no, i don't. however, i think the multiple star player thing is bull. i'll give you the lakers and celts of the 80's as your paradigm, but jordan made, molded and honed pippen; kobe needs shaq far, far more than the other way round and who exactly was hakeem's equal during the first title run?
If Yao ever feels that this is not "his" team. Then he will never become as aggressive as he should. There should be only ONE leader per team. Not a duo. Stockton knew that Malone was "the man." Kobe took a back-seat because of Shaq. Even though 95 was "Drexlers" year, it was Hakeem's team. Robinson was the All-Star/Olympian veteran. But he knew the "kid" was his boss: Tim Duncan. There shouldn't be any question who the leader is. All players should know up front. There needs to be a pecking order.
I'd much rather have the Rockets mold the team around a coaching style. Have players who fit into this mold. Who's the go-to guy on the Kings, Mavs, and Grizzlies? For the Kings? I'd be comfortable if Brad Miller, Bibby, Bobby Jackson, or Peja taking the shots. When Webber gets back, he'll get shots too. How bout the Mavs with Dirk, Nash, and Finley? How bout the Grizzlies with Mike Miller, Gasol, and Posey? If a team lacks a dominant badass player like a Garnett, Duncan, or Shaq, it better have a great team that has everyone on the same page in terms of playing style. Who is the leader on the Rockets? I see it as irrelevant. I just want to see players who fit a certain offensive and defensive scheme playing to the best of their abilities. Ship out the folks who do not possess the skillset to play within the guidelines set forth by the coach.
It depends on how you define role players. Kobe is NOT a role player. Granted, SF3 is not as talented as Kobe, but to ask SF3 to be a max role player is just ridiculous. He can be a second star on the Rockets team for sure. Ideally I'd like to see Yao average 17-20 shots which is translated to 22-26 points assuming that yao shoots around 52-53% from the field and gets 6-8 FT shots per game. If the team can get Yao that many shots a game, I don't mind if SF3 takes 15 shots a game if he keeps his FG percentage around 41-43%.
I posted the above in another thread. Francis' shots are decreasing as the year progresses, and Yao's are increasing. Progress is being made.
ya, hes hakeem. He can do it by himself, he is one of the top 10 of all time. And we dont eve nknow if yao will be in the top 50. He cant do it by himself.
Thank you for the sanity farhan! Hakeem, it can be argued, was the greatest center of all time (I said it can be argued..) - I'd love it if Yao was as good as Hakeem one day, but I just don't see it yet - of course if Yao even becomes 'Ewing good' then we'll be doing great!
Kings? ???? ( It was Webber, but what has he done in two years besides get injured?) Mavs? Dirk Grizz? Gasol Spurs? Duncan Lakers? Shaq Wolves? Garnet Suns? ???
Charvo, this is a good idea when you are building your team. But once your main players are put in place, you need to establish a go-to-guy. The reason is because the team has to know their roles. That's important when the pressure is on, and the shot clock is running down...the team needs to know who can rely on. They need to believe in someone. They need to feel that they can rely on a single player to "carry them to the promise land (as Cassell used to say)." In the play-offs the pressure is sooooo great, that you have no time to think. The pace is sooooo fast that you need a "star" player that you can lean on to get you the tough shots. Shots that "normal people" can't make. Shots that mere "mortals" can't make. And the role players will rest on the shoulder of that "go-to-guy." There can be several "heros" over the length of a 7 game series; but over the long run. There is one guy that carries the team MOST of the time. I'm not saying that the Kings can't win a title w/o a go-to-guy. But, I'd be surprised if they make it past the Wolves or Spurs. Leaders, WILL their teams to victory. Think about TD in last years finals. He was THE MAN almost every night. Whose that guy on the Kings? No one. The Rockets need a "TD." Is that Yao? My bet is on him. Yes, I agree with this.
YAO can't be a leader, for sure. But he's a major POSITIVE factor to get Houston another NBA title. FRANCIS can lead the rockets as a team. BUT his game is not gonna help the Rockets to get a championship with the way he play today. HE can help the team by playing DECOY at times. They should start their plays with Yao or Mo and see how the defense responds. Then we go from there...
Hakeem was not the greatest center of all time. Wilt (arguably the greatest player to have ever played the game--if MJ played in the 60s and Wilt played in the 80s and 90s), Russell, Jabbar are all better centers than the Dream. Only the ROF (Rockets only fans) will argue that Dream is the best 5 of all time.
The reason I don't like a go-to guy as much now is due to the zone defense and the ability to double a guy before the ball even arrives. Let's say the Kings are matched up with the Spurs in the playoffs, and the Spurs have to make a final shot. There's no way Tim Duncan is going to get a shot off with Brad Miller and Doug Christie doubling him before he even gets the ball. If he does get a shot off, it'll be a tough b*stard attempt.
Russell had no offense and Dream Schooled Jabar as a sophmore. I can see the argument for Wilt, but Hakeem was definitely one of the toip 5 (top 3 in my book) centers in my book. And did you see the way Hakeem played post 1993, it was a thing of beauty. And even before he had a finese game, he was an incredibly dominant center, Amare with more skills and post up moves. Btw, if you're not a ROF, what are you doing on a Rocket fan site
