I hate to say it, but I do not think we are missing anything when Yao is off the floor with Mutumbo filling in. After his third year Yao seems to have settled in with being mediocre. I do not see a spark much less a fire. Meanwhile, Mutumbo lacking the youth still has the wisdom of years and is playing to get the job done.
Did you happen to look through the forum before you started this thread? 'cause there are millions of similiar ones already there.
Hey, easy on rigster. Rigster is right. Dikembe Mutumbo was sensational last night. He rebounded well, and provided us with offense (4-5 hook shots, dunks, foul shots etc). Mutumbo has an underrated hook shot that seemed to be more automatic moreso than Mo Taylor's and even Yao's of this year. Mutumbo is one of my favorite players after last nights game.
Yao's offense is like 100x better than Mutombo's. Or at least it used to be. If Yao ain't scorin for whatever reason, then Mutombo is gonna be a better contributor cuz he's a better shotblocker and rebounder.
what's problem with you guys, are you guys watching the game? everytime Yao step on the court, double team come in him right away, i don't see any double team on Mutombo, on defence, Amare score 11 points on Mutombo with 4 of 7 shooting, only score 3 points on Yao with 1 of 8 shooting. You guys think Mutombo is more impact than Yao, that's ......
Deke does not get double teamed and therefore has more room to operate. However, he does a lot of things better than Yao, like making himself a big easy target to pass to by sealing off his man, and he is still and excellent shot blocker. DD
It's easy to seal off your man when he's not feriously denying your ball. Are you watching tonight Spurs vs Pacers game? Duncan has problem with fronting and aggressive double-team too. He has to step outside the paint to get the ball.
This is like to say Jon Barry was better than TMac because we got closer when he was on the court, with TMac on the bench. Yao couldn't make himself a more obvious target when he had Shaw Marion on him during one of the strentch, but he didn't recieve even ONE touch that whole time. Yes, Marion was very active to deny him the ball, but come on, was it that hard to spread the floor, clean up one side, play a 2-man game with Yao. Our spacing was horrible, and ball handler wasn't much better either. Oh btw, Deke was great, but he was posted 3 or four times by Amare, Hunter, even Marion last night, but Yao completed shut down any of Suns inside game, now we still got this "Deke played better defensively." crap? Unbelievable!
I saw the game, and frankly, the Rockets played better with Mutombo on the floor. That was my impression. He appeared more mobile. That doesn't mean he can "always" perform that well, but he was impressive last night. The Rockets couldn't make their open shots, and that was the central issue in the outcome. Along with the fact that the Suns shot the light out. Despite a couple of dunks and the scramble on the floor, Ming looked listless, and, as usual, soooo slow. He is probably still recovering from the flu. But, again, I don't think he is being utilized properly, and he is far too passive. I wonder if that is ever going to change. If I were his size, I would be putting opponents in the cheap seats and tearing rims off.
What more do you expect? Rockets have the most unloyal fans I've ever seen for a sports team. No wonder nobody goes to the games.
The Rox played better with Deke on the floor, because he didn't draw 3 defenders, tempting the Rox Guards to shoot first, pass later. when the Suns played normal D, it forced the Rox to goto their bread and butter half court game, or at least pass the ball around a bit
Yao has the mentality of a role player. However, the problem is that he isn't a very good role player. You need hustle from a role player, and Yao doesn't provide that. It's really a dilemma and a legit question. Is Yao Ming really helping this team win ball games now? His plus/minus numbers aren't too good, are they?
Wow, that was a fast read! I agree that was a factor, but do you think that was the only factor? Didn't Mutombo look a little quicker, more foot speed, a better rebounding technique, and a more accurate hook shot? (well, Ming doesn't really feature a hook, but you know what I mean.) Mutombo is probably forty, and there is no way he should look better than Ming, but, IMO, he did.
I wouldn't want Yao to go to LA, but it would be ironic. Both teams would have players driven out of town. Kobe drove Shaq out of town, while fans drove Yao out of town.
Deke had a good game, but against any other team, the Rox would seriously struggle on offense without Yao. On defense, Yao still has a way to go before he can match Deke
