This is of course if we resign him. I think Yao is capable of averaging 35ppg 16rebounds 5blocks and 4assists a game and maybe even more.
Yes, sure he's might be capable of that. But I woudn't want that. That would be worse than "dumping it down to Hakeem everytime" offense. I'd rather see Yao score 25ppg/16rpg, and Francis around 20ppg/8apg. Share the wealth. Remember, teams win, not players.
The dumping it down to Hakeem offense won us 2 championships. Shaq averages close to those numbers and he has 3.
Of course, that only works if your center is dominating the competition offensively night in and night out, and Yao doesn't do that. He's more of a passing big man. 2008? Geez, let's do some stock predictions while were at it so I can retire at age 35...
"Dumping it down to Hakeem offense" won us ONE championship. "Dumping it down to Hakeem and Clyde on the break" won us the 2nd. And lots of defense! All you have to do is break out game tape of the 1995 team before Clyde. Predictable offense. No thanks. The 1994 offense was done out of necessity, rather than choice. Today we have a choice. Yao has passing skills and he must use that as an option. He makes his teammates better.
I hope Yao gets 200 points and Barkley dies of some lip disease. Seriously, I'd love to see Yao and Francis put up good numbers 6 years from now, but not too much to one guy alone. Shaq/Kobe type would be good enough.
DavidS, You took it right out of my mouth Here is what I think a successful shot distribution for the FUTURE Rockets. Yao ---- 25ppg (10/15 + fts), 16rpg with 5 offensive boards; Francis ---- 20ppg (7/15 + fts), 7.5apg, 6.5rpg; Cat ---- 15ppg (5/12 + fts), 4.5apg Forwards---- 18ppg, 15rpg. If the bench can chip in 20ppg, then we have a closing to 100pts game. So far the bench has been able to do that. With the good defense the Rockets have showed lately, they can hold most teams under 90ppg. I predicate the Rockets can win 50 games if there is no injury to any of the starters. Comments?
I think some of you may be a little too optimistic. You are predicting numbers that no one in the modern era has made. I mean, not everyone follows the same learning curve... duncan's stats have hardly changed from his rookie year. I expect yao to improve but really, 35 pts and 16 boards? If someone collected those numbers for more than a few years in the modern game they would easily be considered the best player ever. We may be getting ahead of ourselves. If he averages 20 and 12 for the next 10 years i will be happy as **** and he will be in the hall of fame.
Now please don't start threads for : Predict Yao's stats for 2009 Predict Yao's stats for 2012 Predict Yao's stats for 2005 Predict Yao's stats for 2006 Predict Yao's stats for February 2009 Predict Yao's stats for March 2007 Predict Yao's stats for any day where the temperature is below 50 degrees in Houston in January. Predict Yao's stats for a game vs. the Lakers in February of a year divisible by, oh, 2.
That sound perfect to me. In fact, I like that you put 6.5RPG for Francis. He has a skill in rebounding. I say use it when necessary. He can out rebound a lot of 6'10" forwards!
