Hiya, t_mac1! I see you've been here a while... Answer a question for me, please: Are you on either Yao or McGrady's payroll or something? These aren't the places where somebody should comment on the obvious... Bingo. The question should not be, at this stage of either Yao or McGrady's careers, are either one of them able to win. Everybody should be asking if anybody they've played with has taken advantage of the opportunity to win. That's not making excuses for McGrady's "laziness" or "cowardice". That's not pretending Yao Ming isn't "soft" or "tough". That's calling a spade a spade. As much as Shane Battier does, he can't go two weeks between scoring outbursts. Not when he has plenty of opportunities. Not when that's been needed for him as much as anything else. As clever and solid as Rafer Alston is with the basketball, he can't be more miss than hit from the perimeter. Not when everybody in the free world knows the shots are coming. Not when every coach in the league hopes and prays that he takes them. Everyone and their mothers hopes that the Rockets' fortunes rest with Alston hitting at least 45% of his shots from the field night in and night out, because they know that the ship is sunk before it even sets sail. Too many things have gone wrong the past three postseasons for the Rockets for anybody still reasonably sane to believe that those problems rest solely on the shoulders of Yao and McGrady. Are McGrady and Yao going to determine how far the Rockets go? Of course. They're the straws that stir the drink. ...but, then again... ...maybe that's why James Bond prefers his drinks shaken...
ALL HATERS SHOULD SEE THIS AND STFU!!! http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/pts_per_g_career_p.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/per_career_p.html
HEY LETS NOT GET ALL BOWDY ABOUT OUR ROCKETS. THERE GOING THREW THAT PHASE AGAIN. YEAH I NO THAT IT A PATIENCE THING. SO LIVE WITH IT A COUPLE OF MORE MONTHS. THEN YOU CAN (AT ALLSTART BREAK) TELL ME AGAIN!
Pretty much agree with everything here. The Rockets are NOT a better team without T-Mac, but he DOES love to hold the ball at the 3pt line. That said... I said "pretty much" because I disagree one one thing. This team won't run Adelman's offense if Tracy AND Yao are both in. When one goes out (either one), ball movement picks up. When one goes out, players cut towards the basket and distribute more effectively. But that's just part of having superstars. They both make the Rockets a better team. But look at Adelman's Kings. Who was the superstar? Bibby? Artest? C-Webb? They were all VERY talented, but I don't think ANY of them were on the superstar level. Adelman's system not a system designed for superstar talents. It's designed to distribute scoring amongst many talented players. But the Rockets have Tracy and Yao -- two players who can take over a game. That's why Adelman's had to alter what he does to fit the Rockets. I like Rick Adelman. I like him a lot. I think he's a fantastic coach for this team, and his presence will keep the team winning even when Tracy and Yao are gone. But I think the best coach for this team is still Rudy Tomjanovich. I don't know how he did it, but that team played COMPLETELY unselfishly... and allowed Hakeem to dominate.
Hi there, EssTooKayTD. Sorry...sometimes I'm not very regular... ...I'll try more fiber.... Wonder if you'd mind answering a question for me... ...or at least giving me you wise opinion... Hakeem Olajuwon was, and is, hall-of-fame caliber as a player. Hakeem won two consecutive NBA titles with teams that were, for all intents and purposes, castoffs, nobodys, and opportunists. Does that say more about what type of player Hakeem was, or about the stones those teammates of his had? And what if guys playing with Yao and McGrady the last couple of seasons could have done something close to that? I wonder how many folks around here would want an autographed copy of McGrady's skirt...
