i mean we were the ones that gave the lakers the most trouble in the playoffs last year. If Yao wasn't injured last year could we have beaten the lakers, and been the 2009 world champions instead?? Maybe if we beat the lakers and Yao didn't come back do you think we would still have been champs?
We were trailing the Lakers 2-1 in that series with Yao so I'd assume we would have probably been out in 6 or 7 games. Without Yao we changed gameplans on them and they started to cruise which allowed us to wipe them out in games 4 and 6 but games 5 and 7 are evidence why we didn't advance.
If Yao never got hut I still don't see us beating LA that series. It would have gone 7 and I don't believe we coulda won game 7 in LA
What you see this year in the Playoffs in the West is that the Lakers are CLEARLY the best team. And #2 all the way down to #8...there isn't much separation. If the Rockets can get Bosh without giving up core pieces and the Rockets can stay relatively healthy, they can be at least the 2nd best team in the West. And the size advantage the Lakers have with Bynum/Gasol/Odom will be canceled out by Yao/Bosh.
If McGrady gave a damn and didn't s*** on the franchise...I'd say we'd at least have been in the West Finals.
Just Yao, hard to say, I still think the series goes 7, because he played injured in Game 3 and had really bad calls placed against him Game 2 ( Joey Crawford). If we had Mutombo, the Rockets win in 6. With the way Bynum struggled with Chuck Hayes, and Gasol had his hands full with Scola and Landry. Add healthy Yao to the occassion with a finger pointing Mutombo. Would effectively shut down the Lakers front court by Game 4-5. We'll get our redemption in 2010-11.
I didn't mentioned the motivated Tracy element. Which would've changed the whole dynamic of the series even more.
lol LA is CLEARLY the best team in the playoffs because the other contenders took themselves out and they've been playing the Suns and Spurs. because the Mavs imploded and the nuggets lost Karl. honestly anyone voting NO is a ****ing moron or simply can't read. the question is COULD we have been champs, and with a healthy Yao the answer is yes we could have. he didn't ask would we have been champs or a guarantee but the possibility. looking at the pieces the answer is yes. just like if you look at the Cavs that answer is yes they could have... they didn't... but if the playoffs were done over with everyone healthy and with the right mindset and they well could have been for Houston the answer is yes. if you think that a team that's better than a team that took LA to 7 minus Yao somehow has NO chance to beat LA is delusional. yeah this is logical. that also explains why we were 65 and 17 this year without Yao because this team is somehow better without Yao because of its cohesiveness and we can run the ball and matchup... wait wut? did you not watch the playoffs dude? Yao was hurt early in game 3, and Houston had the game in hand in game 2 until shenanigans. if you think that having Yao was somehow holding them back and cost them 2 games means you didn't watch the series very carefully. And thinking that the team is in ANY WAY better without Yao means you slept through 2009-2010. without Yao Houston is a lottery team, with Yao it's in the conversation as the top teams in the NBA.
Even we got past them,we would have ran into Orlando,provided if we got past Denver. I don't think we would have been able to sustain the run. The one thing that was going into our favor was the elimination of the Mavs,Spurs and Jazz. I'm referring to a Yao lead team. Bottom line for me was our poor road performance.
You think we would've lost to Orlando, if we got past the great-mighty Lakers and thuggish, hard playing Nuggets.
Orlando didn't have a fully healthy Jameer Nelson (him coming back in less-than-100% form killed their chances IMO). We also swept the season series against them that year as well. Battier and Artest would have shut down Lewis and Hedo. And, lest we forget, Dwight Howard gets frustrated playing against Yao. Not saying he completely sucks, but a frustrated Howard for Orlando is analogous to an injured Yao for Houston.
On paper, this looked like a killer squad at one time. Imagine this dynasty: PG - Steve Francis SG - Tracy McGrady SF- Ron Artest PF- Luis Scola C - Yao Ming Too bad 3 out of 5 guys on that lineup could never get healthy enough.
What are you talking about? I by NO means implied we are a better team without Yao, I thought that was obvious by this season's results. What I did imply was that even with Yao the Lakers lead the series 2-1 and yes game 2 involved some questionable calls but to say we had it in hand is just WRONG. Yao did not start to REALLY show his injury until late in game 3 and for the most part was controlled in the 2nd half. When he went out the team took advantage of a new gameplan and a sluggish/over confident Laker team to force 7 games. I will say even with Yao I don't think we beat the Lakers, so if Yao hadn't gone out in game 3 do we still have chance at the title, sure, but I still have a chance to have a threesome with Jessica Alba and Jessica Biel in my lifetime yet I SERIOUSLY doubt it will happen.
That's a true big five right there. Too bad Francis was old and fat; also out of his prime. McGrady was fat; out of his prime, lazy, injury-prone etc. Artest injury-prone, prone to violence, unstable, etc. When it's all said and done, I think Scola would be the only person in that lineup to actually finish more than 3/4 of the season.
