That clip is worthless. I bet 90% of NBA players can make 90% of their jumpers in practice while nobody is guarding them. Some Euro players can even shoot 3pts that way. But shooting in game situation is totally different. Yao's jumpers in his rookie season were deadly, he shot not that much but when he chose to shoot, he made it almost every time. But he uses it less and less since JVG came here. Last season I saw he attempted some of the mid-range jumpers during the game and they weren't even close. He was obviously not comfortable to make those shot during the game.
Anybody that makes 85% of his FTs can hit mid-range shots. The problem is that they aren't a part of the offense and he takes less than one jumper a game. If we can just tailor the offense to get him those open looks, I'm sure he'll start hitting them again.
You said it! Tracy is the real key to our team. The offense will start and end with him. At the end of very close games, his importance is magnified that much more. When Yao is destroying a defense, Tracy will continue feeding him the ball. When Yao is off or the the defense is adjusting to stop him, Tracy will take over by scoring and passing. He will dictate the flow of the game by adjusting to what our offensive needs are at the time. Seems like Tracy's injuries and Yao's strong finish have almost made people forget how we won 51 games and took the Mavs to a game 7. I'm surprised at the huge 2-1 ratio favoring Yao. If Yao is dominant next year and averages 27/12, great. But Tracy is the guy who will win us games against top tier competition.
McGrady will be the better player because of what Yao commands now that he's playing as an elite player--double teams. I can't see why JVG wouldn't incorporate the same offense that Riley ran with Shaq in the sense that everything goes down to Shaq where double teams will come. All the Rockets have to do is get Yao established early. Run things through him in the beginning and let him go to work. If he can replicate what he did after the All-Star break, he'll get 10 points in the 1st quarter easy. After that, just work him and get teams to start doubling, and after THAT, McGrady and Co can go in for the kill. It'll be a blessing that Yao for McGrady that he's been able to play at a high level. And hopefully McGrady will be able to lay off those ill-advised 3s he took this past season.
Even at this stage of the game most can't see that Yao Ming is about to take over the game and be our main go to man. If we get James and JR Smith then Tracy will play the main key to the game because of his abilities but will not be required to be the main scorer.
When it comes to the greatness of players, it really breaks down into not only the individuals skill but also the complimentary skills of the role players. One of the biggest reasons for our success in 04-05 was due to role players who could hit wide open three pointers (MJames, Barry, Wesley, Sura) generated by double teams on T-Mac, and to a lesser extent that season Yao. With the additions of Battier, Novak, and hopefully James our team is starting to look alot more like 04-05 than 05-06. This makes the skills of Yao and T-Mac both indespensible. If our shooters are hitting it will make double teaming either T-Mac or Yao impossible. Since essentially neither Yao or Mac can be guarded one-on-one this translates to W's. So, due to their dominance at their positions, I would say that, when healthy, both are close to the same in value, at least from an offensive stand point. Yao is more reliable from the free throw line and is good for 1-3 blocks a game, but Mac does have the sickest ability to hit big game shots. If both are healthy, I give the nod to McGrady but only ever so slightly. I also believe that a healthy McGrady will not force so many horrible three point shots and will Shawn Bradley more people in the future.
Not trying to be rude but what does JR Smith have to do with anything? He's a 20 year old bust so far. Do you honestly think he can go from being a zero to starting on a team that is supposed to be making a championship run? The reason we are adding Battier and (probably) Mike James is to add mental toughness. Why would we bring in a knucklehead like JR Smith and go the other direction? I'm not saying he will never turn it around (because he's so young) but the Rockets can't wait until Smith is 24 or 25 to find his head. If we give up nothing to add him as a developmental player on the bench, I could agree with that. I'm with you on Yao growing into our offensive "go to" guy and Tracy blending in his skills with Yao. But remember, it's a long season and over the 82+ games next year Tracy (if healthy) will show who our MVP is.
Yao has never regressed in his career. only improved. in his third season, he appeared to stagnate under Van Gundy, although his "intangibles" increased. although his latest injury is a source of concern.
call me crazy but i just have this feeling that Novak is going to pull a gilbert arenas and be a total second round steal.
Let us not forget that a Tmac led team won 19 games in one season. We can all make excuses for him, but I dare you to name a "great" player that allows that to happen.
our best player is Tmac still....he will have to come back healthy because he is the one who starts the engine to our offense. Yao is very important to the team , but some times our offense does stagnate a little bit when he touches the ball. However , Yao needs to finish where he left off last season and Tmac needs to go back to his first season with us.
ok i reallly like yao.. but u cant possibly say he's gonnna be our man next year and not tmac yao is good but he has no energy and often becomes tired after like 20-30 minutes of the game.. he's too slow on D that many guards/forwards take advantage by using quickness to the rim. Tmac on the other hand.. how can u guys say he doesnt attack the basket.lets scratch the last season. in 2005 the guy attempted about 7 fts per game.. i know thats not as many as kobe or wade or lebron with 10.. but tmac takes over the game easily. lebron chokes. kobe takes way too many shots. wade drives and will get hurt [i dont think he's allowed to wear the protector thing next year] and btw WADE TRAVELS EVERYTIME HE SPINS.. i cant believe no one even gets that.. its so annoying. plus wade is a turnover prone.
Thats what i'm saying but Amare should be the only big man to give him any trouble but you can never tell because we are in the offseason.
Yao is top 3 then Rocket River I would not Trade Yao for Lebron, Kobe, or even DWade but T-Mac would be on a plane so fast his head would spin
Neither one can carry the team alone. So they better both show up strong next season. When both are on the floor, I expect them to take over the game for periods every night. Since we are getting shooters this summer (let's hope they are as good as advertised), Yao will be the key of the offense because shooters will feed off him. While Tmac can create shots for others too, I think he may play with more caution from now on due to his injury concern. I will take a Tmac playing at his 85%, rather than a Tmac going 100% risking more injuries.
Yao Ming is obviously the focus of our franchise now, it will be all Yao for liek the first three quarters and somewhat Tmac, but at the 4th quarter, all Tmac. Tmac is like Dwade, he will close out quarters, he is our closer.
Yao finished up the season as the top Player in the League. If Tmac can top that then we will win a championship.
