Giving it some thought this morning regarding what the Rockets should do if they decide to ship off Tmac or he doesn't play for the rest of the year - I began to think of what they should do to build up around Yao, what model they can use, provided the team make-up doesn't change. I think Kareem and the 80s Lakers would be it, because Tmac can still be incoroporated into that model if he comes back. But he'd have to be used as the Magic Johnson role of PG. Trying to use Mac/Yao in the Shaq/Kobe-Shaq/Wade roles doesn't work for whatever reason. THat means that Rafer (Norm NIxon, who was the starting PG when the Lakers won in '80), would have to come off the bench. Von Wafer would move into the starting SG position (Byron Scott). Scola would be the Rambis hustle PF. Yao would have to suffice as Kareem, even try to develop a decent skyhook. And ARtest would have to do his best James Worthy impression at the SF, maybe cut out his 3-point shooting completely; and if he can't cut it, bring in Landry to do it at SF. If healthy, I think that's the best matchup for the Rockets. On D, Wafer will have to switch over to the other team's PG.
If they could ever bring the ball up, that would be a good offensive team. Watching Wafer guard 1's? Yikes.
That would be the tricky part. I haven't noticed if Wafer has any ballhandling skills or not, but at least he's got speed if he had to lunge his way past someone. Artest can dribble, and so can Tmac. But offensively the team would be pretty good. It's a lineup worth trying out, since the regular Tmac rotational lineups don't seem to have any chemistry. Tmac - PG Wafer - SG Artest - SF Scola - PF Yao - C Do it, Rick!
if tmac comes back and won't ever be 100% or even 95% than i say you have him come off the bench, i still think we need him to beat the elite teams just because he draws so much attention and is such a good passer, but as a starter, we need to start games off with hustle and good defense, and when he is a step behind we can't accomplish those goals
lol, so you want everyone to change to fit a team that isn't us? because they won championships we should be exactly like them? no we should fit into our own team, which means playing around yao, with more cutting. no one slashes, when yao gets the ball further out than he would like it is the perfect situation for a slasher to get an easy dunk or layup, yao isn't a bad passer, some say he is a great passer, i don't agree with that, but he isn't bad by any means. this is our team, a dominant center - play through him 2 great defenders who have been able to hit the 3 throughout their career (despite recent shooting woes) hustle players a decent pg that can't shoot well, but sometimes gets hot and some nice role players in deke and barry to me it doesn't stand out as a championship threat, but i think we play our best as underdogs, lets just focus on staying in the race in the west, get to the playoffs and just PLAY HARD. i guarantee you that if we play as hard as we can, hustle after ever ball, every rebound, every defensive play, we can beat anyone in a 7 game series. even without tmac, we should still be able to win (granted we dont play la in the first round) i.e. atlanta v. celtics, atlanta was a severe underdog, but came ready to punish the celtics, and they took em' to 7, they weren't the better team, but they hustled, and played hard which caught boston off guard this is what we should focus on, just play. don't worry about what we'll do without mac, just play with heart and as corny as it sounds clyde was right last night, if you play with heart it's all that matters
It's not just about having heart; you also have to have a plan, a circulatory system that works, or you're just pumping to nowhere. And Kareem wasn't a dominant big man? I don't know if you watched the 80s Lakers, but when they weren't fastbreaking, they were running the offense thru Kareem; that WAS the Lakers offense for 10 years other than isolating James Worthy. That's why it could work with Yao. I"m saying if Tmac comes back, this is a lineup worth trying out. It would be that we already have all the pieces to be a successful team - they just aren't being used effectively. That said, I"m fine with how things run without Tmac, but if he has to be here and on the floor, then the Shaq-Kobe model for Yao/Mac doesn't work.
