The guy is toast, he is starting to remind me of Hakeem when he lost his explosivness. It is just sad to watch. The day of Yao is here, we officially have the best big man in the NBA, and it ain't even close. DD
yep the diesel is losing steam. and sadly his fts are getting worse if that's even imaginable. everytime he shoots, it's a clank-nowhere near the goal...atleast in the finals so far. but no matter how much steam shaq is losing, even if shaq comes off the bench, yao will not get the respect he deserves by being currently ranked ahead of shaq in the center position.
They should move him around or reverse the ball more quickly so he can seal his man when fronted. Shaq is just not the same, he has gone severly downhill. DD
RIP to the big man game, period! The NBA has made a conscious decision to move away from the slow, pound-it-in style of playing, and now instead places a premium on mobile, skilled, shooting big men. Nothing short of surrounding Yao with a bunch of McGrady-like players (i.e. lengthy, athletic types, like Josh Howard and Shawn Marion, or as I like to call them, the "hybrids") will work. We have to out-maverick the Mavericks...if that's even possible...
Call me crazy - but I think the Heat would be better with Yao instead of Shaq. Heck - they have a better shot with Alonzo Mourning starting.
No, no, no...the game is not dead, see Duncan and the Spurs, if Ginobli did not foul Dirk they would be in this series. Also, if Shaq was 5 years younger, he would be killing the Mavs, he doesn't move anymore, he squats, teams used to pay for fronting him by hammering home the lob. Yao can deal with fronting, because he is more mobile than Shaq (can't believe I said it, but it is true). DD
That's why I said "mobile" big men, I didn't say big men can't play anymore or will be rendered ineffective. Yao is great, it's the players the Rockets put around Yao that will determine how far this team goes. As JVG said, "We need to get bigger, quicker, and add more length"...at least JVG acknowledges that, so he knows what we need, now it's a matter of whether or not he and Morey can get those players in a Rox uni and get Les to open up his wallet a bit more.
I think this is the wrong way to go. The way the Mavs (and Suns) have been successful is by simply saying "screw the formula. instead of adjusting to everyone else, make them adjust to us". The teams became great when they finally got better at creating their mismatches than what they lost in the opponent's mismatches. With Yao and McGrady, the Rockets can create mismatches - it's just a matter of doing it more efficiently. In the current NBA, the success of the Mavs, Suns, Pistons, Heat, and Spurs show that all sorts of different styles can work. You just have to do what you do better than than other team does what they do. The Rockets will never be as good as the Mavs at the Mavs' style. They have to come up with their own style and make the Mavs adjust to them.
And that tire around his middle doesn't help either...and the heat have him for 4 more years at 20 million a year.....OUCH ! DD
Major, it is scary but I am agreeing with you more and more these days..... Wow !! It is about imposing your will on the other team and make them play your game. The Rockets can do that, and are not that far away FROM doing it, just need a good draft and have Swift pull his head out, and get a player or 2 in FA. DD
Tell that to those so called sportswriters and anal-ysts and they will rip your head off. Even if he scores 5 points and misses 8 FTs in a game, they will tell you that his impact is immeasurable.
He died of: Disease: Stupidteammatesosis Symptom that led to death: No one can feed him down low Known vectors of this disease: Walker, Antoine
Mourning and Shaq are too similar, they need to bring Doleac out there to shoot that little 15 footer from the FT line to open up the lane for Wade. DD
