We shouldn't expect too much from this team in the next few weeks in terms of wins. Hopefully they compete hard and play the right way, but without McGrady (and perhaps Artest) they aren't good enough to hang with the top teams in this league. Yao's been the Rockets best player this season, but I don't think he's going to suddenly raise his game to another level in McGrady's absence.
A zebra cant change its stripes. Yao lacks 2 essential ingredients to being The Leader. 1. Mental Toughness 2. Stamina
It all depends on the schedule. If Tmac and Ron skipped games against scrubs the Rockets could win a lot. They beat the Knicks without Tmac and Ron in one of the biggest blow outs of the year. But if they have to play against all playoff teams without half their payroll they might struggle.
I don't think any big man currently in the league could lead his team to lots of victories without his two best perimeter players in the lineup. Duncan is better than Yao and he couldn't do it. KG wouldn't be able to do it without Pierce and Allen. Howard wouldn't be able to do it without Hedo and Rashard.
i'd say it's more of the 2nd factor. yao does not lack of mental toughness. quite the opposite actually.
I'd be happy with just a little more consistency from Yao. I know he's been the healthiest player and all this year, but he has not exactly played that great.
fair point. but it's not just the win-loss record. it's how yao plays throughout this period. imo only the lakers game will be a big test right off the bat, even though they also have an incomplete roster. against miami, denver, utah and indy we should have a fair chance to win.
Yao is not a true leader and never will be. He just doesn't have the right mindset to lead, and the fact that he's a little soft doesn't help the matter. I'm cool with that since since he's guy that you can count on working his ass off every night. All I'm asking from him while t-mac/Ron is out, is to be CONSISTENT. I'm tired of his on and off game where he's off most of the time. He would avg 24/10 one night then the next night he gets 13/8 with a bunch of turnovers and it would take a couple of more games before he gets back on track again. Enough of this bull *****. If Yao can stay consistent and keep is above .500 until T-Mac/Ron get back, I would call it a huge success for Yao. Until then, He hasn't earn the super-star label or the general respect of the media. This is his best chance and opportunity, no excuses....now or never!
This Rockets team is much deeper than the Spurs, as all the Big Threes take up pretty much 60 million of cap space, leaving only a little over 10m for other players. (That's why the Celtics have been slumping because they cannot afford a decent bench this year)
Brooksball - I disagree with you. A couple of yrs ago, the heat were .450 without shaq and .600 without wade. Are you telling me this version of yao isn't better than shaq from 3yrs ago? If that's the case, the rox are in trouble. Duncan won games with matt bonner, mason jr, and george hill without manu and tp. If we're to agree that artest and tracy are equal or close to equal than those 2, so that means if the rox struggle now, our support isn't as good as people say, right?
Yao's GOT the stamina to play 40+ minutes a game. BUT if he did that, his 7'6/320lb frame would crush his feet before the playoffs.... So it's not a problem of his stamina but to preserve his body for later and better use.
Same with the Rockets. Tmac, Yao, and Ron takes up pretty much the whole cap space. They don't have any solid/good players making 8 million a year like a lot of other teams. The Rockets cap space is used up by those 3 players
You are always b****ing about yao... sit down and shut up yourself. He is our only player that is contributing and isn't our problem. Find somebody else to b**** about Fans like you are a waste of board space
it depends on the schedule. Even with tmac and ron, the rockets could easily lose to the Lakers, Jazz, and Nuggets and have lost to them this season. if they play a easy scheule against teams like the Knicks (who beat the Hornets yesterday btw) the rockets could be 10-0 without those 2.
40 minutes on a occasional basis, yes. he played some 45-48 minute games in overtime situations. but 40 or plus night in night out? no, i don't think so. actually, few (if not none) bigs in the entire league can do that.
McGrady is making 21M this year, Artest 7M, Yao 13.5M, for a total of 41.5 million. That's pretty much as cheap as Big Threes come. Except it feels more like a Big Two with McGrady not playing nearly 100% (Ironic how the most expensive of the three has also been the most useless thus far).
