Screw All That Analysis! Here Is The Biggest "Duh" Ever!

if he is that old he could be in line to be the next pope

 

I hope the refs don't suck. Dampier has a tendency to elbow the sh*t out of Yao back and push him everytim ehe shoots. I've even seen Kerr on TNT mentioning it once last year - something to the effect of ("They can call a foul on him every time downcourt.").

 

Yeah, if they didn't call those in the regular season, I doubt they will start now in the post season. In fact, you can expect Dampier to be even more physical (and get away with it). But on the flipside, Yao should be able to get away with a lot more too..

And about Yao's play in this series.. Yao doesn't need to be dominant for us to succeed. BUT, he has to make the Mavs think he CAN dominate. He doesn't need to score a bunch of points - he just needs to make it look like he can score easily when he's guarded by Dampier one on one. If he can do that, then he has done his part and it's up to TMac, Wesley, Padgett, James to hit those threes.

If on the other hand, Dampier can singlehandedly deny Yao the ball by fronting or 3/4ings all game long, then we are dead.

 

This is a very good assessment of the current situation of the Rox. T-mac is the star, Yao is the foreman of the supporting roles. We need Yao to bring our the star inside of himself to beat the Mavs.

 

No doubt none of them has the capacity to have more of an impact than Yao. Yao has the capacity to impact this series more than even Nowitzki and McGrady! The question is will he show up? By show up, I mean 20+ppg. The chances are unlikely. Does that mean we can't win this series without him dominating? No, we've been playing at a near elite level all year with him playing the role of a glorified role player. Like I said, this Rockets team is T-Mac + great role play (Yao being the best of them) = 50 wins. If it was T-Mac the superstar + Yao the superstar (as opposed to this season's role as the best role player in the NBA) => 60 wins and WCF.

 

Some of you guys are placing too much hope on a guy that averages 18/9 and plays only 31 minutes. Yao's post up is important but has limited impact because of its limited occurences. He doesn't get the ball enough in the post in the regular season, what makes you think that'll change in the playoffs? This team isn't built on Yao's post up game but guard's play. The guards will get most of their open looks by the creation of T-Mac, pg, pick and roll and ball movement. The Rockets are mainly a perimeter team, and they still have trouble getting the ball into the post at times. An sign of this notion is when Mutombo comes in and replaces Yao, sometimes our offense picks up despite the absence of Yao. Guards play is the bread and butter of this team. Yao need to have a solid series for us to win, like around 20/10, but anyone expcet 24/12 or series long dominance from Yao is likely to be disappointed.

 

This team has been jekyl and hyde all season. Split personality. I don't think anyone knows but maybe the players themselves what accounts for that.


In anycase, I have no idea how far this team can go - so it's going to be fun to watch and see baby!

 

I was watching the Mavs game in between the Rox game and to tell you the truth I was not impressed with Dampier, he may still be suffering the effects of his injury. Anyway, the commentators mentioned Damps mediocre production in the last two games and they raised the question whether a jumpshooting team like the Mavs could do well in the playoffs without an inside game.

Sean Bradley may be a bigger influence than Damp, but in either case I believe Yao/Deke will dominate the 5 in this series. Since the 5 hole may be the Mavs achilles heel, if Yao/Deke can dominate then this series is ours.

 

Here is the thing for me. Does Yao get in foul trouble? Hopefully, because it is the playoffs, they do not call all the ticky tack stuff and Yao stays out of foul trouble and puts in about 40 min a game.

If he does, what that gives you is the capability to play Deke 15-20 min a game, 8 min backing up Yao and 8-12 min (mostly end of game) replacing Weatherspoon at PF in a twin towers mode. That allows you to get the defense and rebounding you need on the floor and Yao can focus a little more on offense. It also should make Dallas a jumpshooting team.

Yao will be fine. Will the refs?