(Debbie Downer) How Much Do We Really Over-Rate the Rockets?

So that should be tossed out?

77 is pretty good and let's see what they follow that up with since you are so good at looking back, let's look back and see how Yao does.

His only real injury is the broken left foot, the others were freak injuries, just like Dream had when he tweaked his knee or broke his eye socket....Yao's toe, and his broken knee cap were similar....so you are simply using one injury (which allegedly is fixed) as an indicator of...what exactly?

That his injuries will continue? No one knows if they will or won't.....he could go : 82 - 82- 80-78-81 over the next 5 years

It is a comparison, not apples to apples, but when he got phebitis they thought his career might be over......

DD

 

different team..different starting 5. anchored around a player who wasn't limited to 24 minutes per game. they had identity through Yao. difficult to have that for a whole season to match that kind of production when doctors and Morey are saying no more than 24 minutes through December, at least.

the rockets in 1993 returned the exact same team the next season except for the addition of a bench player named Mario Elie. who was a much bigger factor the next year, 1995, then he was in 1994.

 

Wait...what? ANCHORED around a 24 mpg player?

I don't believe that is the case at all, I think Yao becomes a Super Role player, and that Brooks and Martin lead this team.....

DD

 

They had the 2nd best record in the entire league and they had the best player regardless of position. Nobody is giving up on the season, people are just real and you're not. Don't be scared again, but i like your optimism even if i don't agree.

 

Oh boy..... We are in a load of trouble if we are led by two players who are only known for offense.

Both are terrible at defense and you kinda need that if you want to be a leader.

A Brooks-Martin led team will lead you to the lottery, not a contender.

 

No way.

 

ONE SEASON WAS THE OUTLIER, DA DA!!! NOT THE NORM!!!

LOOK AT THE NORM FOR YAO!

ONE SEASON WAS THE OUTLIER, DA DA!!! NOT THE NORM!!!

LOOK AT THE NORM FOR YAO!

Yeah..it's just one injury...ummm..he's 7'6"...and he's playing on a foot held together by pins. He's on limited minutes for this "championship contending" season you're pointing to. It's so fixed, that we don't know when he can play more than 24 minutes. Right now, he can play 12.

This isn't a freak accident for a man of this size. We've been talking about this since he was drafted. I remember discussion after discussion of the length of careers of men who played at his size...and that his shelf life wouldn't be real long. This is the very injury one would expect for someone like this.

 

which brings me back to the whole point.

 

you got guts but i can tell you wynns casino gives us a 45 to 1 shot everyone else gives us around 26 to 1, makes me wonder if they know something but i am a rocket fan so i put down a 50 (suck it steve wynn) but you are right it could go either way. faith is what you have when your not 100% sure what you have

 

It is kinda of funny that when a guy misses 30 games a year for 5 yrs staright including an entire season, its a fluke accident,lol. As you said, nobody thought yao would have a long career or i didn't. I figured 8 good years and it will be over. Its not his fault, but i still think he can be a very good role player this year and going forward. If he can play 30 minutes and get to 15ppg and 8 rebs, that would be good as long as the other players are dynamic. The days of the so called yao led team was over before it started.

 

To not cheer for the team because we are not favorites going into the season is weak. To say you aren't going to watch any games this year because we aren't likely to win it all is weak. Just believing we are not likely to win it all without any roster changes is actually what most unbiased observers think though as Vegas odds reflect. Hoping for miracles and unexpected championship runs is part of being a fan. Anything is possible, but that doesn't make it likely. Which is why expecting miracles on the other hand is crazy

I think everyone here WANTS the Rockets to win the championship. Thinking the odds are very slim to none with the team in it's current form does not diminish that desire. Every Rocket fan should be hoping and cheering for a win every single game. That doesn't mean expecting a championship is reasonable though.

The fans having "faith" or "giving up" isn't going to increase or decrease the Rockets chances in any way. My lack of "believing" isn't going to keep me from cheering them on every game, being frustrated when they lose and happy when they win or keep me from enjoying the season. It just means if I was forced into a high stakes bet on whether they would win it all or not without a trade, I would go with not. I suspect Morey feels the same way based on his comments prior to and during the Chris Bosh recruitment about needing another star player.

 

Hey man, got to line up those excuses in case they fail..



DD

 

So you're saying that Morey will make up an excuse that he couldn't get a star player as a reason to which we don't have success this season?

 

You can't honestly think this team is a championship contender? We NEED our very own Kobe, LeBron, Wade, or Melo to even attempt to compete for a championship...

Either that or a big three...
Had McGrady-Artest-Yao been a successful trio we would have at least made it to a conference finals and possibly would have had a chance to win a championship.

It almost never works for a team chock full of role players...

 

definitely there are always extremes in rating
but objectively most mature Rockets fans here believe that we are a playoff team that at best can go to the WCF

i know some people said that we're gonna beat the Lakers and maybe the Heat in the finals!! but i think it comes from some teenagers here watching basketball since 3 or 4 years!

with that said, who knows what can happen?
time will tell and stay optimistic

 

Ok Max...I will:

Yao's career in the NBA:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/stats?playerId=1722

82 - 82 - 80 -57 - 48 - 55 - 77

Two of those years were the same foot, which also led to last years 0....however the other injuries were simply bad luck, toe, kneecap etc...

If the foot is healthy, then we should expect him to be able to play 75+ games.....

Yes it is a big if, but it is more likely the foot is healthy as the doctors have reshaped it, and the team is better educated on how to use him etc....and limit the stress on it....

IMO, Yao has one injury, and one only...the foot....if that is fixed the rest are meaningless, and he is no more injury prone than any other 30 year old NBA player.

DD

 

yep...as a much younger man, he put in 80+ games/season over his first 3 seasons...awesome.

the last 5 seasons he's averaged...wait for it...47 games. not awesome.

you don't need to be a doctor or a scientist to see the trajectory there, da da.

the average length of a player's career at his size is far less than the average length of a smaller player. again...that's not my opinion. it is what it is. what we're seeing is what was talked about before the man was drafted. i can't believe people here or in the front office are all that surprised by it.

 

No, you just have to make up a trajectory that suits your argument.

The kneecap was a freak accident - could happen to anyone, the toe, same sort of thing.

The only injury he had of significance was the foot, and he lost about 30+ games in one season and 5 in another.

Then you factor in that the organization is finally limiting him, something that Popovich has been doing to Tim Duncan for the last few years and they should get more mileage out of him.

I don't know why you believe Yao is done, I don't think that for a minute, I think he will need time to get the pace of the game down, but by limiting him in practice and early in the season, I think they will be rolling come playoff time and Yao will be the strating center at more than 30mpg.

DD

 

You realize that's an average of 60 games over the course of his career. More importantly, the last 6 years he has played an average of 52 games per year...

edit: max beat me to that

Also, he did miss an entire season due to the foot problems. So that's like what 100+ games due to one constantly recurring issue?

 

No...I just have to quote the numbers. Really..it's that easy. He played a ton in his first 3 seasons as a younger man. Since then, he's only had one season where he came remotely close to playing the number of games he did in his first 3 seasons. No opinion...just look at the numbers. Make a chart if you'd like.

Oh, and 82 in another.