a dive this year because of so many added stars to the team, but the consumate team player also a great/clutch FT and 3pt shooter. ESnow cant shoot, I dont see what everyone else see's in this guy.. good defender, cant shoot? I think there are tons of guys like that. SG - RAllen I like his range and he can really spread the floor, I think hes spent time at PG too so he can share responsibilities. Cat would be an awesome backup to RAllen or as a starter. (in case we dont get Allen) .. I would also move JJ to the 2 as he is undersized at the 3 (as a backup). SF - the forward positions need the biggest upgrade in my opinion.. RLewis would be awesome , Sjackson or JJohnson.. all tall athletic 3's not stars but up and coming players.. all can shoot but if the guards are marksmen it would be nice to have some slashers. I love JJackson but I think he would be more productive coming off the bench and spending more time at the 2. PF - RWallace seems to be one of the best, also obtainable PF in this FA class.. KThomas I also like TMurphy ... C - Is Yao and whomever backing him up.. I would love to keep Cato but may be an expensive luxury.. i would hate to let so many people go.. but in the best interest of this team.. SF3, MoT and Cato are paid too much and I hope we dont make the same mistakes with the next group of people we bring in.. I would love to keep Cat because he is a bargain and have JJ backing him up.. (but if we have the chance to land RAllen we take it) PG - SNash / CWard SG - RAllen / Cat / JJackson SF - RLewis / JJackson / Boki PF - RWallace / Spoon C - Yao / Cato or whomever realistically.. we have a chance of getting (salary is a consideration) PG - BBarry / Cward SG - RAllen / Cat SF - JJackson / Boki PF - RWallace / Spoon C - Yao / Cato Cat would be an awesome spark off the bench for us .. Cward would help provide tough defense and decision making, while Rallen is the 2nd star that compliments Yao's style of play. BBarry is the marksman and also great decision maker while Rsheed gives us size, shooting and mobility at the 4. Looks like championship contender to me.. It doesnt look like there are many good 3's available this summer.. J
The advantage in having guards that can run a break are imbedded in the fact that a JVG team is going to average 75 FGA's/game (80-83 FGA's on a good night). Fast break points and points off of TO's could be a huge factor in taking the team from an 83 ppg / 8 Fastbreak team to a a 90+ ppg / 12+ fastbreak ppg team. TOP 12 FB ppg: DEN - 20.40 DAL - 16.87 NJN - 16.30 MEM - 15.95 NO - 13.93 WAS - 13.81 MIL - 13.43 PHO - 13.18 PHI - 13.10 SEA - 13.02 CLE - 12.66 SAC - 12.37 #29 HOU - 7.65 TOP 10- points off TO ppg: MEM - 19.1 PHO - 19.1 DEN - 18.6 WAS - 17.98 BOS - 17.97 NO - 17.82 NJ - 17.37 SAC - 17.0 LAL - 16.98 SEA - 16.84 #25 HOU - 14.78
here is a lineup that sounds pretty feasible. pg: Nash, cward sg: JJ, cuttino PF: rasheed, mo sf: turkolu, ag Center: yao, cato
I think the most important piece we want to get is a good Point Guard. A good PG will elevate the entire team. Someone with court vision, willingness and the ability to pass, decent shooter with range out to 3 point line, a decent defender. (good example would be Jason Kidd, younger Mark Jackson, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas) Trust me, without a good PG to handle the ball, the rockets won't go far beyond the 1st round.
MacBeth, you think Damon Stoudamire is good. Hahahaha. You fool. Sir Jackie, i gotta team that would beat yours. Steve Nash Tracy McGrady Kevin Garnett Tim Duncan Yao
a couple people i like, in no real order, are: pf: lafrentz, game fits perfectly, contract too big boozer, i doubt he goes anywere camby, would be perfect if he were a beter shooter murphy, would be a nice fit drobnjak, perfect fit ku. thomas, may be a little slow on D sheed, a real hoped for sf: prince, can guard both 3/4 and is a solid 3pt shooter dunleavy, nice shooter, smart player mike miller, great shooter but poor defender battier, perfect fit, grea shooter and defender wally world, like miller turkoglu, see battier radmnovic, nice shooter, can defend 3/4 harpring, could be a better outside shooter, tough defender sg: keep cat! great defender and 3pt shooter. pg: hinrich, everything we want sans experience nash, probobly not going anywere billups, great fit on offence, not so such a good defender jaric, good shooter, great defender b. davis, probobly not being oved either bbarry, perfect fit a. wiliams, also a really nice fit
I don't think your team would beat mine...and it would be less Yao-Centric. Yao needs a bunch of guys who he can kick the ball out to and they will make threes. Allen and Nowitzki are better for that than McGrady and Garnett. Also, I think T-Mac is not that good. Can you imagine Orlando having the same record with Kobe instead of T-Mac? And T-Mac wants to dominate the ball. Allen can play better off the ball. Nash is great, but Kidd is better. Imagine: Kidd brings the ball up court - passes to Yao. Yao either 1) scores 2) misses 3) passes the ball back out to one of the three-point threats If 1)-->fine If 2)-->Garnett or Nowitzki or Yao himself or Kidd will get the rebound. If 3) Allen or Nowitzki will make the three, because teams will have to double-team Yao or the chance of Yao scoring is about 70 %, so Allen or Nowitzki will be open.
On the endurance issue. I was referring more to how Yao can conserve energy during games, rather than his stamina in general. We know Yao can't fight for the post every time down and not be tired out by the end of the night. So he has to find ways to take shots that take less energy, while still shooting a high %. Ewing did this very well. Even if his low post game leaves a lot to be desired(for a dominant center anyway). I'm still not sure about the detriment of having to share the left post position. There have been twin towers in the past, like Robinson/Duncan, Sampson/Hakeem, that had a lot of success. That said, I can definitely see a potential problem. Just that perhaps the good outweigh that bad. Anyway, this will probably end up a moot point. The Clippers aren't likely to trade Brand and Indiana certainly isn't giving away O'Neal. It's much more likely that we'll get a Pierce or Allen instead. Which I'd be perfectly fine with.
I beg your parden? Shaq Duncan TMac (Peja) Kobe Nash This will be a great matchup for basket fans of the world. However, my $$ is on Kobe's team in a best of 7 series for a 4:2 or 4:3 win.
Some players I DON'T want, at any price : Ballhogs. We've seen that. It's death. It's Satan. It's the evil that walks amoung us. It's Yao on the blocks waving his arms and a jack sailing overhead. You name them. I've got a long list. Some are talented. They are all evil. Back away from the ballhogs.
I don't understand how a good thread like this turn into another boring trading thread. That shows how the fans dislike the current make up of the team. I still believe we can win a championship with a great center like Yao, and a great PG. Other pieces will fall into place when we have the essential PG & C. Only after we got the PG problem solve, the second thing we need is some good perimeter shooters that can take advantage of the open shots. Too bad good perimeter shooters are at a premium in this league. Here's my line up without too much dreaming: Richard Hamilton (sweet J and can go to the hoop) Yao (no doubt) Rashard Lewis (versatile) Jason Kidd (he can do magic) Kenyon Martin (good offense and defense, tons of upside)
Seems like Cat fits your description perfectly. No need for a change here. Jimmy Jackson seems to work here as well. Hey, half of the positions are already filled, lucky. Ya know, Spoon is a good defender, rebounder, and can stick the open 15 footer. Taylor is the same sans rebounding. I think that is good enough to get by. I guess our only real problem is at PG.
I don't think that's our only real problem. We've had forward problem all season. Any PF that is quick, and mobile (e.g. Dirk, Gasol, R. Lewis, etc...) really hurts us, bad. A 3 guard, 2 center, lineup isn't going to work in the West. JJ has been a nice 3 for us, but a bigger 3 could help us alot. I think adding Barry, R. Lewis, and Sheed, is feasible. Barry and Sheed could be signed, I'm sure we could talk Seattle into a sensible trade.
Exactly, and all shooting guards need to be able to shoot, and all power fowards need to be able to rebound. That didn't need to be pointed out.
think of guys who will be easy to get: at SF: maybe Stephen Jackson PF: if Sheed is re signed, go for Okur PG: if Steve stays, go for Barry.. These are only FA signings. But I prefer trades in order tu utilize fully our TE
insight on the rockets from David Aldridge's most recent NBA chat: J.R. (Pittsburgh, PA): Last night's game should help silence the few remaining Yao doubters. However, it also illustrated the need for some major overhauls in the Rockets backcourt (I'd trade francis and mobley). Who would you consider an ideal backcourt to complement Yao, based on playmaking, scoring, and defensive skills? David Aldridge: Eric Snow and Ray Allen. - how ideal would this be: a pass-first mentality PG plus a great outside shooter/slasher to complement Yao. If GP opts out of his contract at season's end, as seems likely with his season-long disgruntled comments about the Lakers, lets sign GP, and then there are 2 alternatives to consider: 1) trade SF for either a legit 4 (ala Shareef Abdur-Rahim), someone that has a legit postgame, while being able to board and D up - heck i'm even willing to blow things up and go sign KMart 2) trade SF for a top 5 draft pick: heck if SF was the #2 pick overall, wouldn't some team be willing to give up their top 5 pick for SF? imagine if you're orlando and you get the #2 overall pick, dwight howard goes #1, but would you really draft okafor while already having jhoward and dgooden on your team? why not roll the dice to pair SF with TMac, and give up your #2 pick. - this way, okafor gets to come back to his hometown of Htown and provide the ideal 4 complement to yao's game, while getting a chance to learn and not be forced to be the main cog. go Rox...
