Building the Perfect Power Forward Next to Yao Ming

I didn't get a chance to post before ASidd_1990, so now I'll have to say that I agree:

You want a decent combination of the skills on Clutch's list?

Ekpe Udoh.

I was saying before the NCAA Tournament, I'll keep saying it.

The kid can block shots, rebound (the attributes we really need in a 4/5), as well as shoot and pass.

He may be better on defense than on offense, but we have the latter and now suck at the former, with or without Yao. It's a perfect deal: pay about $2 million for Udoh as a draft pick, get the skills he brings. He's mature and plays a TEAM game. He can pick up Yao's slack and step in when the big guy leaves.

Hopefully Udoh hasn't stuck it to us by moving up in the draft where we can't get him.

 

I chose:

Terrific rebounder
Terrific shotblocker
Terrific post defender (one-on-one defense on PFs)
Terrific shooting range (Ability to pull defenders away from post)



Because if you have someone who can rebound, block shots, and defend the post that's pretty much a complete defensive player. In addition anyone that can do all that is going to have to have a good amount of height/and or speed anyways. It's just impossible for a short, slow player to do all 3 well. lol

Add an outside shot to stretch the d, and we're set. So we just need to find a Tim Duncan with a more consistent jumper, and let the titles roll in. lol again


I think a prime P.J. Brown would be great on this team. He had a good amount of all those qualities, and didn't need a lot of touches either.

 

You forgot to add as an option "can walk on water"

 

hell nah

 

My picks in order:

Shooting ability
Versatility
Rebounding
Speed&Athleticism (at least on defense)

Shooting ability. It's absolutely crucial when we play teams with personnel to front and double Yao. It doesn't have to be 3-point range, Scola's range is good enough.

Versatility. Like it or not, Yao is injury prone and nobody knows how many minutes he will be able to play even if his on-court performance returns back to normal. A guy who can switch to center is valuable.

Rebounding. Our backcourt just doesn't rebound and while Ariza is ok in that department, we need more even with Yao, who is underrated as a rebounder.

Speed&Athleticism. This is about the only thing on my list that Scola doesn't provide. I'm thinking this one more from the defensive standpoint. Our team is filled with guys for whom there are tons of bad mismatches in this league: Yao, Brooks, Martin etc. We need someone to be helping there quick and covering for them.

Why I omitted the rest from my list?

Height and size are nice, but if the player has the attributes I listed, it doesn't matter what size he is. I'm not going to kick for example Maxiell with a jumper, Dorsey with a brain and jumper or Carl Landry with rebounding out of the team just because they are might not be the ideal size.

Shot blocking would be nice too, but the fact is that there just aren't that many 4's in the league who can block shots. If they can(like Camby) they usually do it the "Hassan Whiteside way" of not playing any defense at all and then trying to block shots from behind when you are already beaten.

Post defense. How many good post scorers are there really in this league?
Yao in an elite post defender himself and we hopefully have Chuck still waiting on the bench.

Post scoring. Whe have the best in the league, if Yao comes back. If not, then this whole thread doesn't have a real purpose.

Passing. Would be nice, but it's really a luxury. Again, how many 4's are there in this league who can pass? Not that many. Chuck is a good one if he still is with us. Yao himself is adequate.

What realistic ways the team has to cover these attributes I want?

a) Sign Scola and add another 4/5 type athlete with preferably shotblocking skills to the bench. Scola does 3 out of 4 of my preferred attributes very well.

b) Pray and hope that Jordan Hill develops a jumpshot and keeps getting better in the things he already has. Rebounding: Check Size: Check, Athleticism: Check, PF/C Versatility: In progress, probably Check at some point. You can keep Scola too, if Hill develops. A combo of Yao/Scola/Hill/Hayes? is potentially very good.

c) Get lucky in the draft. This draft is filled with bigs. Some of them will turn out to be good enough to be paired with Yao, most will be not. Do I know, which is which? No, I don't and historically no GM does either. Some teams are perhaps little better at it but it's better be lucky than good.

d)Trade for one. I don't want Amare, he doesn't rebound, play defense and is a primadonna. Bosh I would maybe want but the prize will be very high. There might be other options, but I really don't know if trading is the best way.

 

Just go for the best overall PF Chris Bosh in the offseason imo. If he's not interested in playing for Houston, we still have Scola and Hill.

 

Nice thread. I picked:

Speed/Athleticism
Position Versatility
Terrific shooting range
Terrific passer

 

Since we don't have a time machine to either 1) get Catomic or 2) get pre-broken down Yao, it's kind of a moot point.

But anyway, worth noting is that at the pinnacle of his career, which I generally mark to be pre-injury 2006-2007 season, where he was just destroying the whole league in November and December - he was suiting up next to Chuck Hayes for most of the time.

Edit: just generally digging around 82games a bit, and I guess not surprising, it appears that the Rockets most statistically effective lineups of their various teams from 05 to 09, more often than not, featured a Yao-Hayes pairing up front.

 

Shooter
Passer
Shot blocker
Post defender

 

Yeah, that's not surprising. If we keep our lottery pick, I'd go after a raw, athletic defensive stalwart so he could make an immediate impact to the roster NOW.

Does anyone else think Morey will not keep the pick for this years draft? Or perhaps he could make a pick for another team for a post-draft deal.

Or how about Battier for Thabeet? Salaries match.. Memphis expressed a need for a defensive wing with experience before the trade deadline. I don't like Thabeet too much as an individual player, but he'd fit perfectly with what we have now. This would be a likely scenario if Morey uses the lottery pick on a wing player.

AB/Lowry
Martin/13th pick
Ariza/Budinger
Scola/Thabeet/Hill
Yao/Thabeet/Hill

Taylor, Jeffries and Andersen to round out the roster.
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And there you have it. IF we cannot trade for Bosh, then I am of the opinion that the best fit next to Yao is Chuckie. We don't need his offense with Yao/Martin/Brooks going. We can bring Scola and Hill off the bench. And perhaps sign someone like Camby or O'Neal as a 5th big. Then look to trade Andersen along with some combo of Jeffries/Battier/Ariza/Budinger plus a draft pick for a major rotation piece on the perimeter.

 

Its hard to rank attributes. I would go with height and athleticism at this point. It depends if Yao starts or not. We should probably bank of the idea that this PF also has compliment Luis. I want Bosh. Bosh and Scola will play 37 minutes and Yao can get his 20-25. Then you have Chuck as a defensive specialist (man defense) and get another 7 footer just for backup size and shot blocking. I think if you can throw that combination with Brooks/Martin you have a real good balance.

 

Worth remembering: Hayes was probably the best complement for a PRIME Yao in 2005-2009. Probably because Yao's offensive efficiency was extraordinarily high then, so freeing him from doing the defensive dirty work produced the optimal result (rather than say having Steve Novak or Juwan Howard out there), and was enough to cancel out Hayes' offensive shortcoming.

Would Hayes still be the best complement for a diminished post 2010 Yao? Maybe not - I have a feeling his offensive efficiency won't be what it was so you can't get away with putting a truly offensive offensive player in Hayes next to him like you could previously.

 

I think Marcus Camby would be good with Yao.

 

LUISSCOLA

 

Sorry Clutch but this thread is an insult to Scola's hard work this year.

No mention whether it's a backup spot...

 

There is nobody perfect playing along with Yao Ming in this world.

Bottom line, we need to trade yao if we want to have any chance to win champ again.

 

Agreed. Camby himself said he would like to play for the rockets. Morey should go after him this summer. Hopefully, LLE will be enough.

 

He needs somebody who can be on the floor whenever he's not, which is going to be around half of every game, most likely... not somebody to play alongside him.

Basically, what we need is another starter-quality center. We already have power forwards who are well suited to playing with Yao.

 

Otis Thorpe with a jump shot. While in Houston over the weekend, I entertained myself late at night by watching my collector's edition of the '93-'94 championship series against the Knicks. OT had almost everything you need in a power forward, except for shot blocking and a jumper. He was an excellent passer, being possibly the best outlet passer ever to lace them up. OT handled a basketball like it was an orange, having incredibly big, strong hands. He was a terrific rebounder and defender, with classic size at the 4 spot. Otis played the 5 when Dream needed a blow. I almost cried when we traded him, then I realized we'd aquired Clyde, so there were cheers instead of tears.

Anyone like him out there?