We didn't lose that series because of Yao Ming , we lost because we had a stubborn coach who couldn't make adjustments. When we won the first two games of the series Yao was abusing Okur one on one. Later on, Sloan watched the film , made some adjustments, and Yao didn't have the same dominance. JVG on the other hand didn't have enough creativity or practical knowledge to make any adjustments. He was running the same old plays on offense which was very predictable and which the Jazz players studied very well. See a theoretical basketball coach like JVG would run set plays with almost rigid patterns even if the opposition has already clearly adjusted to it. A practical basketball coach like Adelman on the other hand , runs offensive plays which are not fixed or rigid, his offensive system is geared more towards what the defense gives you. the rockets extended the series to seven games in spite of JVG and his fixed stubborn mind. For all his much hyped defensive prowess, what brilliant defensive move did this coach do to stop boozer or williams, or to at least limit their production? not to mention the previous series against the mavs where we got blown out by 40 points, because he coudn't make adjustments after winning the first two games.
Who cares about Jazz now, we took them to 6 games with half a sqaud that aws injured as well..... If Yao can't do much, take him out. We still have an Artest, who can prove to be very troubling for the Jazz. Not to mention McGrady was triple teamed on a few occasions last season, but the players stepped up (a few at least). They barely beat us last season, BARELY. I'm not even gonna say if Yao was on the lineup, but if Rafer was healthy the first 2 games, who knows how this series would've turned out. Now with the addition of Artest. Yao becomes more efficient on offense (better percentage, more assists), less tired on defense. We also have 2 elite of the elites defender, with one causing more trouble to opponents offensively than defensively. There is no way McGrady or Yao can even be double teamed now without our players getting a shot from their comfort zone. You double McGrady, you have to watch out for Yao and Artest getting a shot in their comfort zone (we know mcgrady is best at doing that). You double Yao, we have a deadly perimeter threat (we have more abled 3 point shooters. You double Artest, he'll ram your ass back to mexico if he has to. Don't even worry about Utah! There city are the ones who down talk the Artest trade the most
Yao guarding Boozer is like McGrady guarding Chris Paul. Too quick and fast. I never understood why we just didn't do more zone or box and 1 when the other team went small. Also, I better see more quick post ups this season. It killed me in years past when Yao gets good position early in the possession and Alston kicks it to the other side of the court to reset the offense. If Yao gets good position, just pass it to him regardless if the other players are in their position.
True but hopefully the additions of Barry and Artest add enough talent to force the opposing team and it's 3 point shooting center into guarding Yao with single coverage.
I'll assume you didn't even read the original post. There's a difference between "smallball" and "teams that are going to run." My point was that there were only two good teams in the league that primarily used "smallball" as their main strategy, but with the trading of Marion and departure of Baron Davis, that won't be nearly as effective for them. As far as your "teams that are going to run, are going to run. makes no difference that the Rockets added Artest" - I really have no idea what you are talking about. yao doesn't have much trouble in games that are uptempo in stints. and my post had nothing to do with artest except for the last point.
It seems like from our end you're happy with Marion getting dealt but like I mentioned earlier in this thread, Phoenix made the Shaq trade specifically to beat a team like us. They knew they were never going to beat San Antonio with that group, and mind you, the Shaq trade went down about after the Lakers got Gasol. They knew in order to be serious they needed to become a good defensive halfcourt team and in order to do that they needed a guy like Shaq to body up Duncan/Gasol/Yao and to take pressure off Amare. As bizarre as that trade was I understand the rationale behind it and despite them losing in five and Duncan playing out of his mind I still think it's a smart move that could potentially cause problems for their conference rivals.
This team is going to drive opponents crazy on the defensive side of the ball. Before, we had to rely on Battier as a stopper. With Artest in the mix, we can do something similar to what Utah does to defend T-Mac -- throw waves of defenders at the other team's guy. Battier and Artest's differing styles make it even more difficult. The difference is, we quite possibly have the two best perimeter defenders in the league. Shane was the top wing in DPOTY voting this past year, and Ron won it a few years ago. On top of that, the effect of adding a wing with Ron Ron's offensive capabilities might even allow TMac to take a few possessions on the other team's main guy. Artest takes so much pressure off Battier defensively, and TMac offensively, it's not even funny. Heck, we may even see a slightly expanded offensive game from Battier. Throw in the addition of Dorsey -- according to Morey, the best defender on the best defensive team in college basketball -- plus guys who draw offensive fouls as well as Hayes and Scola, and it will be very difficult for guards to get all the way to the hoop against us. And that doesn't even count a 7-6 tree in the middle of the lane.
I'll strongly disagree with you on that one. I am pretty sure the Rockets have not been in the thought process of any contender for 10 years. I agree that it was made to beat the Spurs. Even though the deal's intent was to beat team's like us, I think the unintended result is that they will be weaker against us. The Spurs were good enough to beat that running offense - we weren't.
Yep, the sole reason was to match up against the Spurs which it looked like they did well until the playoffs. Of course the the Sun's loss is our gain. Marion gave Tmac fits at times.
I've been meaning to ask you, but didn't in your other thread, because I wasn't sure if you were still checking it - what was going through your head when you first saw that chronicle article about landing artest. i probably would have sh-t my pants i think, if a deal that hadn't even been rumored came out of nowhere in front of my eyes.
What I was alluding to was they made that move specifically to beat the Spurs and/or other inside-outside, halfcourt contending teams like the Spurs. With the Artest addition we've now entered this conversation the same way the Lakers did once they acquired Gasol. Like I said, I think the Suns are moving away from the run-and-gun, small ball, hybrid offense type of approach and looking to play more halfcourt in an effort to beat teams like the Spurs at their own game. It will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments Terry Porter makes. Either way, the best teams out West seem to be the teams with dominant centers (or PF's getting minutes at center). Throw Oden into the mix too. I think the Shaq trade was made in an effort to temporarily answer this specific pattern. Sure, Duncan still lit up Shaq like a Christmas tree but if you put up those kind of numbers against Shaq you were going to smoke anybody twice as bad. Duncan's play in that Suns series would have been considered historic had they won it all.
Yea, I still think the Suns will be a contender, but my point is that against us they were much more dangerous with Marion. they will still be tough though, no doubt. in addition, i think it's foolish of people to write off phoenix and dallas so easily. i still think both of those teams are very much in the running. my opinion is that any one of the rockets, lakers, hornets, spurs, mavericks, suns, and jazz, with probably the rockets, lakers, and spurs as the favorites. I think it's completely wide open this year as opposed to year's past where there was a huge gap between PHX/DAL/SA and everyone else.
I have not read through every post written here.. just skimmed over. The big difference to me is that we can stop the pick and roll options much better. Sure Yao is still a liability, but with guys like Battier, Scola, Tmac, Artest, and even Alston.. our pick and roll defense should be fantasic. We will not be switching any screens, as most of our guys will be the same length. It just makes me overwhelmingly happy to see that one of the easiest ways to attack or paint sagging defense is one thing that has been boosted the most with the Artest trade. Although teams like Golden State.. and to a degree Dallas usually beat us with sharp shooting big men, teams like Pheonix (Nash), Detroit (Billups), LA (Kobe), and even Utah (Williams) just killed us forcing Yao to defend the pick and roll. With all the great team and one on one defenders we now have, I think the point guards coming off the pick and roll will have way less options, with the most credible being the pick and pop. The one glaring weakness to our defense is going to be much stronger next year. Its hard to imagine that we are going to be even harder to score on. Wow.. I'm excited. (mainly because I don't have to watch a pick and roll marathon on both ends of the court anymore)
Quoted for truth. Okur actually said that he could tell by Yao's body position when he had the ball exactly what Yao was going to do. He just met him with the appropriate defense. That was the nail in the coffin for JVG - he made Yao so rigid that he was predictable. You gain some some efficiency by being mechanical, but lose against a well-coached team. If Yao returns to full strength and they try to single-cover him with Okur, we'll ride that pony to the bank. There won't be a repeat of 2006, and I for one welcome a rematch - in the conference semi-finals if they get there. I respect many of thacabbage's opinions, but this time I believe he is wrong. The West is NOT wide open. Dallas has dropped off severely and may make the 7 or 8 seed, Golden State won something like 48 games WITH Baron Davis - they'll be worse without him, and Phoenix lost a step and a half and half of their three point shooting. I think they are just a bad mix, much like Dallas now. Golden State will win 40-45 games. Portland will win 40-50 games (really hard to call) Dallas will win 45-50 games. Phoenix is the hardest to call, but injury beckons. (47-53 games) San Antonio will continue to rest Duncan a lot in the regular season, looking to win 53-58 games with defense. Utah will win 52-55 games. The Lakers will win 55-60 games. The Hornets may win 53-58 games. The Rockets will win 60-65 games, and have a point differential of at least 10, showing true championship caliber. So basically that's 2.5 elite teams, 4 including SA in the playoffs.
I don't think we should be considered in any type of conversation until Artest can prove his not a ball hog. Doubts still surround Gasol with Bynum as well. Its all up to the team chemistry like Yao said. He still needs to prove he doesn't disrupt our offence. Im not worried about defence but offence.
I think people are dismissing Dallas way too easily, and it's way too early to anoint Houston as "elite." My opinion is that it's a wide open 7 team race predicated simply on matchups. For instance, let's say Phoenix had drawn someone other than their arch-nemesis Spurs, things look different and they don't look dead in the water now. Same with Dallas. I'm not that impressed by the Lakers or Hornets. I think there's very little separating the best of Houston, LA, New Orleans, Utah, San Antonio, PHX, and Dallas from the worst of that group, certainly moreso than other years. It all depends on who you run into.
The problem with Okur in the 2007 series is that Yao couldn't fully exploit his side of the matchup, because we had a weak link at PF (Howard/Hayes), and Utah could easily give Okur help. All that's in the past now. The 2008 series was sans Yao, so that's no indication of anything. The 2008 problem with the double/triple teams and multiple fresh legs going at TMac is also a thing of the past. The way to beat Utah is by them not matching up with us. With three scoring threats and no glaring weaknesses, their defense won't be able to do everything it did in the past. it's a completely different ball game now. They'll have to play us straight up, and they've never had to do that before.
It doesn't matter that Okur knew where Yao was going and in no way is this a detriment to van gundy. Teams know players and plays already. People knew Hakeem was going to the same shoe box ever play and still couldn't stop it. What mostly happened was Boozer cancelled Yao out in offensive production and that can't happen when you only have 2 advantages. Without making the trade and with a healthy yao, I don't think the rox can beat a utah team in 7 games. Now, it won't be easy, but we have better talent and matchups. Utah actually plays Yao one on one a lot and tilt towards tracy. Now if they do that, artest is going to kill them. Contrary to belief or opinion, I think Artest by matchups will lead the team in scoring as much as tracy and yao. I can see 3 guy avg 18ppg for the season with Yao getting 30-32 mins and Tracy and Ron playing 33-35 mins. I think teams will never play small lineups against the rox.
