i never said he didn't. like i said, when guys are injured, to maintain the level of play, you need others to step up. we have guys who can step in yao's role and perform extremely well. and our defense goes to another without yao anyways. and tmac is a great creator who can get others involved at any time. we don't have anybody to do what tmac can do. plus, yao cannot easily control the tempo/pace of the game and create for others. that's been the case the past 4 years whether i'ts juwan howard or scola or landry or whoever.
Obviously yet to see it...he's been injured for much of each of the last three seasons...so there hasn't really been any kind of flowing continuity that Shaq or Kobe has been enjoying...
The argument that the streak was extended through games against weak and injured opponents is commonly leveled against the Rockets for the period after Yao left. I don't think these pissing matches about Yao vs. T-Mac are all that productive, and if the Rockets cared as much about the prominence of individual players on this team as much as people on this board seem to the Rockets would be struggling to get to double digits in wins. What I will say is that the team has looked its most impressive when it plays good, unselfish team ball. There are any number of games where either Yao didn't show up (Portland) or T-Mac didn't show up (LA) or both (Cleveland). All those games were wins however because the rest of the team stepped up. That more than anything else is responsible for the improved play this season--and it should show up the lie that everybody else on the team is a scrub. As to who's a better player, that's debatable. There's no question in my mind though that the Rockets are at their best when they play inside-out and exploit the double team. In that sense Yao is critical. He's the inside part of the inside-out game and he demands a double team more consistently than any other player in the NBA. In terms of the Rockets' offense there shouldn't be any question that he's the biggest individual component. In that sense it's a good sign that it looks like Yao is starting to grow into the kind of player who can carry the team on his back in the fourth quarter (Denver, GS, Sacramento, etc.). As for the playoff series against Utah, I think the idea that the Rockets could have pulled that off even with Alston is just wishful thinking. The only loss before the streak started was to Utah, when the Rockets were missing Yao.
Good post, and I agree this is a ridiculous thread. The one thing that's clear is we have 2 max guys who are both highly productive and are actually worth their contracts. Yao has shown me more under Adelman than T-Mac has, and what I want to see from T-Mac is him taking advantage of the system and staying within it. I disagree with many here that claim he can't.
the past 3 years are part of yao's prime. he showed a lot of growth to end the 05-06 and 06-07 season. but they have been messed up with injuries. his prime will probably extend another 2-3 years and hopefully he'll be free of injuries.
yao gets a lot of touches as i have repeatedly told you from his usage ratings so he IS VERY important to this team and plays a HUGE ROLE in our offense. it's just that teams can easily negate him with QUICK AND HARD double teams. he's not that great of a passer that you want him to be. that's why JVG and adelman are hesitant to run the offense through him like teams do with shaq or hakeem or even duncan in his prime. however, he still gets a lot of touches. we are a 2-man offense for the most part the past 4 years. what we want is to get away from that and establish a more balanced offensive team where we don't have to go to tmac/yao every play. we want to post up scola more, run pick and roll with landry more, let alston run some more plays... (if we're not going to add a 3rd scorer) so tmac and yao can have more energy for the stretch run and the big games.
Nothing to do with Yao or tmac but who could imagine rebuilding like this 3 yrs back... Yao Trade T-MAC + Luther for CP3 + Bench weapons Trade for Blazer's pick or whoever to get Brandon Roy (Everyone saw potential in him and we were so close to it!) Not have traded Rudy Gay Still would have picked up Scolandry Yao CP3 Brandon Roy Rudy Gay Scola Is that starting 5 lethat or what???!?!?! Bench would be pretty strong as well
No, the Rockets do not want to run more pick and rolls. They want to do the exact opposite. The pick and roll is not a play you associate with a motion offense, which is supposedly what Adelman is trying to implement in Houston. I think this is the third or fourth time I've mentioned this. The point you keep missing over and over is that while a double team may be a disadvantage for Yao it's a net advantage for the team. Somebody on the Rockets is open. Again, Yao is an above average passer for an NBA player, if for no other reason than his height, and he's a very good passer for a center. Who cares if Yao can't take the shot if there's a double team if that means that Scola or Landry are standing 12 feet out from the basket unguarded? The motion offense is based on breaking down defenses by moving the ball. If you've got a player who demands a double team simply because he receives the ball than breaking down the defense becomes trivial. The biggest reason, bar none, for the Rockets improved record this season--especially after their crappy start--was because they figured out how to punish other teams for the double on Yao. Moving a guy who can score, like Scola, into a starting role was a huge part of that. They need to keep doing that next season.
dumb thread... STOP STOP STOP If you look at the stats, Tmac does the better job in getting W's when Yao is out as compared when the reciprocal condition. The data is of course a misrepresented b/c last season we did not get a even statistical value. Tmac played much more games w/o Yao as opposed to the opposite. But then, if you analyze the post season, Tmac and company wasn't enough to surpass the j*zz with out Yao. In conclusion, they have an obligatory symbiotic relationship and it is imperative that both players are needed simultaneously to sustain vitality. Truly, the data is inconclusive... and will always remain that way. Stop w/ these ridiculous threads...
watch the 4th quarter v. the warriors and celtics during tmac's absence and see when yao touched the ball literally on every play in the post. he got double teams and see what happened. going into yao for more than 3 possessions straight is not a good thing. i said pick and roll with landry and scola only, not with yao. that allows movement b/c scola or landry can either step our for the mid-range J or go in for the layup. and tmac always find the 3pt shooters on pick and roll. and i agree with you, we shouldn't run that too much b/c tmac always gets trapped. our best play is tmac at the high post b/c we have more options with that play. he can shoot, pass, penetration, post up...
Against the Warriors Yao basically carried the team on his back in the fourth quarter to a win. Against the Celtics if not for a non-call on KG Yao and the Rockets might have actually been able to steal a win in Boston. Look, the Rockets got Adelman because they wanted to play a motion offense. If they're not going to play his system what's the point of getting him in the first place? The pick and roll is not a play you associate with the motion offense, end of story.
You're ridiculous..seriously, analyze....was it always T-Mac that carries the team, or was it the players around him who got better... yao has had some amazing games-he's a player that I can trust to perform consistently, whereas T Mac struggles, but gets the spotlight when players help..remember that one LA game on ABC...0 pts in the first half...s I still admire T Mac as a player, but seriously for you to call this a ridiculous thread.. Here's a message to your mom's uterus: Bad Uterus...don't ever do that anymore!!
The Lakers game was 1 FREAKING GAME! He played the full game vs the Hawks tallying 30 pts to why the streak went on 22. Also there is a reason people around him do better...maybe because he makes them better?
you also tend to forget the fact that tmac makes others around him better. it's not a coincidence JVG, morey, and a few other coaches call him one of the best playmakers in the game. yao is the more consistent offensive player, but he's not a playmaker.
the motion system i said stems from tmac at the high post. i SAID WE SHOULD GET AWAY FROM THE PICK AND ROLL unless it's with landry or scola, who are more mobile than yao. they're running his system more and more (it takes a while to get used to it). against the warriors, the reason a 20 pt lead became a near loss was b/c we were too dependent on yao. yao made shots that won us the game, but i was stating why the game got so close despite leading by 20 to start the 4th. and v. the celtics, we cut that lead when yao was on the bench and when he came back and we tried to pound it into him, we then started to lose. pounding the ball into yao consistently is not a good thing as has been proven for the past 4 years. he's not a playmaker when he's doubled. there's a reason JVG wanted to make it a yao-centric team during his years here (and he had publicly stated that) and never could. adelman tried it to start the season by orienting the offense around yao with him in the high post and low post (so he can control a lot of what we run) and that failed. yao is a scorer, point blank. if he has single coverage, you give him the ball and let him operate. if he's not, don't bother.
Atm t-mac is more valuable to the team, but regardless why are we even pondering this. Moving either one results in a bad trade for us. Not a good thread imo.
exactly, i don't know why people are mad that tmac is more valuable to the team. stats support this. we don't care who's the better player b/t tmac or yao. but tmac is our most indispensable player. we cannot afford to lose him. however, we need both if we want to succeed.
