Can the Rockets learn from history?

Indeed. Too lazy to look it up, but Ariza had a strech of games in the bottom quarter of the season when he looked like a star. Bringing Martin to the team did wonders for Ariza's game.

Let's not forget, I don't believe nobody knows how to guard Kobe better than Ariza, certainly not Artest when he was with the Rockets.

Assuming a certain giant is a go this year, I am very hopeful for the coming. Though it may be a bit earlier to predict, some western teams have already lost some key members, whereas we will gain a most important cog in Yao Ming (fingers crossed).

With a healthy Yao and his supposedly backup-to-be, this team is ready to compete.

 

After trading for Drexler, there was a fair stretch of injuries that really kept the unit from playing all together, clyde missed half a dozen games, then straight after hakeem missed 10 etc when they were all together they were pretty scary to the rest of the league.

 

We won the division in 1993, winning 55 games and being knocked out in the conference semis...in overtime of game 7.

We were absolutely a contender....no one thought the Rox weren't a contender for a championship.

 

If is just as much a Yao homer word (if you want to start labeling people) as it is a Tracy word.

In fact, IF has been the word for this team for the last several years.

We don't want any IFs, we want a WILL. This team WILL either be good enough or not, and we move on from there. Saying this team will be a contending team IF our injury prone players stay healthy is a gamble, and a gamble we have lost for the past several years.

Like I said, standing pat is assuming our IFs come true. Morey knows this, hence the reason we've been trying to acquire Bosh. We want security and insurance in case Yao goes down again, and Bosh offers (not anymore unfortunately) the height, shotblocking and rebounding we need.

 

if you'll read the message i was responding to, DaDa (which I quoted in my post)....you'll see that "contender" was the word being used in the discussion.

no one considers this current bunch a championship contender....there's a gigantic difference from coming off of a 55 win, division championship, semifinals game 7 OT appearance with the best player in the game.....

and coming off the season this team did with talk about how we can limit our best player's minutes long enough to keep him around all season.

certainly you can see the HUGE difference between the 2.

 

And why don't you just go ahead and say that Yao Ming in 2010 (or ever) is similar to Hakeem Olajuwon from 93-96. You already said something just as stupid with respect to Duncan - so go ahead and go all in here.

 

i get the sense, then, these aren't things you actually THINK...but, rather, things you hope. you're just, as you say, "going along" because it's what we're stuck with. making the best of it.

that's great. i will do the same. but if you ask me what I THINK about it, i'll tell you...this isn't a championship contender, no matter how much I want them to be.

 

Uh, it's not Rafer-esque when they go in.

 

I think generally speaking we're in a pretty good situation. Lots of young talent. Some first round picks on the horizon.

Only problem is our two biggest "stars" (Yao and Martin) are both injury prone.

So you can't really count on us being healthy for a championship run.

If we get over that great, big IF staring at us year in year out, we'll be tough to beat.

But if (when?) one (or both) of those guys goes down, we're fun to watch and have lots of heart, but there's not much else to say.

 

If Lebron goes to the heat no one but the heat will win a ring for the next 6 years.

 

I honestly think Morey is waiting to see if Yao can stay healthy this year...If not, I could seriously see Morey trying to move him. I mean let's be honest here, Yao is not going to play that much longer, his feet and legs are weak. If i was Morey, i try for this next year, and MAYBE 1 or 2 more depending on his health. If he gets injured again, which to be honest, is more than likely going to happen again...I would expect Morey to really look into what value he could get for Yao.

Assuming Yao can stay healthy and injury free for the remainder of his tenure as a Rocket, then yes you have the right idea moving forward. All the other plans and players revolve around what happens with Yao over the next 3 to 4 years.

 

I'd have to think about that...but my gut says no.

But I honestly have a difficult time imagining him staying healthy while still playing enough minutes to have the kind of impact he'd need to have for them to be a championship team.

I don't view Yao as an elite player...as an alpha dog type player. I think you know that about me. I've seen him neutralized too easily.

 

yikes. well you lost me there.

i love AB. but i don't see this guy being in the Kobe, LeBron, Durant, Wade discussion.

 

Yao could be healthy but another half-step slower. The truth is that we don't know what even a healthy Yao looks like anymore.

We also don't know how the Scola situation will play out. And of course, DM is still working on a trade. Too many factors to consider presently to declare that we are contenders.

We have no shot against the likes of the Celtics, Heat (?), and Lakers without improvement of the roster.

 

alright