Two bad games shouldn't be an indicator of how well Yao can play, because well, they're only two games. It's safe to say that most Rockets fans still think the sky is the limit for Yao. It all depends on much he improves on his weaker areas, particularly rebounding and being more aggressive. The one thing that irks me about him is that he still doesn't dunk the damn ball when he's right next to the basket. There were a couple times in the game where he had opportunities to get the dunk and one, but settled for a missed layup and two free throws. Frankly, we'll only go as far in the playoffs as Yao will take us. McGrady obviously leads the team, but if Yao doesn't play well, I don't see us getting out of the first round. As for his presence being feared, I never though Yao instilled much fear into his opponents anyway. He's not Shaq so opponents are more willing to bump and push Yao out of his comfort zone, which causes Yao to settle for too many jump shots.
uh, he can shoot, pass, handle, play D? outside of shooting, he's better than nash in all and near him in passing brother. i doubt nash can shut arenas down in the 4th man up like deron did.
JVG must be wearing on a lot of ya'll....so much b***ing. What I saw tonight was a Rocket team, not playing at full strength, coasting to an easy blowout victory over an inferior opponent. They held them to under 90pts while scoring over 100 themselves...they got out to an early lead and stepped up the intensity in the 3rd quarter to put the game away. Not every game is gonna be a 50pt blowout. And while a number of the players were far from perfect...mainly Yao...they still took care of business exactly like they should. I do see a lack of consistency from time to time...a little complacency once they get out to a nice lead...and that's something that definitely needs to be rectified come playoff time. And I think that, aside from Yao getting his confidence and stamina and aggressiveness back, is their biggest weakness right now. But hopefully they have taken their recent collapses to heart; they certainly showed that tonight. But honestly, that killer instict so many speak of; that enforcer player we seem to lack...I just don't get it. When T-Mac gets pissed he won't draw a technical or give up a hard foul or some other bulls**t...he'll do something far more important, he'll take the team on his shoulders. We also got a smart, defensive player in Battier whose not afraid to draw the charge; and that kind of scrappiness has infected the whole team. We also have...and this is one of the best things I like about this team at the moment...a scrappy player in the truest sense in the Chuck Wagon; he and T-Mac see eye-to-eye on the court and always seems to put himself into a position that helps the team. This team isn't far off from where they need to be come playoff time...if they can manage to work out the inconsistancies they'll be fine.
jazz 3-0 v. suns this yr. the suns can still score 100 w/o nash. can the jazz? nash is better than him still offensively, but defense? nash plays 0.
You are comparing a promising rookie to a player with two straight MVP's and the best pg in the league. Also, he didn't shut down Arenas. Without Butler or Blatche they helped on Gilbert (and Kirilenko was guarding him until he fouled out) and forced him into tough shots. Does crack make you that delusional?
i saw the 2nd half. deron guraded him straight up basically. straight up as straight up can be. i never said deron is better than nash now. i said he will be the best PG. key word - WILL BE.
I'm no Jazz fan, but maybe you need to actually watch Deron. For a 2nd year player to be leading a team no one expected to do this well is a testament to his abilities. He is already in the top 5 of all PGs in the NBA today, in fact, outside of Nash I have trouble thinking of better PG than Deron. Comparing him with a 2nd year Steve Nash, hmmmm.....I can actually see why people are starting to compare him to Nash.
He looks like he will be good. The best.......man you have a long way to go. He didn't guard him straight up in the 2nd, I watched too. Arenas basically fouled Kirilenko out. He won't be the best pg as long as Chris Paul is in the league.
he'll have a better career than nash b/c nash only has 3 great yrs. deron already is averaging 17 and 10 in his 2ND YR. w/o the suns system, nash wouldn't do this in the mavs. again i emphasize this, but deron plays defense. that will put him over nash soon. nash plays as much defense as novak and novak doesn't even play in the game.
deron's a baller no doubt, but i think your forgetting a certain new orleans point guard who torched us for 28 last night.
chris i admit can pass a lil better than him. but he can't shoot. u see why we left him WIDE OPEN like rafer. he made those 3s but chances are he won't. deron is already shooting 47% and a great shooter already. plus he's bigger than paul and thus will be a better defender. again => I STRESS DEFENSE. deron could be jkidd w/ a jumpshot.
I've actually watched him since Illinois. He's a good player. I apologize if I'm not ready to bronze him for the HOF yet. Oh, and by the way: 1.Nash 2.Arenas 3.Billups 4.Paul 5.Davis/Kidd Not top 5 bro
arenas is NOT a pg. davis CAN'T shoot. kidd CAN'T shoot. statistically, deron is better than all except for nash. my top 5 1) nash 2) kidd 3) billups 4) deron 5) paul he's in MY top 5. if nash wasn't on the suns, he wouldn't make my top 5.
I disagree with you comparing Nash's defense to Novak. Actually, Steve Nash isn't a bad defender, he reminds me of John Stockton in that he plays "smart" defense, relying on instincts vice athleticism to draw charges (with some effective flopping) and getting steals during crunch time. Hell he practically locks down Rafer head to head (although that's no real feat). Deron's accomplishments are pretty damn impressive when you compare his supporting cast to Nash's. Boozer and Okur are having career years (much like Amare, Marion, Leandro, etc with Nash) directly because of Deron's outstanding play. Yeah, I like Chris Paul alot, he's definently up there as far as being a PG, but looking at team standings and expectations, I think Deron has surpassed Paul at this point, I expect that both of them will be considered the premier PGs in the league with Nash and Kidd passing that torch to these guys soon.
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