In the past couple of games, there have been a few promising trends, that bode well for the playoffs. What do you see as being most important for our stretch run? 1. T-Mac getting healthy. Just a couple weeks ago, T-mac was looking really hurt out there with his tendinitis. And the prognosis was that it was something that he would just have to play through because the only cure is rest. Now I don't know if Tracy is the greatest actor in the world or what, but the past few games, he's been looking like his old self. His shot has been falling, his explosiveness looks to be there, his defense has been superb and he doesn't look like he's struggling with getting up and down the court. Maybe he's just gritting it through, but either way he's not showing any ill effects, which is huge. 2. Yao stepping up defensively. Yao has been fantastic on the defense end as of late. He's blocking more shots than ever, he's changing more shots than ever, and he hasn't gotten in serious foul trouble in what seems like weeks. He's been as active on the boards as he's been all season, and along with Deke, they have really locked down the paint in a number of games. Now maybe his improved play and lack of foul trouble can be attributed to the refs allowing a bit more contact and rough play with the approching playoffs. If so, then I think it's an even surer sign that Yao can sustain his defensive effort into the playoffs. Generally speaking the biggest problem with Yao this season is that he will get overaggressive on defense (making dumb fouls) and get into foul trouble. If he gets into foul trouble he tends to lose his rhythm and confidence heading into the rest of the game. Now if the refs are going to allow him to play, then I see a strong postseason run for Yao. 3. Perimeter players hitting their shots again. I think it's pretty much been proven this year, that when the perimeter guys are making their shots, this team is absolutely unbeatable. And during this current winning streak the permieter shooting has slowly rounded back into shape. With the playoff series preparation, and opponents scouting out ways to neutralized Yao and T-Mac the outside shooters might be the biggest X-factor in determining whether we roll through the playoffs or not. Now the team defense, JVG's adjustments, and our two stars' natural abilities will give us a chance against anybody. But if the other guys are making their shots also, then it might just be lights out for the rest of the league. 4. Deke establishing himself as kryptonite for high-powered offenses. I don't know what it is, but Deke seems to do his biggest damage against high-powered offenses like the Suns or the Nuggets. Two games in the span of a week against a pair of impressive offenses, Deke just cleaned house. He just comes in, locks down the paint, starts sucking down rebounds on the defensive and offensive glass, and basically starts wrecking the other team. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the Rox are one of, if not THE best transition defensive team in the league. That eliminates all the easy baskets and the other team is forced into the halfcourt game which they aren't entirely comfortable with. So maybe their drives to the basket are a little weak, or their jumpers don't quite fall so easily. Hence stepping right into Deke clutches. Perhaps I'm just reading in too much to a couple of good performances, but I've just been absolutely astounded with Deke's play in a number of games this year.
I really think this team just thrives on getting used to one-another, and developing chemistry, before they really start to play well. It happened at the beginning of the year.... only after a couple of weeks of Sura as the starter, and Wesley and Barry on this team, did they finally start to "gel". Then, they had to adjust to Sura's injury... and that took time, and a Mike James trade. We were still losing in James' first two games back, but we finally made the re-adjustment to him, and a less than 100% Sura, and we caught fire again w/ the 4 game road trip sweep. Then, Juwon went down... and this was a more crippling injury than anybody could imagine, because there were no Mike James' out there we could trade for. Alas, .500 after 12 games, we only finally started to play better when this team realized that Howard wasn't going to be coming back to make it all better... they had to do it for themselves.
Clearly I think all of those factors are huge. But to me I think if our group of James, Wesley and Barry are hitting 3ptrs it really makes our entire team go. When they arent hitting it really puts a lot of pressure on Tmac/Yao to score the points and teams will key on those guys defensively. When we had that 8 game winning streak earlier in the year those guys were hitting all of their shots and we looked unbeatable. Those guys seem to be coming around again with their shot, particularly Mike James. That's huge for our team. I think in general our team's defense is very good and pretty consistant. Which means if our offense clicks, it really makes it very difficult for the other team to catch us.
Short term the perimeter shooting may be more important, but long term Yao's improved defensive play is definitely the most important.
Yao Ming steps up big time and at the same time TMac steps up big time, both of them doing a great job defensively and offensively.
A team is only as good as its stars. TMac playing better with Yao playing better are huge. That's why our 3's are falling. So option #3 is probably a symptom...not a cause. But Deke's play is immeasurable too. So you can't really pick any one thing. That's why everybody always mentions "chemistry" and you are seeing it here. Its like fine food, individual ingredients don't make a good dish. In food, 1+1=3. That's "chemistry."
I'd say Yao stepping up is the most important factor. I'm surprised the 3rd option got as many votes as it did. The way I look at it - shooters are always gonna keep shooting, for some stretches it seems like all their shots will fall, other times they can't buy a bucket. There was no reason to panic when they weren't hitting as much recently because they were eventually gonna get hot again. Yao showing some big improvement is well, BIG. Him stepping up his defensive play and getting smarter about fouling is a key fundamental, not just a little trend from game-to-game. That's success that will last a while and enable him to keep improving his game.
If I had to pick the most important one out of that list, it's definitely the perimeter shots. Starting with that Boston game last month, the Rockets' shooters went into a major slump for several weeks and not surprisingly, the team started playing .500 ball. Obviously there were other factors that came into play. T-Mac hobbled by injuries, Yao going through his annual late March/early April fatigue, Juwan Howard going down for the season, etc. But the cure to all these ills is Mike James, Scott Padgett, David Wesley, and Jon Barry finding the range from 3-point land.
I am sorry, but if you think T-Mac is "getting healthier" then you are fooling yourself. There is a difference between a player being "healthier" and a player "toughening it out" and doing his best to cope with the various injuries he has. So the "healthier" part is wishful thinking, reality is different. You don't "heal" tendinitis while you keep playing, and you don't "heal" your other injuries while you keep playing and recieving physical punishment during games. It defies logic.
They are all important. I am really pleased and I bet everyone is about Yao's defense. I hope it stays fresh in his mind..and how to be assertive and be a very effective player in the playoffs. GO ROCKETS! BEAT THE MAVS! BEAT THE SONICS! I can see Tmac dominating. I really hope so...everyone will be ready!!! Mavs will be harder than Sonics though
Although I voted for perimeter shooting, I think Yao getting more respect from the refs is a major factor. Over the last month or so refs seem to let Yao play without calling the ticky tacky fouls that they called on him earlier in the year. He gave Amare & Hunter and J. James fits in the most recent games against the Suns and Sonics. IMO, the refs are allowing Yao the play his game and calls that were going against him earlier this year are now no calls, as they should have been all season.
DID YOU EVER NOTICE THAT THE REASON JUMPSHOTS ARE FALLING IS BECAUSE THEY ARE WIDE OPEN DUE TO TMAC PLAYING BETTER AND GETTING SO MUCH ATTENTION? ROLE PLAYERS ARE ROLE PLAYERS. THEY'RE PLAY IS DICTATED BY THE STARS. IT'S DEFINITELY TRACY AND YAO AND THEIR DEADLY PICK AND ROLL THAT SETS UP EVERYTHING ELSE.
