[Chron:] Guard, center want to emulate Magic, Kareem

April 27, 2005, 1:13AM

Guard, center want to emulate Magic, Kareem
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3155769

There was a time, and Tracy McGrady still enjoys the memory, when McGrady wanted to be Magic Johnson. He wanted to play like him. He wanted to win like him.

He would, of course, become more than most can legitimately dream of being. But to be Magic Johnson, McGrady needed a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

He needed a big man to slam home his passes, a center to torment and occupy opposing big men, a star of perhaps even his magnitude to drive and inspire him.

He needed Yao Ming to be all he seemed capable of being.

He needed Yao to be what he was on Monday — McGrady's Kareem.

"He can be," McGrady said. "He can be. I don't want to put that pressure on him, but he can be an outstanding player in this league. He can become a dominant force in this league. If he continues to play the way he played last night, there's no question about it.

"He's making me better."

As with the best combinations, they have made each other better and helped lead the Rockets' scintillating start to the playoffs.

As basketball expert Jerry Garcia or Grateful Dead family member Bill Walton would say:

If the thunder don't get you, then the lightning will.

"It reminded me of myself and Kareem," Johnson said on TNT on Tuesday. "We knew how to play off each other."

Yao quickly pointed out how far removed he remains from Abdul-Jabbar. He is 34,387 points, six MVPs and six championships shy of the Hall of Famer.

For that matter, McGrady trails Johnson by five championships.

The Rockets might have taken a 2-0 lead in their first-round series against the Mavericks, but neither McGrady nor Yao has ever been out of the first round in a combined five trips to the playoffs before this season.

"We don't have championship rings or the huge assists numbers or the scoring numbers," Yao said. "They are great stars forever. We have a long way to go. We're working on it."

Working on that is more than most can say. And there have been two playoff games of progress.

But with McGrady dominating the start of the playoffs and Yao showing flashes again of being unstoppable, they if nothing else have demonstrated the way a dynamic offensive talent and a skillful big man can cooperate to make them much more than teammates taking turns.


Teamwork in action
"They're definitely becoming that kind of duo," Rockets guard Bob Sura said. "Yao has great hands for somebody that size. He catches the ball really well — most of the time. He'll make plays for Tracy. And Tracy plays the game the right way. When he's open, he shoots. When he's got guys on him, he finds people and makes it easier for everyone, especially Yao."

That was never more obvious than when Monday's Game 2 was on the line.

With the game to be decided in the final minutes, McGrady had the ball and an eye on Yao. On one play, Keith Van Horn stepped up to cut off McGrady. McGrady passed to Yao for a slam and a Rockets lead.

Minutes later, when Yao set a screen, freeing McGrady from Josh Howard, Van Horn moved late, hesitant to leave Yao. McGrady went up for his final jumper and a Rockets win.

"The pick-and-roll has been hard for both teams to cover, because the guys involved are skilled players," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "It's just a hard play to guard.

"It (Yao's success) was part that he was on the floor (rather than on the bench in foul trouble), part good plays by others to get him the ball in position and a whole lot of Yao just being really good catching in the paint and finishing plays."

As much as the pick-and-roll is considered the toughest play to defend, it is made more difficult when the big man rolling to the basket catches passes as Yao did and is as great a threat to do something with the ball as he was on Monday.


Open lanes
The Dallas centers — including Erick Dampier, the self-proclaimed best center in the West — might have stepped out to cut off McGrady. But a few Yao dunks and jump hooks later, and they were forced to stay on Yao, making it easier for McGrady, Jon Barry and Mike James to finish drives.

"There were times, those guys were trying to get the ball out of my hands," McGrady said. "What I wanted to do was just search out Yao, and he came through for me. Once he established that right away, a lot of things opened up for myself and my teammates."

Said Yao, "You can only take care of one thing at a time."

They could do little with Yao. By making 92.9 percent of his shots, Yao had the best shooting playoff game any Rockets player has ever had and the fourth-best shooting game in NBA playoff history for players with 10 or more attempts. McGrady, not coincidentally, had a career playoff-high 10 assists, half on passes to Yao.

"People talk about my shooting last night, 13-for-14," Yao said. "But those shots were all in a position I feel very comfortable and most of my shots I didn't need to dribble — just catches, put my hand up and shoot the ball. I really cannot believe I can have so many shots in the same game. That was so nice a night for me."


Magic's prediction
It was nice enough for McGrady's hero to declare that if Yao continues to play as he did on Monday, the Rockets would advance to the finals.

Yao said only, "I agree," and repeated that succinct opinion on Tuesday. McGrady obediently added his own, "I agree."

But he seemed to like what Johnson was saying.

"He's someone I have the utmost respect for, that I truly idolize," McGrady said. "He is the reason why I started playing basketball. The words he said about us, the compliments he gave us were truly an honor. Those are huge words coming from a legend, and I honestly believe, those things that he said, if we go out and do what he said, we can definitely be something special."

They might even find that thunder and lightning can strike in the same way twice.

 

One of the things that I was hoping to see develop between T-Mac and Yao was a two-man game between them two. I didn't see it happening enough in the regular season though there were flashes of it.

What we're seeing in the play-off's is another story and I'm loving every minute of it! Keep it up guys! This is the dynamic duo operating in tandem that I've been wanting to see!