Dude, we have blown out so many teams this season. Everyone knows that basketball is a game of runs. They made theirs, and then we came right back and made ours. Were you worried that we were going to lose? I sure wasn't.
But hasn't Mac shot 10/24 for pratically the whole season?? Hard to make an argument out of that considering that Mac's horrid shooting has been one of the constants of his game this year.
Actually, Yao used to be pretty clutch in 4th quarter. I believe JVG even said Yao was Rocket's best 4th quarter shooter. Even though Yao has spent much time to improve his stamina, starting from last season, his 4th quarter performance really took a nose dive. I think there are several reasons for that 1) He was not as much the offensive focal point then as he is now. So he spent a lot more energy in first 3 quarter. 2) Other teams now all know the drill -- bring hard double team on Yao in 4th quarter when he becomes very tired. Even Yao is getting better in dealing with this type of defence in first 3 quarters when he is not so tired. It really becomes very effective against Yao in the 4th quarter. 3) All teams will try to keep the game in high pace, so that they can grind Yao to a halt in 4th quarter. Any way, while Yao has kept improving in many aspects of his game, his 4th quarter performance regressed and that's the greatest worry for me going into playoff...
Yao's stamina is a definite concern in the playoffs especially in the fourth quarter. But I think adrenaline may minimize the effect of that. I'm more concerned about Yao's post-injurt inability to finish a lay-up after a foul. He's had at least a couple of 3-pt play opportunities per game since coming back, yet I think he's only converted like 5% of the point-blank shots. He has to go up stronger.
I like to believe I can trust the stats when Yao is a >50% shooter and everyone else on the team who is a viable option, namely Tmac, head, battier, howard, and alston are hovering around the 40% mark. We have to run it through Yao almost every play if we understand this fact/stat. At best it will result in a >50% Yao fg attempt and at worse a 35-40% 3pt attempt when he fires it out to one of our 3pt marksmen. I also like to believe that EVERY player gets tired, not just Yao, and it will affect their performance equally or more actually, given the fact they are not the primary options for the first 3quarters.
