its time for everyone else to step up and let those who can't create shots for themselves suffer at their expense and at his and at ours just so we can all get some Yao hatin in.
We know how the Rockets did with TMac when Yao was out last season, winning some 20+ games consecutively; now it's the chance for Yao to show the world that he can do the same. This team is widely considered more talented by many.
they won 10 games in a row without Yao. The first 12 were with Yao in the lineup. I wish ppl would stop it with the 22 games in a row w/o Yao thing. I guess if they don't win 22 in a row, then Yao should "sit down"? "This team is widely considered more talented by many" because of the Ron Artest acquisition. Ron is also out for a while. Take a look at the lineup right now. Do you honestly think that w/o Artest and Tmac, that they should be considered contenders? Much less winning 22 straight? Switch Yao with Hakeem right now and they won't win 22 straight.
Don't insult posters just because you don't agree with what they are saying. Leeb is one of the better posters on this forum.
When I said stand up or sit down, it a analogy. Its like yao needs to step up and show the team this is his team, or fall back and just be another guy. It doesn't mean quit. I want to see him raise every facet of his game just like other players did when he was out. Deke grabbed rebounds and blocked shots. Scola,landry and a used to be howard all elevated their rebounding and scoring. Tracy increased his production and takeover ability. Yao needs to do this. If he stands up, be more aggressive and assertive, when tracy comes back, he'll just fall in line and everyone will look at yao for leadership in the tough times. If he just stay where he's at and just does his job, when tracy gets back, players will still view him as the dude. ManM- Whether you think I'm a idiot or not doesn't bother me. I still got love for you.
I respect your opinions, but this thread title is misleading. And your assertion that TMac stepped it up after Yao went down last year is fallacious - which has been statistically been shown here numerous times recently. Defenses have been designed to stop Yao for the last two years period. TMac's an afterthought, and if he went through what Yao dioes for one season he'd probably have retired two years ago. I agree Yao needs to extend his leadership. Landry on the 610 postgame tonight said he didn't know 12 of 12 was a team record and said Yao had a great game and quoted "10rbs, 2 assists, 5 TOs" and laughed. If Dream had heard that from a 2nd year guy, he'd have him by the throat and read him the riot act.
So when teams trapped tracy at halfcourt, what was that for? When Utah played Yao one on one and tilted towards tracy in the form of a zone, what was that for? When Yao went down 2 yrs ago and tracy was avg 27ppg 47fg 6 rebs and 6 asst for 32 games, that wasnt stepping up. I think yao played well tonight and for some reason people think i want him to fail. Wanting yao to fail is like wanting the rox to fail. Just because i'm real about the situation, doesnt mean i want ill for the rox. As far as Tracy being a afterthought, well if thats you're opinion then thats you're opinion. They dont trap the guy to get the ball out his hands for nothing. You dont see them trapping Rafer.
glad you made this clear. i knew all along that you don't. but there is a tone in your opinion, i think, that makes a lot of folks here think you may WANT yao to fail.
in the reg. season, i'm sure more teams focus on yao more b/c not every team has even a "decent" big man. so obviously the double teams are going to come harder at yao. but the better teams in this L will go at yao straight up for the most part (ala utah did 2 years ago in the playoffs where they sent literally ZERO help). more defensive attention was on tracy by trapping the paint (they single covered him on the outside, but basically shadowed him and packed the paint). but if yao does this (not necessarily 12-12) more consistently in terms of simply "dominating" his position (b/c REALLY, his position is extremely weak), tracy would be an afterthought and all rocket fans would love that. we all have wanted yao to be the main guy/leader on this team for the past 2-3 years. JVG wanted it. tracy wanted it. les wanted it. morey wanted. fans wanted it. one game is not gonna mean he has become "that guy." two games aren't it. can he do it for the rest of the season? can he NOT defer when tracy and artest return and show that it's HIS team? can he bring this level of play INTO the playoffs and prove he's the BEST PLAYER ON THE COURT IN THAT SERIES? 2 years ago, boozer was the best big man on the court. we can't have that happening.
qft. can't agree more. I mean for gawd sakes they even double Tmac when he's playing like crap this year.
the same way doc rocket thinks tracy hates yao for saying what yao needs to do to be MVP? leeb is doing the same thing. he's simply saying things yao is weak at and if he does those things consistently, he'd be a top 5 player and top 3-4 MVP candidates every year. but that hasn't happened at all in his career. we've heard yao is a top 2 center by the majority of the media every year. but have you ever heard most say he's a top 3-5 player? NEVER. have you ever hear them mention yao as a top 3-5 MVP candidate consistently? NEVER. i think leeb wants that to happen. and if yao can do this almost every night, he'll get that recognition. and if he does, the rockets will get closer to its goal.
but it's true. i really wish when tracy and artest return, yao would really still demand the ball and do his thing and make sure THEY GIVE HIM THE BALL and not the other way around. we need this yao in the playoffs.
yes yes, the threshold for yao is "to be consistently mentioned in mvp talks" and otherwise he's weak. in your own words, even when yao is dominating, he's dominating a "weak position". and the threshold for mcgrady? a guy not having done rehab for minor surgeries and is known for often cruising in games still gets a pass. who's mcgrady's counter part in the last 2 years in the playoffs? as far as i remember it was fisher and brewer. yeah, mcgrady was really dominating strong oppositions...
It's hardly true ... it's revisionist history. Yao was singled covered in the Utah series w/o being shadowed? Please. We had Chuck Hayes in the lineup, his man always left to help. If Yao was singled covered then McGrady was singled covered when he had Fisher on him.
