Don't need the stats. Just read what the quotes are from the Jazz players. The Jazzs main focus on defense was on Tmac and they kept saying how tough it was to guard him. Okur on the other hand was telling the media that Yao was easy to guard because he's like a robot, PREDICTABLE. Yao got blocked, turned the ball over a ton, and got called for offensive charging. His stats might look good but anyone watching the game without a Yao bias will know he played really really bad.
the team lost. so it didn't matter who did what. yao and tracy did enough to advance that series, the role players just took an early vacation. yao was not going to stop boozer in that series.
Yao struggled in that series. We needed him to dominate and he didnt. I think the fact that we needed him to score atleast 30 a game was the biggest problem. We were just dumping it to him and standing around watching. Thank god we have been able to build around him enough to where he can work without the ball now and get easier shots. That series was really painful because it really was just a two man show, and it proved that doesnt work in the nba anymore. You have to get some sort of offensive contribution from everyone on the court.
Probably the main reason for the lost. Boozer pretty much made a name for himself after that series. People knew he was good but not that good. Chuck Hayes did a pretty good job of playing D on him if I remember correctly.
That's true we didn't really have any options on offense besides Tmac and Yao. Continous dumping of the ball into Yao at the high/mid post is by far the worst Rockets offense imo. The offense gets stagnant and Yao isn't really effective because he has to do too much to get to the rim causing him to become exhausted. Jazzs role players stepped up and I can't remember but did any Rockets role players stepped up?
we definitely need mcgrady to win it all because he is are only superstar but it is a myth that we need that man to get out of the first round.the only way we could win it all without mac is if yao some how made the transformation from allstar to superstar otherwise the farthest we will go is to the conference finals
um, we need t-mac because he averages 28.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks for his career in the playoffs. for those that think his orlando magic numbers inflate that, nope. last season in the playoffs he averaged 27 pts, 8.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists. QED.
Yet is loss totals are greater than his win totals When you play a team game 'Getting your stats" is meaningless I mean . . his numbers SAY he did his part but did he really .. . the team still lost Rocket River
did they really say something like that? can you give us a link about this honestly i agree with them, but still those words sound like a slam on yao's face
did larry fitzgerald do his part? but his team lost. it's a team game. some of michael jordan's greatest individual playoff games also came before he advanced pretty far. KG's greatest games are when he didn't advance. this year will prove no different. tracy will do what tracy does: 25, 5, 5. it's not going to be up to yao if we win or not. he's going to put up 20/10. but it's not going to be up to them if we win or not. it's up to the role players. will AB show up in playoff games where rafer failed to show up? depth will wafer show up in playoff games where head failed to show up? depth will artest show up in playoff games where battier failed to show up? depth we'll do better this year simply b/c of a better team.
Someone's got to start a thread about the myth that we are a better team when T-Mac is not playing. I mean, people actually CELEBRATED when T-Mac hurt his ankle.
The point is, that Tmac is/was the entire show, and when it got tough in the playoffs, other team's knew all they had to do was shut him down late and it was game over. You can not rely that heavily on one player, it won't work, you have to trust your teamats. Jeff Who, I don't think Tmac is selfish, I think this is just all he knows and is comfortable doing. That is the ENTIRE FRICKEN POINT.....he has to change the way he plays for the team to get better with him. IF, he is not willing to do that, then he has to go....PERIOD. DD
and has tracy try to make it his own show this year? esp. since he has returned? tracy knows the talent level around him.
yao came back from a broken leg after a couple of months. (think about mcgrady's surgeries and how long it has been so far.) no, he didn't dominate in akeem or shaq fashion. but what did you expect? in yao's defense, he didn't dominate, but that doesn't mean he got outplayed. a power center's moves are indeed predictable. but when he's dominating, even if the defenders predict his moves correctly, they still can't stop him. that's where the dominance comes from. i fault the failure in that series mostly on jvg. repeating same things over and over and expecting different/better outcome. that's his stubborn nature. i love jvg, but compared to his mentor in riley, he's just half as good as his teacher.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no...give him an incomplete. I think that is part of his struggles figuring out where he fits....and also the team's struggles, figuring out how to use him. I felt he was coming along on offense, but his D is still pretty horrid. DD
I agree. Tracy has proven that he's an extremely willing passer for a guy who has won the scoring title. People get mad when he doesnt attack, and then people get mad when he looks for his offense. The guy is going to be criticized until he comes back and plays well while we win games...The haters will be back every time we lose. It's just how its going to be.
Can yall stop using the Tmac not getting out of the first round reason anymore...I mean he was only favored to win ONE time, which was against a team with ONE less win than us during the regular season and a much deeper team. Every other time, it was basically Tmac vs. 5 guys on the court or Tmac and Yao vs. a very deep team. Kobe couldn't get out of the first round by himself, he blew a 3-1 lead. Dwade couldn't beat a young bulls team, who swept them in the first round, while he had Shaq. Carmello and Grant Hill have never been out of the first round. Hakeem and Barkley both had stretch of 4 or 5 years of consecutive 1st round exits when they didn't have any help. I mean, even Jordan averaged 49 ppg in a 1st round vs Boston in 86, and that wasn't enough, they still got swept. There were years where Kareem, in his prime couldn't get his team to the playoffs, or get out of the 1st round, while he was averaging well over 30 ppg. I think Jordan and Lebron have been the only players who have been able to carry a team by themselves, with relatively little help (Jordan in 87 & 88 and Lebron in 06 and 07). That is why it is amazing how great they are, but we are talking about 2 players in the history of the NBA, and one of those happens to be the greatest player of all time, maybe the best athlete of all time. It doesn't matter how good one player is, if you don't have help when you play a good team, your not going to win. Its that simple. It was amazing that Tmac took teams to 7 games almost by himself. I agree, in 07, we probably should have beaten the Jazz, but where was Rafer, Shane, Luther, Howard, and Head for scoring? Depth will always prevail over great individual performances. There wasn't much more that Tmac and Yao could have done that series, yet we still only lost in Game 7 by 4 points. I know its a loss, but it shouldn't have even been that close. That was all because of Tmac and Yao making plays offensively. I mean, its almost sad because, Tmac has to do so much on his own offensively, and yet, he's going to get the blame. How much do yall expect ONE player to do out there. Its tough, just ask any great NBA player what its like trying to beat a better team without much offensive help. Its almost impossible. Criticize Tmac's game, thats okay, he's not perfect, he has his flaws, but there shouldn't be any reason why ALL the blame should go on him. He does his part in the playoffs. Last I checked, he isn't a golfer or tennis player, he's a basketball player, which is a TEAM sport, which consists of 12 players, not 1.
