It seems to me the problem with the Dallas game was that they were trying very hard to force the ball into Yao when he's on the court (despite some heavy defensive attention on him) and watch what he could to... and Yao was rusty and the whole offense just didn't click. On the other end of the floor, the 1-day-old zone D wasn't really creating many turnovers and fast break opportunties, it just didn't work out that way. I don't forsee any problem with guys willing to share the ball, but willingness doesn't automatically trslate into results. Both Yao and TMac are unselfish and talented enough to do something else when the other one is the focus of the offense. TMac can spot up for the easy 3s (as oppose to the contested ones he usually shoots), and Yao can hang around the paint for garbage pts. However, it'll take a while to work out how exactly they plan to share the ball. Hopefully, that's done before the games start to count in November. Would have been better had Yao not missed the first two games and a week of practice, but such is life... (blame it on Reebok )
It's interesting to witness how we've now become a team of too many talents from a team devoid of talents just last season. Suffices to say our depth is as good as that of any team in the NBA. JVG has a monumental task to coach this team to a breakout season. I am holding my breath and wish him nothing but success.
The way this is going to work is the same way it worked during Hakeem's time, when we had Clyde, and regardless of the new rules. 'Pick Your Poison' works. It worked then, it works now, and will work forever, as long as it's 5 on 5 and there is only one ball and two hoops. The thing which must happen, though, in order for it to work, is it actually has to BE poison, whichever defense the opponents choose. This means that, more than anything else, both Jeff and the players must be able to recognize what the defenses are doing, what their game plan is, and react accordingly. Because the health and performance of both Yao and TMac are still somewhat unknown quantities this season, because of their injuries last year (Will they be back at full strength? Will they still both be able to dominate when the time comes?), opponents are going to start the season a bit unsure about their defensive strategies. The likely choice will be to double and triple Yao, and make TMac shoulder more of the load, do all the athletic things which got his back into trouble in the first place. As soon as he proves that he will make them pay, big-time, when they leave him single-covered, then the system will begin to work its magic. Same thing in reverse, of course, for those times when someone decides to start off playing man on Yao, trying to take McGrady away, Yao also has to make them pay. However, the likelihood is that the double will come on Yao far more than on TMac, as any decent coach knows that a dunk or a layup is a much higher-percentage shot than a 20+ - footer. Ideally, TMac goes off for 40+ a couple of times in the first 10 games or so. That will set the tone, and he may never have to do that more than maybe a half-dozen times the rest of the season. Same for Yao, he needs to have a couple monster games early on, and that will REALLY get the opposing coaches pulling their hair out. By that time, the real beauty of this roster will begin to shine, as coaches try to devise scrambling defenses which somehow manage to try to deny Yao with doubles, while running an extra man at TMac too. There are going to be so many wide-open 3's for Battier, Alston, Head, Novak, Padgett, Snyder.. it's going to be so beautiful, I can barely stand it. All this is predicated, of course, on Yao's and TMac's health and performance rebounding from last year to the level we have come to expect. It also requires these hot shooters we have accumulated to actually continue to regularly hit their shots. Novak, especially, is going to break a lot of opponents' backs this year. An extra fun little part of all this is going to be watching V-Span grow and develop. His outside shot is not likely to be anything very dangerous this year, but with his attacking mentality, his quickness, and his apparent ability to read the defenses, he will create so many layups for himself and his teammates on drive-n-dishes that he probably won't have to take all that many jumpers. In a really well-running, efficient machine, none of the individual parts needs to have to work that hard, for the whole thing to have great performance. I suspect TMac is loving what he is seeing, because he knows that he will very likely this year finally manage to break past the 1st round of the playoffs, and at the same time, he's not going to have to work as hard for it. Sure, there's some glory associated with winning the scoring title every year, but I believe that he will be a lot happier if we win 55 games this year, even if he is only averaging about 18-20 pts a game.
I think Van Gundier has hit the nail on the head as far as what difficulties JVG will have with the offense this season. One thing I have noticed that stands out more than anything is that in the first two games, when the starters (including TMac) were on the floor, they dominated. In this last game, when the starters (including Yao) were on the floor, they dominated. But the one game when the first stringers didn't look all that great happened to be the only game in which BOTH Yao and McGrady played. I'm not saying they have difficulty playing together, but each seems to thrive when the offense is geared to their specific skills, as one would expect. Tracy seems better when it is smaller, quicker players on the court who can slash, keep the ball moving quickly with crisp passing, run around picks and keep the defense moving to allow him to create or distribute as he sees fit. With Yao, it's more of a slow down with his inside skills being the key that opens up the outside shooting. But when they are both out there, Yao isn't moving around quickly because he really isn't capable of that, and Tracy is not at his best when he just stands at the 3 point line waiting for a pass when the D collapses. It's blending these two together in an effective way that will be JVG's biggest offensive challenge this season. I think he's up to it. As someone else mentioned, it's not like these two haven't been playing together for the last couple of seasons. Each knows the other's skillset and abilities by now, they can play off each other (especially in the PnR, as has already been brought up). That's what I'm going to focus on for the rest of the preseason. Novak has proven to me he can shoot. Spanoulis has proven to me he can be "effectively wild" as they say in baseball. Battier has proven he can seamlessly fit in. Much of what I was curious about going into the season has been verified in the first four preseason games. What I'm going to watch from here on out is how efficiently the offense operates when both Yao and McGrady are on the floor. Because if those two guys work together and use each others skills to supplement the others, then we really WILL be unstoppable.
I'm more worry about posters on this board come up with sh*t like this: Yao is a wuss, he's back to his old ways.... if Yao got 18 and 8 after a good win for us. TMac is a bust, he's not a winner, let's trade his ass.....if TMac got 17 ,2,5 after a good win for us. I think you all get the drift........
T-mac definitly needs to work on his shot-selection.... last season he shot 30% behind the arc meanwhile he took a **** load of them... u know his shot selection is not perfect... last season when i watch Rox play sometimes i go "Oh man dont take that shot" =)
I agree with the jdrock that it's other role players instead of Tmac that reluctant to pass to Yao. In this league, your stats is everything. These players, like Sura, and James, are trying everything they can to get better stats for their next big contracts. I think Tmac so fas probably played the least selfish bball in this team just like Yao.
Ha ha, what? Maybe you could make the case that James wanted another contract, but Bob Sura was too old and broke down to ever get a big contract again, and he knew it. This "freezing Yao out" theory is a relic from the Francis era.
I don't understand your statement about "how he will work into"... ...If I'm not mistaken, Tracy McGrady, as stated by JVG, will be the focal point of the Houston Rockets offense. It's up to other players on our team to feed off of the doubleteams and attention that he will be receiving. If by "team oriented offense" you mean something like...let's say...a Detroit Piston type of offense that has no sure fire 1st banana at all, then that's not going to happen. Both Yao and Tracy are too talented on offense to just restrain their scoring capabilities by having them be just another player in a "team oriented offense". The Houston Rockets will not be running a "team oriented offense". They will run a "superstar oriented offense". An offense that dictates how the role players will get their shots by just how the opposing team plays our star players. The real question is - how will Yao be able to keep up with a more uptempo ran offense? Our best players are young, quick, slashing, high pace type of players...these players make up most of our "team". Players fans have been begging for this team to have for years. It wouldn't be a wise decision to cuff their strengths by playing towards Yao's would it? That's not "team oriented" at all. If we play like that, the term 'struggling' will be an understatement for us come December.The 80s Lakers are the best blueprint of this type of problem. They allowed Magic to chose whether the team would run and get easy buckets...or slow it down and wait on Hakeem to get up the floor. An offense that allowed one single player to put the offense's fate into his hands. Magic didn't have to "fit" into anything... So once again...there is no dilemma about how Tracy will work into a more team oriented offense. Because for the Houston Rockets, there will be no such offense.
Blue Chip, question for you, which would you prefer as a focal point of our offense, Yao or TMac? For me, it's Yao because Tmac's shots will come and go when you're a perimeter player(low percentage). Yao, however is a monster at the pivot(high percentage) therefore I'd rather the offense will go through Yao first.
Obviously, that is the the undertone of this entire thread. I hate when people try to sidewalk what they are actually trying to get at. Just be blunt and straight-forward. Who will the offense be structured around, Yao or T-Mac? None of that "oooooooh, I'm a fan though" bs! At the end of the day, the decision isn't mine to be made - It's JVG's. He has already stated that the offense will be ran around Tracy first. Meaning Tracy is indeed the first option. Now by '1st Option'...when it comes to JVGs definition...I'm not sure of. It could mean lots of things. In this day and age, a perimeter offensive player versus a pivot offensive player doesn't make much difference. You can win a few debates stating that in his era, a player like Tracy who plays on the perimeter can be a bigger threat than a guy like Yao who stays on the block. Fg% can not decide who should be a first option. The thing about it - and what has always been known - is a perimeter offensive player can not be denied as a playmaker on the floor. There is no way to totally take him out of a game. You can throw him in the post - the same area Yao will attack about 95% of time time. If they try to take that away...you have him out on the perimeter. There's no sure fire way to take him out of the game. So who is actually tougher to stop? If Tracy raises his fg% to 45% or above, that is possibly a better threat than Yao shooting 55% from the floor...because you have to add in the fact that Tracy is taking team "bail out shots"....he's taking 3s...things Yao just won't be in the position to take. But to answer your question just for the sake of it...if Yao can average 28+ shooting mid to high 55-60%...then he should be the first option. If he can't, Tracy's 25-30 ppg shooting 45% is just as good...if not better...and he would be my first option. I think JVG is betting on Tracy doing that before Yao does what I mentioned.
