Think how much fun it would be to win a championship without a true superstar, especially if we beat Miami. Of course at that point Yao would be considered a "superstar", but it would still be the best championship ever. The Rockets have done some pretty amazing and unexpected things in the past. Ralph making a last second shot to beat a great Laker team in the 1986 playoffs. The Rockets being the underdog and winning four straight series for their championship in 1995. The Rockets winning 22 straight games in 2008. Can a Rocket team without a true "superstar" win a championship in 2010-2011? I think they may surprise some people once again.
How does Yao, Martin, Brooks all have a shot at the HOF, yet Carmelo has as much of a shot as Tmac? Which is basically saying he has no shot. Presumably because he has not "done" anything in the playoffs. Yet he has "done" more than all of Yao, Martin, and Brooks. Please explain.
As a matter of fact it isn't even that big of a risk. What exactly are we risking? Breaking up our championship pedigree? At least with the Drexler trade that group actually already won a championship, so breaking up the team for Drexler would be hard to justify if they failed to win again.
You are missing the point, I think Melo has a good shot, I think if Tmac resurects his career he has a shot too. I was saying they are not a lock for the HOF. DD
No. Tmac has no shot. Zero. Therefore comparing his shot with Carmelo gave me that assumption. If you are just saying he isn't a lock then I agree.
If another trade does happen I hope it is not till the trading deadline. I want to see what the current roster can do.
Agree with the OP and rocketmetal. Am also tired of trade speculations and like what we have already and want to see them play. Looks like we have 19 players at camp and through preseason? Then roster must be at 15 start of season, right? Please clarify - trades can be made before start of this season? Otherwise next trade time is Feb.? This old lady would like to know.
I would like to see this team also. But I don't think it's going to be good enough to win a trophy and Morey has said he wants to add a star.
This team with a healthy Yao will be very good, and I'm intrigued. If Yao goes down (a likely possibility) then this team is nowhere near a contender. The West is tough as nails. If we can add Melo, we need to. With CA, if Yao has to retire, we're in pretty good shape. I appreciate a scrappy, overachieving team as much as anyone, but damnit, I want to contend, and want to know we've got just as much heavy artillery out there as anyone.
Wow. Am I really reading that by adding a guy that has gotten injured for four consecutive seasons (and just had major surgery on one erroneously built foot, whilst leaving the other foot as is), that a team that missed the playoffs just last year, will now be good enough to contend for a championship? I just don't know what to say...
anybody else find it ironic that Yao had played 244 of the first 246 games of his career? Once we traded for Tracy... Yao somehow began having injury problems?? 02-03 - 82 games 03-04 - 82 games 04-05 - 80 games (First Season with T-Mac) 05-06 - 57 06-07 - 48 07-08 - 55 08-09 - 77 I know the first 2 seasons for Yao isnt enough sample size... but i just have a feeling that since we no longer have T-Mac and the bad injury-bug luck that he brought, I tend to think that Yao could end up playing all 82 games this season. If that's the case, our defense will improve greatly, we'll become more efficient (higher FG% + higher FT% + higher FT attempts), and this will open things up more for AB and Martin to do what they do. And yes... we certainly do have a closer.... his name is Aaron Brooks. If you can consider STEVE NASH an ALLSTAR/SUPERSTAR, you better put AB up there with him. Just compare their stats for the 1st 3 years of their careers before you start debating me on this.. I think AB has the potential to be an ELITE (yes, i said ELITE) PG within the next 3 years
1) Not everything is Tracy's fault......he's gone get over it. Unless he Delonte West'ed your mother 2) I like Yao as a person and as a player, but I feel he'd damaged goods at this point. Even if the foot is completely healed, his psyche will never heal completely. Every time he is on the court he will be thinking " Will my foot hold up if I jump" or "Will it hold up if somebody steps on it?" All of this has nothing 2 do with Tracy....get over it 3) I think Aaron Brooks is a nice player.....but closer.......no. Elite? LMFAO Ah Homerism. Lets face it. If we don't get another star or a "superstar" we won't seriously contend. We'll all still cheer and admire the effort but it won't happen.
I'm just going to say it. Courtney Lee and Brad Miller were our missing pieces. We don't need to overstack our team. We are stacked. Yao being back, even not at 100%, even if he has to go out for short stints for whatever reason -- we'll be fine. AB and Martin will shine. Together, this season, they will be more valuable than any 'Superstar'. Hill will be strong. Patterson will eventually contribute. Hayes and Battier will lead. Lowry will continue to lead the second unit. We'll be even stronger without Ariza, and adding Lee. Our team will be without unnecessary distraction. We will have total focus as a unit. We will be resilient. Unlike last year we won't tire out half way through the season... (Lee, Miller, and Yao will help us keep up what we were achieving the first half of last season). Book it.
History is irrelevent in any competition. History doesn't suit up and play, nor score a point, defend the basket, or pass the ball. History is just something nice to talk about when considering competition it has no bearing on future events. DD
