a mcgrady-led team might be incapable of winning a championship right now, but who else is a better one to lead with the team we have now? i don't see a kobe, lebron, or a chris paul on our team. we have won 60%+ of our games without yao the past 2 years. lottery is seriously a diss to the team as a whole.
Actually, in an earlier post, you said that Barry would take care of ball handling and playmaking. He hasnt been either in years.
Werent you paying attention? Even though Yao was injured, he still played a good number of games during each season. This helped make the playoffs. If they were to play 82 games without him, they would be a lottery team. Especially in the west. I realize that this would also give us a 15 million dollar hole in our roster, but how many centers out there could comparably fill the void (who would be willing to come to Houston)?
So in your opinion we should be thankful to Yao that he at least played 55 games in the season...??? That is pathetic
um with 15 million to play around with, you don't think morey can get a all-star caliber big man to come here??? do you know 15 mil is near max money?? yes yao did play during the reg. season, but we didn't "get by" without yao. we actually won SIXTY PERCENT (60%) or MORE of the games that he missed. we did that for 32 games in 06-07 and 35 games last yr. 30-35 games is not a lucky streak my friend. yes, they'll struggle v. great teams without yao like we did last yr when we faced boston as an example. but there are more bad/average/good teams than great. i'm sure we'll make the playoffs even in the west, but probably as a 7/8 seed.
As I've said before, I believe Yao can be the leader of the team. And if we expect him to do this, we need to surround him with players who complement his game. Look at the teams in the finals. Boston and LA. Know what they have in common? They made crucial trades because their current formulas at the time werent working. I'm not saying that we'll get kobe, lebron, or paul, but we should definitely decide which direction this team is going. Sorry, but its true. And your numbers dont tell the whole story. For instance, the majority of the games we played after Yao's injury were against weak teams or teams missing stars. You cant expect to be this fortunate all the time (in terms of opposition).
have you seen him last year playoff? he has very good court vision, alot better than his brother, and though he doeesn't have spectacular ball handling, like steve francis, he still has good control and doesn't turn it over. for the pg position, we don't need a flashy point guard like the old steve francis, (though it would be nice) we just need a point guard that can shoot when he is open and doesn't turn the ball over. rafer doesn't turn the ballover, but can't shoot. luther can shoot, but turns the ball over. to the original post. i agree with Points 1 and 3. we still need a 3rd scorer. we HAVE to assume that francis doesnt come back in top shape and scola won't be better. you have too assume rick's game plan is already set up. you see so many times where tracy is cold the whole game. you see many times where yao gets bailed by the refs. then there are those few perfect games where everything goes well.
dude, houston has been building around yao ever since he became a rocket. every move we have made is to build around yao. he just hasn't stepped up and taken that role of "the man." and it's not our fault he's been injured for big chunks of the season for the past 3 years. tmac has been injured a lot the past 3 years. yao has had his chances to put a stamp on this team and say this is my team. it hasn't happened. you don't see the media or national TV people say a lot of times, "X team is facing Yao ming and the rockets. it's usually Tmac and the rockets." TMAC may not be the best guy to lead this team right now, but i have less confidence pinning the hopes on yao. i'm sorry but your "appreciation" for yao is too high if you think we're "fortunate" to be facing bad teams, esp. last year.
that being said, you can't COUNT on him or Tracy to be there, healthy, and ready for playoff basketball...THAT'S why we need another all-star and/or prolific scorer... apparently no one has been watching the last 3 or 4 years... how many first round failures will it take for people to realize we need better personnel !?!?
tracy will miss the reg. season for at least 10-15 games. we can mark that down. but his injuries have not been season-ending so i'm sure he can play through the playoffs even if he's injured (like last yr). i'm not sure yao can play thorugh his foot injuries b/c he's such a big guy. it's not his fault but i hope we have a healthy yao for the rest of his career (or at least 3-4 more years)
I stand by that comment. When I say "ball handling and playmaking", I am not talking about a Jason Kidd/Steve Nash/Chris Paul type of dominant PG type of skill set. By "ball handling", I simply mean someone who can handle the ball without turning it over or making stupid passes. By "playmaking", I simply mean someone who makes smart passes that create shots for others. Not necessarily the "assist pass", but one that leads to the assist. Brent Barry is capable of filling that role off the bench. While he cannot defend other teams' quicker PGs, and while he is not much of a penetrator, Barry still has offensive PG skills from the passing and ballhandling standpoint. He is an ideal fit in the second unit playing with an undersized guard like Brooks or Head or Jackson, since he can take on more of the PG duties that Rafer typically handles with the first unit, while allowing the other guard to focus more on scoring. A Brooks-Barry backcourt could cause some problems for other teams' second units, with Brooks being the penetrator/scorer and Barry being the perimeter facilitator and shooter off of Brooks' penetration. And as a preemptive answer to an inevitable response that Barry is not that good a player and that there are others would can do those things better, I reiterate that this team does not NEED someone significantly better. For the last time: I am not saying that the Rockets should not make any moves to improve their roster. I am only saying that not making major moves is not necessarily a bad thing.
Sorry, wrong again. Tmac and Yao do not complement each other. Do you know how annoying it is to see Yao in the post, calling for the ball, and having Tmac wave him away? Wrong again. For a center to put his stamp on the team, he needs to receive the ball whenever he wants it. Not whenever the ball handler wants to give it to him. Its Tmac and the rockets b/c the offense runs through Tmac. As it is, I agree. However, if we traded Tmac for players that complemented Yao, then the Rockets as a whole would be much more effective. Tell me how many good, healthy teams we beat.
Yes, we did indeed only "get by" without Yao. When Yao is out, we become a regular season team. Like the Suns in 2004, Nash's first MVP year, the Rockets were hard to figure out when you play only one game against them every now and then; when it comes to a 7 game series, however, the team pays for its lack in versatility and depth. What's the point in making the playoffs when you can't win? There's ZERO chance to win a playoff series without Yao when he still gets a max contract, no matter how many games are won in the regular season.
um i simply said making the playoffs. i never said we would win a series, which we won't without yao. i do believe we can make the playoffs without yao even for the entire season.
If we do sign Barry, I hope he made himself a better player than what he's shown during this Playoffs with the Spurs. He was horrible...even missing a free throw.
