Duncan's aging? That's quite the convenient cop-out. I don't know what makes you think Parker and Manu are the main guys on the Spurs. They just have the ball in their hands late because it's a more effective strategy. I seriously doubt the greatest power forward in NBA history being 32 years old now has suddenly rendered him too decrepit to close out games. Just a hunch. Perhaps defenses tighten up and guys can't zip in as easily for uncontested backdoor looks? Just a hunch. There's clearly a reason why all the elite teams put the ball in the hands of their playmakers late in the game. And why exactly do you think they stop running it in crunch time and have problems? Do they forget how to run it? Does the aforementioned "magical basketball fairy" come down and render them completely inept taking away their powers of cognition? There's clearly some variables in play by the defense that changes the circumstances and makes the normal execution of the offense more difficult.
the thing is yao hasn't shown he can do that and we've given him ample opportunities. we've played our best this year when the offense is very balanced and the last few games confirmed that. our best bet at having playoff success is to have everybody steps up and play at a high level. i don't think yao can ever take it up another notch for a long stretch of games if they front him consistently.
Good points. But I would assume you would concur that Yao needs to somehow get touches late in the game to keep the offense going. Do you see anything he can possibly do to adjust? Because he will see this against any team in the playoffs...I guarantee it.
He definitely should get it just for the sake of keeping the defense honest. But that doesn't mean incessantly pounding it into him like we have been trying. As far as Yao adjusting, no idea. If basketball geniuses like Jeff Van Gundy and Rick Adelman haven't been able to solve the problem, I tend to think it's likely a lost cause.
no b/c if you watch enough NBA games, you tend to notice an increase in defensive intensity down the stretch. you don't play the same in the 4th as you do the first 3 quarters. if you play with the same intensity, you probably wear yourself out. there's a reason the 3-peat lakers would coast for 3 quarters (depend on their offense) and just take it up another notch defensively. it's harder to run your offense down the stretch -> that's why you need that go-to guy. hence the name, "go-to guys."
if it's a lost cause, can the Rockets win without going to Yao late in games? I know they won against Portland the last game, but I still wonder. The team needs to be realistic. If Yao can't be fed the ball efficiently down the stretch, does the team have enough to win games consistently with Plan B (other players step up and run the offense)
bottom line is, when they start to front yao, we need to find other ways to make them pay - incl. finding other ways to continue passing the ball to yao. if you're telling me, fronting equals automatically going away from yao, then it's an absurd notion.
Probably not. This was the basis of my other thread but I don't want to get into that again. You can't win at a high level in the NBA just running team oriented offensive schemes. This isn't little league or even college. Great players win championships. There's an idealist camp on this board that seems to believe teams can win at a high level simply by playing hard and sharing the ball but I haven't seen any evidence at all of this actually being possible. Systems keep other guys involved throughout the game and take the burden off the star, but in the fourth, it's always in the star's hands. You have to have that superior talent to bring it home down the stretch. We don't have that. That's why our potential this year is largely limited. But for the sake of discussion and the spirit of optimism, the point of this thread is to explore the few options we might have to realize the little potential that we do have. The Boston game when Aaron Brooks drove in for consecutive plays was a good start.
we can use him as a decoy. if his man is fronting him, the help defense from his man isn't going to be as quick. go to scola/artest on the other side in the post or atack the basket.
Well put, I hope you're wrong about "the not being able to win in the end part" though. So I guess that is what makes McGrady special. He was that unparallel weapon that we could unleash late in games. You're right, we not only need a game changer to win, but we need a game changing WING and those are few and far between. Artest is a great talent IMO because of what he brings on both ends. But is still not a McGrady.
that's certainly one of the options. but that's not the only option. and even with what you've suggested, it's 1,000 times easier on paper than in actual games.
it's actually very simple. the thing is when i watch, when yao is fronted, we waste a ton of time trying to wait for him to seal off his man. so obviously it gets harder to do the things i suggested with the shot clock going down on you. at the moment we see yao is getting fronted, go to the alternatives immediately. stop wasting time. our players gotta show they want the ball. we actually were very good to end 4th quarters last yr after starting out so poorly with the same problems. i think eventually our guys will get this.
the board has turned on him, but he was really special in 2005. he took over alot of close games down the stretch with his decision making. i always felt simply due to his presence we had a chance if we could just get some supporting talent. ironically, he completely breaks down the year we finally have the talent. it's really unfortunate.
I agree, I for one have been supremely disappointed in him this year especially given the irony of having the talent finally. But all that aside, you're right, his 04-05 year was tremendous. he would consistently (yet effortlessly) take anyone on his left and dunk it with his left with ease. Just watch the LORD OF TERROR video. They show a lot of how great he really was. Would you agree that I would take an 04-05 McGrady over ANYONE in the league today on this team?
It happened last year too. People forget how poor our offensive execution was in the fourth quarters before McGrady rejoined the team, just prior to the streak. In his chat today, Feigen said that the Rockets want to use Brooks more in high pick and rolls in the fourth quarter, like they used to with McGrady. So there goes the old argument that McGrady dominated the ball too much and went away from the "motion offense" down the stretch, and that was the reason for all our problems. That's the role the Rockets are hoping Brooks can take. You need guys like that at the end of close games. When McGrady was right, he was one of the best at it.
don't you think if it is so simple like you said, it should've been solved by now? it's not like the alternatives must be exclusive to feeding the ball to yao. yao should be part of the solution. otherwise, fronting = yao rendered useless. that's not acceptable for the coaching staff, yao himself, and his teammates. even in the portland game, yao did get open in the middle of the lane when they're fronting.
When McGrady was right, I think he is the number one WING I would have on my team over Kobe, Lebron or Wade. McGrady's ridiculously fluid and his talent and skill really was unparallel. Those other guys are just a lot more durable unfortunately. But just talking straight talent and ability, McGrady is number one in my book as far as Superior WINGS go.
I think most on this board are very disappointed (myself especially) because we only had one REALLY special year with McGrady (04-05). After that injury has really taken its toll. I know for a fact I was hoping for an 04-05 McGrady for atleast 3 years with the Rockets, but we only got one and that is disappointing.
