I honestly believe our defense will pick up for sure because Scolandry can switch the pick n roll and pressure the ball to force turnovers which will result into more transition baskets. With Mutombo he will get Houston out on the break starting with his defense. This will result into more fast break points. Defense will pick up for sure. Offensively we will miss Yao's shooting efficientcy, but that is about it. Turnovers will drop and we will have more shots put up. I agree he does clog the lane but not as much as last year. This year there is more freedom in the offense. Yao has a weakness in lateral movement do to his size for guarding the pick n roll and not quick enough to stay in front. If i was to compare the teams play recently with Yao and W/O Yao i would say they are the same exact model of those Lakers (Shaq&Kobe) teams. W/O Yao it's the 04 Detroit Pistons all over again the same Pistons team that beat those Lakers in 6. So yea i think there is really more pluses then negatives now with Yao out, but we will miss his post play for sure.
HAHHAHAHAHHAAH!!!! LOL! I remember when these threads were coming out about T-Mac when he went down! HAHAAHAHAHHA!!! People were doubting T-Mac's importance to this team and questioning his commitment to the offense! HAHAHAHA!!! This team is no better than Yao because the first 4-5 minutes of the 1st quarter is evidence of Yao's importance to this team. While our team tries to figure out how other teams are going to come at us defensively, we can always go to Yao in the low post to get a basket or an open shot for our shooters. Further evidence of Yao's importance is on the defensive board. When Yao is out there, we are a better rebounding team because (1) Yao gets rebounds and (2) we don't need three small defenders stopping the ball because Yao takes up most of the paint and the others can focus on rebounding. Enough with these posts. This team is really good with one of our two stars and the great supporting cast we have. Now imagine with both of our stars healthy and another year under the new offense! It's good to be a Rockets fan!
rox gets yao like suns gets shaq, u r right about this, but think it over, why did suns bother to get shaq, in case that they can make at least western semi final every season anyway? cause u gotta have a big guy to watch ur paint, the rox now is better than suns in last 2 years? no! and they didn't make finals for once inlast 2 year. u know what i mean.
Can’t believe I'm going to respond to this garbage, but I've got to stand up for Yao Ming. He clogs up the middle offensively? Hmmmmmmm, maybe under the JVG system, but Adelman has been a genius and resolved that issue long ago, and that’s why Yao’s been taking shots from the high post. There should be an Adelman appreciation thread; he’s been a brilliant coach, unimaginable how he’s created an offense that flows with a defense similar to JVG’s. To me he’s one of the best coaches EVER! If you think we are going to beat teams like Boston/Lakers/Spurs/Detroit without Yao, you are kidding yourself. It was a great win against the Nuggets, but let’s get real, they play little to no defense. No team is ever going to get anywhere with that strategy. Yao is a beast……. he’s unappreciated and underrated by some fans in here and a dose of reality will all y'all once this streak ends. Book It!
I have a scary feeling this team will have a tough time without Yao in the PO. You are talking about playing a good team 4 to 7 games straight. I think this team might have problem against the Spurs and Lakers without Yao.
LOL tmac goes out.... rockets play well.... some idiots start saying we are better without him tmac comes back........yao goes out.......rockets play well......some idiots start to wonder if we are better without him LOL @ clutchfans
Yea because the game will slow down in the playoffs and this is when we are going to need Yao the most. I also think we will miss the free throw shooting he provides that could be huge ..
I wouldn't say that we are a better team, but I still believe in this team just as I did before Yao got hurt.
Based on the past record, this kind of thread JINX the team all the time. Look at Brooksball thread about Rockets having NO CHANCE whatsoever in playoffs. So after this thread, I predict 10 consecutive losses by the Rockets and the Rockets knocked off from the playoff seed to prove to people that they are WRONG again. Afterwards, Brooksball will come up with the second thread "There's NO CHANCE Rockets will make it to playoff without Yao Ming." After this thread, Rockets then will end the season with 13 consecutive wins and grab the 8th seed.
Yep, the thread creator has bumped his head. He would be crying if the shoe was on the other foot and we lost to say Utah/San Antonio/Dallas this week...this would be called Who thinks we suck w/out Yao? Because the truth is that he starts in All-Star games because he is that good, not because just people in China vote for him...name a better center in the West?!? I dare you! I tripple dare you! Please make sure you observe when we play a Western powerhouse and you will see how well he will be missed. Our success has come because we are no longer shooting ourselves in the foot with terrible shooting all night, usually from Rafer...teams have not had the time to prepare for us so we continuew to win because our scounting report still says let Rafer shoot 3s, box them out, double Yao, double Tracy on sidelines and/or baselines!
The 'fresh' Rockets have beaten Washington, Memphis, and Denver. Not bad, but not too convincing, either. Trust me, there will be times where you're going to want to shake your fist at the sky and lament over Yao's absence. You're going to wish Yao was in the line-up, and not just because of his dashing good looks.
You already stated your opinion. No one agreed with you because man, your "observation" is weak. Thread closed. Rox without Yao is 2nd round, maybe WCF. Rox with Yao is 3PEAT. We are still winning because really, this team is good. That is all there is to it. As someone else already pointed out, with or without Yao the system is still improving daily under RA's guidance.
its possible we're better offensively but we give up alot of size when deke isnt playing. i think we trade off defense for offense, i mean just having yao in the post made opposing teams rethink their strategy when they played us. he's never going to give you 3/4 blocks a game but in the post season he was dependable at least.
The OP's question will be answered when we go up against the top-tier teams, especially in the playoffs. When the defense and physicality of the game increase, I bet we're going to be longing for Yao's post presence and his ability to change shots. That said, I think the recent play shows that next season, Adelman should be able to rest Yao more than he did this year without worrying about a drop-off. This will keep Yao fresh and healthy for the playoffs and keep the role players happy with enough minutes throughout the season.
my bad. w/o yao i think the whole teams mind set has changed for instance, they know deke isnt a offensive force so they push it more and attack in transition. with yao the mind set was more about lets wait for yao to get down the court. who knows we will see but no doubt yao is missed. i am not giving up on this team with yao or without yao.
NO!!....Although I am ecstatic that we are winning, I am a skeptic....I feel uneasy about how much we've become perimeter oriented....We need someone we can dump the ball down to...I wouldn't mind seeing Landry in the high post and down low ala plays run for Yao....I do wonder if Landry has a back to the basket game? Any of you guys know?
