Not saying I agree with DD but you couldn't be more wrong about Yao. You keep focusing on the record w/o TMac to prove a point but completely ignore the record with a not 100% TMac. I say Yao led this team very well ... to a 14-6 record to be exact. You may be right that maybe we would win 20% of the games if TMAC goes down (I disagree) but it won't because of Yao.
even when tmac isn't 100%, he is still a playmaker. we've won games without yao even when tmac doesn't shoot well. tmac right now is beyond a scorer. that's what ppl don't get. they just think he's a scorer. again, tmac struggles WITH yao but not without him. he's adjusting. like i said, yao doesn't have to adjust b/c JVG caters the offense towards him. tmac has to adjust. when tmac doesn't shoot well, he still impacts the game w/ his passing. that's why we won when tmac struggled earlier in the season. he averaged around 6.5 assists. when tmac goes out, no one can create. yao is not a creator for the whole game. he can do it for 3-4 min stretches. 14-6 record had a lot to do w/ tmac's passing. just like we're winning right now w/ tmac's passing w/ him averaging 8 assists the last 5-6 games.
I agree TMAC did other things to impact the game, that is what makes him great but at the same time Yao's leadership can not be denied. He carried the team during that time. Just remember TMAC can score all the 30 point games w/o yao you want but he isn't winning unless Howard and Mutombo play out of their minds. If Howard and Mutombo don't pick up their play and we had lost those games would you put a blemish on TMAC? No because TMAC did everything humanly possible. The same goes for Yao. BTW, yes McGrady has had to adjust but your wrong in saying that Yao didn't have to adjust. He had to be reintegrated in a more uptempo offense after being off for 70+ days, he is playing with a dislocated finger, and was for a time wearing a brace. If that is not adjusting I don't know what is.
i agree w/ u. howard and deke were HUGE, esp. deke. but howard is a product of tmac. almost 75% of howard's points come from open Js off the pick and roll, including right now. that's why howard only plays w/ tmac and not yao. deke, that guy is just a beast in himself. what he did was extraordinary. yao is def. improving in the leadership department. he's the best C in the game today. and we won't win jack w/o yao. but tmac is the ONLY player on this team who can suck offensively and can still impact the game. that's why he's the team's most critical player. it's easier for howard to step up w/ tmac. but it's harder for alston/head/snyder to consistently step up w/ yao b/c when u play w/ yao, u simply shoot 3s. outside of head (who was he ONLY guy who played well offensively consistently w/o tmac b/c he can shoot the 3s), the others didn't. tmac's passing has almost caught up to his scoring. it's on a "dominant" level. but yao's improving every game. he's a joy to watch. i love his passion for the game and only hope he will crack a top 5 player possibly next yr. but seriously, if yao has a bad shooting game, u think he would impact the game any other way? JVG would prollie pull him out. (though he RARELY shoots bad b/c he's so good ). tmac can shoot 35% and still impacts the game and draw double teams. i dont know who else can do that besides kobe or lebron.
again, i'm very confident tmac will pick up his "best playoff performer" when the playoff rolls around. he won't average 31pts, but expect 25ppg w/ 8-9 assists. again, if u see the games, u only see the fire in the 4th. yao starts out the games so good that it's easier for tmac to defer and take it easy and not focus. as a result, he misses jumpers. i'm sure if yao struggles, tmac will pick it up.
This is a false statement. Even if Yao is shooting poorly, he is still drawing the defense to him, for example during the phoenix game, he was regularly covered by double teams before he even got the ball. He also provides fine interior defense that Deke right now can only inconsistently provide in spurts. If you've noticed Deke has basically been a stiff out there recently.
phoenix doubled him ONLY in the first. they went straight up from then on. yao expected the doubles to come after the first and they never came so he rushed shots. again when yao struggles, he can still draw the defense, but every great player does that. yao is a great player, a superstar. but what im saying is when tmac struggles, he contributes beyond offense. he still can get 8-9 assists, now he's focusing on his rebounds and defense.
and deke's a stiff b/c he IS NOT getting the minutes he's used to getting. at his age, he needs a rhythm. playing 8-10 mins won't work. if u remember, deke wasn't a factor before ya's injury either. why? little minutes. u give deke 28-30 mins again and he'll dominate defensively and reboundng.
When Kurt Thomas was in the game they played straight up. When he wasn't, they doubled off the ball. It wasn't simply limited to the first quarter. So are you suggesting that the Rockets should give Deke 25 minutes? That's a ridiculous notion. He was even slowing down before Yao came back.
no, i'm just saying for deke to be effective, he needs minutes while you are saying he's just a stiff right now. yea he was slowing down b/c he was playing 30+ mins. what do u expect from a 45 yr old? he was a beast. obviously you want yao to play. i want yao to play 38 mins every night. but i'm just giving u a reason for deke's lack of domination like before.
I appreciate your effort to this board very much, but that is out of line. It sounds like you don't even care about the other Rockets , and think everyone is trying to target him or something... Bashing someone who took this team on his back while Yao was away is rediculous. It is not like he played that bad?!?!!? He almost had a triple double!!! JEEEZ, chill man.(And telling Yao to have a better killer instinct is to make him a better player, not a diss)
exactly, i don't get the hate and unappreciation for tmac. w/o him, this team WOULD NOT make the playoffs even if yao was healthy. without yao, this team could possible get a 6th seed w/ just tmac. but obviously won't do much w/o yao. seriously how did pryuen forget the 21-10 record led? yao is our most efficient offensive player BY FAR. there is no denying that. we want him to shoot as much as possible. but tmac is the team's best player. he will handle the ball in crunch time and make ALL the decisions. he will most likely take all the shots down the stretch. i guess they only look at mac's fg% and nothing else. when he shoots below 50% => useless. i think that's the only thing yao has on tracy => fg%. so YOH constantly points out tmac's struggles.
Please enlighten me how McGrady is getting lazier? Is it because he shoots less? Drives less? What? Where are you getting this from? Please tell me how you KNOW that he is getting lazier. Honestly, Rockets fans are so spoiled. Try watching the Knicks, or the Hornets, or the Celtics, Sixers, Sonics, Trailblazers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves.. or any one of the teams out there not named the Suns. Why does it have to be Yao Ming OR McGrady?? Truth is, when they're both out there, there is always SOME mismatch. McGrady creates spacing for Yao when he handles the ball, and have you WATCHED any of the last 20 games where he just telegraphs passes to the right guys for easy layups? And when Yao is out there, he sucks the defense in, spacing again.. and do you NOT see how the Rockets are cutting and calling backdoor plays this season? When was the last time you saw that? Two years ago, this board was griping about the lack of movement on our offense, and now it's here, ya'll are getting your diapers up in wads complaining about Tracy's outside shot not falling cause Yao is freakin' shooting more.. jeebus. We are winning games. When Yao is in, he gets the ball now. Didn't we complain just months ago about his lack of touches or how he doesn't get passes thrown right? We're seeing that he's more comfortable in the post now, and sliding to get deep positions, and the ball is finding him! And McGrady -- honestly, I cannot see how someone would call him lazy when the man has shouldered us without Yao bad back and all. Van Gundy said that no shot is a bad shot for Mac, and while that may be an exaggeration.. I'd put his outside shots against any player in the league. Maybe Yao's clogging up the post (not bad thing), or maybe the plays getting called for him are those screens, or maybe the defense is sagging inside.. let's at least talk about WHY he's shooting less or driving less or making less of his shots.. versus complaining or making it personal. I know Yao is your hero and you probably know what number he does in the john and on what day, but McGrady being on the team is a good thing.. they're GOOD for one another and we're witnessing the beginnings of a solid-playoff worthy relationship. If McGrady took more shots, I'm sure some of you would call him a ball-hog and call for his head because he is not 'deferring' to Yao enough. Sweet lord, just enjoy the game and get rowdy cause we're in the playoffs!
nice post. this is a combo, not a 1-2 punch. both need each other. both have huge monkeys on their backs in terms of playoff success, esp. tmac. tmac knows he needs yao to help him win. tmac knows that. why does yao fans use that as a negative thing? tmac is letting the world know he needs yao w/ his play.
If that's what you want, then you better trade him for a Ray Allen type whose sole strength is making outside jumpers. McGrady is not and will never be that type of player. If you force him to give up his aggressive mentality on offense then his whole game would suffer tremendously. It would be shades of Pippen being limited to a jumper-shooter with the Rockets, only that McGrady is a better player at this point of his career than Pip was back then. He's the creator for this team, not yet another role player around Yao. JVG himself has always said that the team plays best when McGrady comes out of the gates firing, because it lits a fire under the whole team. And all the posters who're saying that he should sacrifice his offensive game for Yao, what the heck do you think he has been doing all this time? He's been deferring -- and is currently deferring -- to Yao on the offensive end. This guy is a 29ppg scorer on roughly 48% shooting from the field without Yao this season. He's averaging in the low-20s with Yao on the court, shooting less efficiently. He's deferring to Yao, isn't that what most of the fans here have been arguing all along?
Very simple here. Yao is the pillar of this team and who else would JVG rather bark at? Why would he waste his energy on a role player?
You are an idiot. Why do you bring Tmac into this discussion? This is a thread about JVG's comment on Yao Ming. Can you see that or not? Yao is a good player but you don't have to attack his teammates to speak up for him. What makes you think Tmac is lazy? I appreciate the translation works that you have done for this site but I still have to call you an idiot for saying that.
Well said, like it or not, Tmac is the best player on this team. Our discussion in this thread is about JVG's comment on Yao's mentality to finish games. Why some of the guys are attacking Tmac here is beyond me.
