[Playoff futility] It's not just the injuries

lol, thanks for the compliment.
It's not about layups vs. dunks for Yao (despite my throw it town comments); it's about using his 300+ pounds to dominate his opponents. That's something I rarely see him do. While he, "Backsitinbacksitinbacksitinbacksitinbacksitin," he then, "Turns, fakes, throws up a hook, TWO MORE FOR YAO MING!" I'm not saying it's not effective (I mean, JEEZ, Yao is effective), I'm saying if he had someone alongside him who could be a constant threat RIGHT at the bucket, Yao could rack up the assists when the double comes and effortlessly dominate when it doesn't. That said, I DO think mobility is a part of it... And Landry really is that style of player. You hit the nail on the head there with Landry (I originally wrote it all before Landry came back with his explosiveness and only edited it before writing it). But the knee injury worries me... And I greatly worry about bring Artest.
If the guy broke up set plays so he could score in Sacramento, who's not to say he won't do the same here?

I've got a Crusades exam (Compare and contrast the Albigensian Crusade, the Northern/Baltic Crusades, and the crusades to the Holy Land.//Using primary sources you have read, compare and contrast the Muslims and Christians as adversaries – how are they alike and how are they different?), so I need to get back to studying for that. I'll try to respond to things as best I can with my train of thought... I didn't think so many people would read this! Thanks so much for the input; I'll never get better at analysis if all my thoughts are kept in a vacuum.

 

It's not about 2-man balance; I just went with PF to save time, but I mentioned there were other options. And for the record, check out who else was on those 4/5 combinations I mentioned earlier:
1.) Otis Thorpe and Hakeem Olajuwon had Vernon Maxwell and Kenny Smith (and later, it was Horry/Dream/Drexler)
2.) Kevin McHale and Robert Parish had Larry Bird
3.) Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace had Tayshaun Prince and Chauncey Billups
4.) Robert Horry and Shaquille O'Neal had Kobe Bryant
5.) Sam Perkins and Shawn Kemp had Gary Payton
6.) Yao Ming and DOMINANT PHYSICAL PLAYER have Tracy McGrady

Last season, Yao was still recovering from a knee injury. He had a giant metal brace on his knee which, whether you want to believe it or not, severely hampered his movement. To top it off, no one on the team aside from him and McGrady could score. This season, Alston has picked up the scoring slack along with Landry. Scola will get his with some more time in the NBA, and Aaron Brooks is improving more and more each time I see him. You greatly underestimate this Rockets team.

That said, the Rockets ARE better defensively without Yao on the floor. They're also faster. And I think most BBS posters are greatly overrating Yao's contributions, given his defensive foibles. And while he'll certainly help, remember that the Suns brought in Shaq to play in halfcourt sets in the Playoffs. But what he did was take away their biggest strength (flexibility, finesse, speed). So why did the Suns lose?
1.) The Suns missed the wing play and defense of Shawn Marion. He was a significant scoring presence and a great wing defender. He also gave them extra speed and athleticism they utilized in order to quickly push the ball up the floor.
2.) The addition of Shaq and the subtraction of Marion forced a new style on the Suns. Something I observed during Shaq's tenure was a major different in Steve Nash. Before, he'd push the ball up the floor, either shoot, fake and pass, penetrate, or penetrate and pass. That's... not very surprising, but he would do it within the flow of the game. That's what made him so good; he could so quickly and so naturally know exactly where to pass. But once Shaq got there, it seemed, especially against the Spurs, he was trying to force it into the paint too much. It seemed like Nash had lost trust in his teammates aside from Amare (and sometimes Shaq). I don't think it's age that slowed Nash down. I think he's being forced to do something very unnatural for him, much like putting Jason Kidd in the same situation. Both are better in transition, and both had disappointing first rounds.
3.) Shaq hasn't aged well. He can't defend the quicker, more athletic bigs. He doesn't dominate like he used to. And he's slow. It seems like Kerr tried to fit a square peg in a round hole. The popular reason for the Suns' collapse is that Shaq can't hit a FT. The whole reason for his being there was for halfcourt offense in the end of Playoff games. Hack-a-Shaq meant he was a liability, not an asset in those situations. But Hack-a-Shaq is NOT the reason Phoenix lost.

Code:

What if Shaq was hit 88% of his free throws?  Here's what you see in that series
had San Antonio used the same Hack-a-Shaq strategy(which they wouldn't have):
Game 1: SA wins 117-116 (unless Shaq's FTs came before OT)
Game 2: SA wins 102-101
Game 3: SA wins 115-105
Game 4: PHX wins 108-86
Game 5: PHX wins 95-92
Formula: Shaq's FTs attempted each game x .88 - the number of FTs he made

Phoenix is still alive, down 3-2 in the series. Let's play with this a little more...

Code:

Shaq with Yao's FT% compared to Yao's PPG during 2007 Playoffs:
Yao - 25.14ppg
Shaq - 19.8ppg
Figure in increased blocks for Shaq in the lineup in terms of points...
Shaq - 23.57ppg

These numbers were taken from a Rockets team where Yao played a MUCH bigger role against a GREATLY inferior team than Shaq during the SA series. And with only 1 rebound per game separating them (which is easily erased when you figure in Shaq's assist numbers), giving Yao's FT% to Shaq and figuring their stats out in terms of points creates a negligible difference between the two. Let me try to clean that statement up a bit:

Code:

Shaquille O'Neal's stats with Yao's free throw percentage yields a difference 
of 1.5 ppg, providing evidence that Hack-a-Shaq did NOT sink the Suns

The purpose of this is not to bash Yao but to put his contributions in context as best as I'm able to with the extremely differeny conditions. Of course, this is all done in a vacuum, and nothing exists in a vacuum. It's probably somewhat flawed as well. But is also goes to show that if Shaq could hit FTs, the difference between he and Yao is very small. What does this have to do with the Rockets?
It means that many (not all, but many... I kind of got off on a tangent before) of the same problems Shaq brought Phoenix will follow Yao to the Rockets. But, ultimately, it all comes down to this:
1.) With Yao, the Rockets are less flexible and worse defensively. While Yao's presence in this series would reduce the strain on McGrady and ScoLandry, he is not the be-all, end-all savior of the Rockets.

2.) While Yao's presence might be able to turn this series around, anything less than a title amounts to an unsuccessful season, and Yao alone will not be enough to beat San Antonio.

3.) Yao would become significantly more effective if paired with a mobile, athletic player who can dominate physically, a la Shaq's well-documented effect on Amare.

4.) That player is not Luis Scola, as awesome as he is. If Carl Landry can keep up his explosiveness, he can be that player and would be more effective starting alongside Yao.

That said, many of y'all have very good points about having a wing defender who can score. And while many of you are pining for Ron Artest, he's a headcase who breaks set plays. On the other hand, Shawn Marion would be perfect.
Oh, wait, luxury tax. Crap!

If I missed anything, I'll try to get it later.

This has been pretty much my only respite from an oppressive term paper/final exam schedule. Too much time for you translates to my only opportunity to relax.
And before y'all ask, no, I don't have a life.

 

lol. Actually, all the bold at the end is the Cliffsnotes version.
Amazing? Try a product of boredom in in the middle of the night.