The NBA championship formular is indeed simple: A dominant big man + a deadly finisher, the rest you can build around. The big man carries the team for three quarters and the finisher takes over the game in the last quarter. That's how shaq and kobe, shaq and wade, duncan and parker(ginobili), garnett and pierce worked. If you don't have both, the chance for you is slim. I personally think Yao qualifies the big man, but this team lacks of a qualified finisher. If I was Morey, I would give up whatever the other team wants to look for a finisher.
of course we have finisher! sorry to say he is not ready until now or not healthy enough to take charge.
I don't know about there being ONE formula to win a championship. While the Bulls teams of the 90's had very competent big men, I would hardly call them dominant in the Shaq, Garnett, or Duncan sense. Another thing, these players above are CONSISTENTLY dominant. Yao is not consistent at the moment, however I'd attribute this to injuries. He was much more consistent a few seasons ago, but I could see him returning to that consistent, but with better numbers. As far as a finisher goes? That was intended to be T-Mac. And I'll bring this word up AGAIN. T-Mac is a good finisher, however he is not consistent in doing so. I think that if our players play to the best of their abilities 75% of the time, then we are a Championship calibre team (with the addition of a backup center). Of course, injuries prove that this isn't going to happen for us. Either way, I don't see the Rockets trading T-Mac. They will let his contract expire in the huge free agency of 2010.
I have already named a few: kobe, pierce, ginobili, parker, wade. You may say who would give up any of them? Yes, once they are in a championship team, they got very high value. But remember pierce and ginobili? Who would think they were more valuable than mcgrady in a few years ago? My point is I believe there are still good finishers in weak teams. They are actually more valuable than high scorers for Rockets.
6'8" swingman with (still) amazing athleticism and a skill set matched by few to ever play the game 7'6" center who has the touch of a guard and is automatic at the free throw line. I'd say we have two finishers. One doesn't get the ball enough and one doesn't want to play anymore. Let's stop pretending that this team is somehow missing this type of player or that type of player. The pieces are all here to win. Now they just need to put it together on the court.
Mcgrady was a finisher in his peak years. Now he is still a talented player and a high scorer, but not a finisher any more. Imagine the scenario: last 10 seconds, we down by 1 point. Sounds famailar? What's the chance for the team to win the game? Let me tell you, we are below the NBA average in the ability to win these games. Don't tell me you can avoid this situation by beating down others in advance. It may work in regular season, but hardly works in playoff.
Who other than the people you named? Better yet, who could the Rockets acquire that fit your description? I'm interested to know, because I know of "finishers" in this league, and none of them are obtainable by the Rockets.
I'm not a qualified scout, so if I simply give out names, it may likely be misleading. But let me try my best: 1. If any of my named can be acquired, I'm willing to give up mcgrady and/or others. 2. A guard /small forward player in a (maybe weak) team plays go-to role (Monta Ellis, Joe Johnson).
Forget a finisher, this teams lacks everything but a back up power forward right now. Next year's slogan should be "No More Excuses".
The obligatory: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0BcgO_Quj4U&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0BcgO_Quj4U&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Great. the best finisher in the league is fisher, but no way should fisher join the rockets team which as no finisher. In fact, the lakers don't need fisher as a finisher b/c they also have Kobe who is absolutely a better finisher than fisher, but i don't think the lakers is gonna trade fisher to us to make our team a little bit better, because both teams are the title contenders.
