what's wrong for yao to stay out of the lane if adelman had called a play for rafer for the last possession? is that another reason yao should just sit down? first, i have no way of knowing what you said about dream and kenny is true. even if it is, does that mean yao has to do the same? hey, orlando series game 1, kenny missed the last 3 and akeem tipped it in for the game winner. looks to me it was drawn by rudy since kenny was so so hot in that game. don't tell me dream stood up and called for the ball...
Dream >> Yao. That's all I have to say about that. No point to compare the two. But, you're right. Battier is so overrated. How did he even get the reputation of being a good Kobe defender? Every game Kobe plays against us, he torches us for 35+.
what was kobe's shooting % tonight? and wafer was on him for many possessions. shane isn't 100% yet. i just don't understand why so many fans have so many unreasonable complaints after a hard fought game by their own team (and only lost to the zebras) every freaking time. no many were expecting a win before the game anyways, weren't there?
IBM, tinman used to listen to the show on a regular and for 3 yrs, everyday we would talk hoops with he, mike yam, ian eagle, dee brown, mitch lawrence, rick mahorn and others. Kenny used to always bring up stuff about Hakeem that people maybe didn't see. I'm not going to derail this, but he said before the spurs v rockets game 1, dream was lathered up. Dream told everyone on the team he was going to bring his physical game to robinson because he stole his trophy. He said he didn't care if he got a offensive foul, but he was going to hit robinson in his stomach and put a elbow in is chest to let him know what kind of series it was going to be. If you go and watch that 1st game, you will see dream just manhandling robinson from a physical point. You could also see robinson start to back down. He set the tone. When dream got that tip, it was because kenny lost his dribble and had to get the shot up. BTW, smith had like 35 to that point and dream had scored like 14 pts in the 4th qt. Smith was on fire and shot a contested shot to give the team a chance at the rebound. I don't think scotty brooks wouldve been dribbling and taking a last shot vs dream being part of the play, do you?
yes, and moses malone would demand the ball every single night. your point? is rafer our starting pg just like kenny, or not? did he just score in the lane with his funny floater, or not? according to feigen's report, did adelman call the play for rafer, or not? was that play in the orlando game called for akeem, or not? (if not, how much does it say about rudy's trust in him?) did dream call for the ball on that possession? now let's get off the details, it seems your knock on yao is that he didn't step up and call for the ball and score on that last possession, eh? so you think to break a play already called by the coach is a better thing to do and somehow that reflects the true "leadership", since hakeem has done it before (according to you, or kenny)? admit it, because of your bias towards yao, you just wanted to say yao lacks leadership since he didn't call for the ball in the last play, even though it's not called for him - after a game where he played great. now you understand why yao has been the rocket i'd defend most often? fair play, fair game, man. end of discussion.
Once again ibm, you see what u want to see and hear what u want to hear because yao is ur man. The rockets are my man and I don't care how or who gets the job, just get it done. I would rather have yao fail than rely on a guy of rafer's capability. Is that asking too much? We have debates about the best center the nba between yao and howard. Many people will bring in the skills vs the atheleticism of howard. I prefer it to not even be up for debate. The only reason why there is even a question of who's the best center is because for all of Yao's skill,work ethic and whatever else he has, to not call for the ball because coach told rafer to try to get in the lane is not franchise player characteristics. If that was kobe, wade, or lebron dribbling trying to get free, that's one thing, but that's rafer alston. If Adelman did call for that, I'm very disappointed. It would seem that having brooks in a pnr with yao or barry making a entry pass, yao could either shoot or get doubled and feed landry under the goal like he did. Calling for alston to get in the lane, was idiotic to say the least.
so what was your point? Rockets lost in the last seconds to a team with the best records in the league without tracy or ron. But still, we must blame Yao, who btw played with huge passion with good numbers, and completely shut down the opponents' big men. Sounds logical?
I don't agree with you. Yao, Tmac ,Artest are the best players who can creat his own offense in the team.This is why they are always doubled. The other player can only make open shots. Scola ,Landry and waffer have the potential .They can make their own offense sometimes.
Leeb, come on yao played great last night....not good...GREAT... If he has 3 guys on him....his teamates need to knock down those wide open shots. Even Dream passed it out to Kenny, Max, Elie, Horry, Cassel and the gang. DD
Yao was a damn BEAST last night. 19 and 17 to Bynum's 11 and 1? Just watching him, it was clear he was giving everything he had, especially on the boards. I was extremely impressed with how he played, and the team in general. Shane, Scola, and Brooks were non-factors on offense and we still rang up 100 w/o McGrady or Artest. That's very encouraging. They look like they are rallying around one another. I think we're going to see good things. I also believe Ron will be a good addition to the party, assuming he returns before the malcontent. Evan
But the decision at the end was probably the dumbest decision of his career... I am not saying he player bad. He was phenomenal in the 3rd, the refs did hurt him with those bad calls, but where was he in the 4th?
He made a bad choice to shoot it, but so what? He played great.....what was he even doing in the game? Maybe they should have put Five 3pt shooters on the floor, and screened like mad. Personally, I would have put in.... Wafer Barry Battier Rafer Brooks And set tons of picks to get someone open. DD
It's a very legit gripe with Yao, one that I'm sure he'd correct if he knew how - he runs out of steam by the end of the game. It's been going on since his rookie year and only improved marginally. Adelman needs to figure this out for himself or get a memo on it. It's why it's so important to have a perimeter playmaker close out games for us. Yao can be key in final shot plays....but he's always been the most effective setting a high pick (Francis, then McGrady). Yao isn't the guy that you want taking the last shot. Evan
Yao does not run out of steam in the 4th. People, there are two teams out there.....they let Yao get comfortable for 3 quarters, then in crunch time, they surround him.....they are not going to let our best player beat them..... It is standard basketball.........Yao is not a guard that can create his own shot, he is reliant on his teamates.... A CENTER ORIENTED team needs players that can hit those dagger outside shots, or slashes to the rim.... The Lakers put 3 guys on Yao, if he took it up, you guys would be whining about him not trusting his teamates. Outside of that last play, Yao played VERY well last night....check that...he was amazing. DD
Or they could have Yao set a pick outside the arc to get somebody open or get himself open. I wouldn't mind Yao take a 3 in a situation like this.
You need to re-watch that last 7seconds man. The ball should never touched Yao hand when you're down 3 with 7seconds. As soon as AB passed the ball to Yao, lakers immediately spread their defense and guard our perimeter players 5 on 4. Yao was wide open while the rest of teammate stand around as if they stuck in mud. Should he shoot it? no but he cant pass it to anyone either cause no one was open.
If he is going to be on the floor, he needs to be a threat to shoot the 3......he should NOT be on the block. DD
And you are pretty right at that. All I can say is that Adelman is a bad coach when it comes down to taking the last shot, very bad.
Jeff, did you realize that there is another team on the floor trying to stop the play? I mean come on people.....sometimes plays don't work because the other team guards them. This one DID work...Brooks was open for 3 in the corner...wide open...all Yao has to do is pass it to him..... It was a bad decision by Yao...but the game was basically lost on Rafer's 2 missed FTs and Kobe's 27ft dagger. DD
We all know Yao is a horrible passer in traffic. He is not gonna find the open man at the end of close games. But on the other hand, I really don't feel like we had enough movement. You gotta move the defense, you can't just stay and call for the ball. But I agree. It was all about Kobe's dagger. With Shane hitting that 3 in the corner, I was pretty sure we were gonna win this game.
