[CBS Sportsline] Weekly Essentials: Rockets don't need same Yao

The undertone of this article - that the team is in some strange way worse off with Yao - is patently wrong. What the writer fails to mention is that the same phenomenon - role players sitting back and waiting for him to make plays - happens with T-Mac as well. Oddly, Yao's "successul" reentry to the team has a lot less to do with Yao and a lot more to do with T-Mac and the rest of the team. The role players need to stay aggressive, move without the ball and shoot (and make occasionally) when they are open, and pick the defensive effort up. T-Mac needs to continue to be T-Mac and make the same aggressive, magical plays that only he and a few others can make WITh Yao out on the floor. Yao is fairly consistent in what he does well and what he struggles with. It is the inconsistency of the other star and the role players that will determine what kind of threat we are in the WC moving into the playoffs.

 

I agree somewhat, we just need Yao to consistently produce, T-Mac needs to be the first option on this team, that's how he plays his best.

Yao can be second option and just as valuable as T-Mac since he's a low post threat and can consistently be depended on to get points when no one else is clicking.

 

That stat is misleading, he took 15 shots in that game because he was in foul trouble and just flat out didn't play much in the second half at all because the rest of the team was putting it down. That doesn't mean we do better when Yao isn't playing. That means our role players happened to step up in a critical game.

And he ignores the fact that Yao was the Western Confrence player of the month in november as he led us to one of our best starts since he's been on the team. So Yao was scoring, and we were winning. That contradicts his theory.

 

This was the logic in 2004-2005, and the Rockets failed to exit the first round. McGrady played out of his mind against Dallas. Yao played OK as the "second option". They lost. That would be a colossal disappointment this time, and cause for JVG's firing/Trading the whole team for Durant and Oden/etc.

The reason this team is supposed to be a championship contender is because Yao and McGrady can both play MVP worthy ball. Knocking either one of them down a peg to "supporting player" or "second option" will cause the team to lose in the first round; Utah is no slouch and will be a tough opponent. This is especially true with Yao; the reason he is now playing MVP worthy ball is because of his attitude shift, not because of any gains skill-wise, because all the skills were there before.

The guys at CBS are known to be fairly irrational Yao-haters. Not quite Rosen level, but close. I think it's unfortunate some people here agree. 2004-2005 is the result if Yao is the "second option." If YOFs are willing to concede that Tracy should get many touches and be a primary option, why are Tracy-only fans not willing to concede the same towards Yao?

 

I don't think the writer know much about Rockets than our fans here. His/her analysis is misleading. The statistic data has to do with that T-Mac was different after the back therapy and Deke/Juman stepped up. The writer concluded from the stat data before admitting the fact that Rockets were running out of gas before Yao returned.

Yao demands double and triple team. It says everything about his dominance and tremendous positive effects on the team offense. The role players must knock down the open shots created by him (and T-Mac) and make smart passes to him in the post. JVG also needs to fully explore the combination power of Yao and T-Mac offensively, which I doubt he could. The great offense during Yao's absence was mostly due to T-Mac's great play-making ability not because of JVG's offensive smartness. JVG could be the Defensive Coach of the Year (I don't know if there is such a title) but not the Coach of the Year because he was usually outplayed by Avery on offense.

 

Mejia is a YOH and has been for a while. I think of him as Rosen-lite. Before the season he had a list of the best centers in the NBA; he had Yao 5th and he had Amare, Shaq, D. Howard, and even Ben Wallace ahead of him.

That doesn't really concern me, the journalist YOH's have been there from day 1 and won't disappear, ever. What really disturbs me is that the Tracy-only fans here agree with him (I'm looking at you Omer). How would they feel if I responded with agreement to a Tracy-bashing article that called him a mentally weak, selfish ballhog who quits on his team?

 

The article author is an idiot. The Rockets played their best when McGrady was playing a point forward as the main playmaker and Yao was the number one offensive option. That's how they hung a 30-point loss on the Mavericks, that's how they had the awesome record to start the year. If McGrady can play both ways during the course of the game (as a point forward with Yao and as a scoring swingman without), that would be best for the team. When you have the biggest mismatch in the league, you ride that mismatch. It's simple basketball.

 

I also agree somewhat... I've been saying Tracy has to remain the go to guy in Houston. That, however; can be done in a way that doesn't alienate Yao. Yao would still get his shot at probably around 25 points a night and would serve not as the go to scorer, but as the big inside presence we really need to compliment tracy. Pulling down 10-11Rbs and 3 blocks a night and still putting up 20, even 25 plus, on most nights. Basically I see him as the guy that either draws double and triple coverage so the ball can be fed to McGrady for the basket, or as the guy that gets more or less open when Tracy is drawing the heat.

This team is better off, however, when Yao isn't trying to drop 30-35 a night with Tracy scoring 18/6/8. As long as we have the prolific, two time scoring champion Tracy McGrady on our team... he should be the primary scorer. He and Yao will be co-number one options... but Yao's main concern will no longer be to score and have the offense run through him. That is what best suits the team currently. This may not always be the case, but as long as we have our current roster and Tracy Mcgrady, I think T-Mac is gonna have to be the player which the offense flows through. For T-Mac to be T-Mac that's how it's gonna have to be.

Now I know some of you are thinking if we don't let Yao try to be the number 1 guy, the main scorer and all that, he's gonna ge timid and regress. I seriously doubt that. Yao will do what is asked of him, and until now we haven't really been aware of what his role should be. At the beginning of the season he seemed to have to be that guy cause T-Mac was a different kind of player. We know better know, and I think Yao will embrace his role as an enforcer in the middle, main rebounder and shot blocker, drawer of double/triple teams, and scorer when Tracy is either cold, not open, or intentionally feeding the ball inside. Yao in this role will still get his 25/10/3 a night.

No one is asking Yao to take a back seat to Tracy, Yao is perhaps the biggest asset to this team. In a few years this will completely be HIS team. But with a top 5 swingman starting with him... how could you not have the swingman be the main offensive firepower and number one guy in the clutch?

 

Milk the hot hand.

 

I kinda agree with the article, though it is a little simplistic to label one a first option and the other a second option. McGrady is a better playmaker; Yao is a more efficient scorer. Before his injury, Yao was carrying too much of the offense and McGrady was not making plays like he did after Yao's injury. Now that we have them both back, we need better balance of offensive responsibility than we had before.

What bothers me most about the article is that he mentions Yao's dominance before the injury while losing games and does not mention that McGrady was injured at that time. It's not simply that McGrady wasn't playing like himself in that period -- he was on the sideline. Of course we lost games without him, and of course Yao was scoring a lot in that period.

 

Good points.

 

i believe the rox need to make up their mind as to whom the go to guy will be. we have 2 stars who are very capable however yao seems most comfortable when both are playing together. tmac seems very hesitant as to what he should do which results in him jacking up threes(bad shots). in my opinion the only thing that can solve this is more playing time together(team chemistry), which as we all know has been prevented due to injury so hopefully NO MORE INJURIES!!!

 

Sums it up. All these articles analyzing the past is ignoring the fact that the team we had then is not the same as today's team. The Tmac we have now is not the same Tmac that was playing 'second option' while Yao was an MVP candidate. Tmac himself thought he was better as a playmaker because he felt he wasn't the same scorer he used to be. Now we all know better.

Now Tmac has elevated his game where he deserves to be the first scoring if necessary. But truthfully any play where Tmac and Yao both get touches should be the first option.

 

In the running for MVP before the injury... Yeah they don't need him. Just like the spurs are a good team... would not be better if they added Yao.

Give me a break!!!

 

See... no one is saying our team doesn't need Yao Ming. I think EVERYONE knows that to actually contend for a title and perhaps even make the playoffs... we need Yao Ming. We just don't need him to be the number one scoring option anymore, we don't need him to shoulder that burden while T-Mac plays the role of playmaker. The problem with T-Mac playing that role is that... that's not who Tracy McGrady is.

T-Mac is a playmaker, don't get me wrong, he can pass and defer very well when asked to. That isn't what a player like Tracy McGrady is for though guys. Tracy isn't meant to score 17/6/8 a night, Tracy is the two time scoring champ of this league. That's the beauty of T-Mac, he can pass, defend, rebound, defer, but ultimately... he can get you a whole lot of points and he's the guy you want in charge in the clutch. That is the player Tracy McGrady is. We can't ask Tracy to be some kind of... Steve Nash distributor. That isn't what he does best.

We are likely gonna utilize Yao in a different fashion, as a "co-option" with T-Mac. I still expect Yao to drop 20-25 a night and pull down maybe even an extra rebound and block per night. His role is just gonna be a little different from the number one scoring option role he filled before his injury. Yao is a great, gifted, and intelligent player, I'm sure he's gonna fit in as a co-option just fine.

 

I don't know if you watched today's game. I want to describe one particular play here: TMac feed yao, defenders collapes on Yao; Yao swing across the court to Rafer at corner, Rafer to Battier, ball then swing back to TMac at top fo the key for a three.

That's how inside-out can make things so easy.

 

Define "co-option." AFAIK, when Yao was option 1, Tmac was still taking the most shots per game on the team. I absolutley guarantee that this team will not do well with Yao as a co-option like in 04/05 when he only gets 13 shots a game. He's not a gifted offensive rebounder and he won't get most of his points off putbacks. Yao needs his touches. Plain and simple. If he doesn't get them, the Rockets will be knocked out of the first round and a lot of players/staff will be shipped off by next year. Co-option Yao won't be among them.

 

Totally agree with what you said. However, for now, you can just be the so-called "co-option" until he get back to himself, which may take him a few more games.

 

IIRC, this is the guy who ranked Yao as the 5th best C last year.