this same team thats not in the playoffs Id take a team witout the greatest chemistry and be Championship contenders than to have the best chemistry of all time and be out of the playoffs u take the chemistry and not be a contender and Ill take less chemistry and be a perrenial powerhouse
Considering that scouts often said that his ceiling was Chris Bosh...maybe Bosh compliments Yao well also
Gross Misconceptions posted in this thread: 1.) We have to gut the team to get Bosh. - If Bosh wants to come here it will probably cost us Scola/Battier, all the picks we just got and maybe Hill. If we are lucky, maybe Jeffries instead of Shane. Once the trade deadline passed, all Toronto's leverage went with it. 2.) Toronto isn't good, therefore Bosh isn't good. - Teams win games, not players. Even Kobe couldn't get out the first round when he was on a bad team. Toronto is a bad team, but Bosh is a fantastic player. 3.) Yao + Bosh is a soft front court, and we can't win with a soft front court. - The Lakers won a title last year with a soft front court and they didnt the year before when one of thier "softies" was missing. Soft is a overplayed sterotype that has no real impact on the game. 4.) Bosh is overated - Chris Bosh is arguably the best PF in the game. If not now, he will be in the next couple of seasons, once Dirk trails off. Not only that, his skill set fits this team perfectly.
Guess people aren't seeing the changes in Yao's game the past couple of years. He had more dunks last year than the previous 2 or 3 combined it seemed. The "softness" was something he was slowly moving away from every year in the league. Things are different in China, and going back over there every summer was slowing that evolution down. He seemed to finally start turning the corner in '07-'08
As a player, Hill may never be as good as Bosh. However, Hill has a better defense potential, and that is what Yao and the rockets need.
Exactly. Yao was weak in his first two years, but hasn't been since the 2nd half of his 3rd season. After his 3rd season, nobody could prevent him from scoring if Yao decided to post him up, and nobody could score consistently on Yao trying to post him up except Shaq.
Are you mad??!! Have you seen Bosh plays? Bosh has everything Yao lacks. He can jump over almost any guy and dunks; he rebounds very well (admittedly he can be better in rebounding); he has a reliable mid-range jumper; he is super quick as a big man, which is good for his offense when driving to the basket and for defense when he helps from the weak side. Yao has one thing that Bosh lacks - low post scoring. Both guys have the same lay-back ego-less style. I can't think of any other front court line compliment each other this perfectly. We are instant title contenders IF we get Bosh.
Ok, you said means no real impact on the game. But both Yao and Bosh had big impact to the game if you check their +/- over the years. So why to you call both of them soft?
It depends on who he defends. He was often called upon to defend big men like DHo, while he is too lanky to be effective. Bargnarni is too slow and not strong enough to help. But we have Yao when playing against Magic. Bosh can easily defend Boozer/Okur, Dirk and other PF's using he quickness and length.
My problem with Bosh is that he lacks defense and leadership, but he thinks he is a franchise player. He never led the raptors passed the 1st round even when they had homecourt advantage. I think he would be a good 2nd option. But, he always wants to be the 1st option. That's is the problem.
Dude, he has been the franchise player in Toronto. 24.1 pts 11.2 rbs, he gets max contract wherever he wants. But I agree that he is not as strong-minded as Kobe and Garnet the like. You only need one player like that in a championship team tho. I don't know, may be AB can grow into a shoe like that?...
I agree with you 100%... Luis Scola will do what he is told because Les owns him. yes it is true see below..
He is often asked to guard out of position, ie centers, because Bargs sure as hell aint going to do it and they dont really have any other bigs. He is going to be overwhelmed against bigs, but alongside Yao that wouldnt be his purpose. He would shift back to his natural position defensively at PF. There are less back to the basket PFs these days and he is well equipped to guard face up players with his length. He could also flourish in PnR defense, because he is more mobile than Scola and Yao.
