Tmac is a better player than yao. But Houston's been building the team around Yao since he was draft here, so i'd say it's yao's team.
The team is basically built around Yao. I mean, look at the changes they made to the uniform and logo after we drafted him. Red? Caligraphy-like R?
Scola. But you have to first decide whether it's the right side of his face or the left. They are totally different faces.
It's Yao. he is a International MegaStar. When you think Rockets, You think yao. Also we gotta give yao alot of propps for Representing the rockets With Class and dignity in the last 6 years he has been here. great job big lion.
I disagree with this statement. First I would argue that it is very hard to properly compare a perimeter player and a big of very similar quality. But if we were forced to make a comparison, I would exclude the fact that Yao is a superior rebounder and shotblocker, and that McGrady is a superior distributor of the ball, since each is expected to be better than the other in those respective roles. So that leaves defense, scoring, turnovers, and intangible qualities like leadership. Yao has problems on defense against smaller, quicker PF's like Boozer, and PF/C's that have a good perimeter game, like Okur, but he is a fine post defender because he's so big and can block shots. McGrady has the ability to guard pretty much anybody.... but he has been coasting recently on defense, and Battier draws the toughest perimeter assignment anyway. Therefore defense is a wash. Scoring wise, Yao is superior to McGrady. He gets his 25 ppg more efficiently than McGrady gets his; Yao has a significantly higher FG% and FT% than McGrady. McGrady has the edge in taking care of the ball; his turnover rate is significantly lower than Yao's. It is hard to make a statement about intangible qualities. I'm sure Yao doesn't do anything in this area to hurt the team (say by being disgruntled), but he's not exactly leading the team either, although he is taking steps in that area. McGrady is supposed to be leading the team, and at times it seems like it... but from most accounts Juwan served as the leader on the floor last year, and McGrady's "It's on me" proclamation failed, calling into question his ability to lead, so I'd say this is a wash too. So I think it's very hard to say who is better between Yao and McGrady, and it's ultimately a useless question because the Rockets need both to win a championship. But if I were asked to pick one, I'd pick Yao, because he's one of the two best post players in the league in a era where post players are rare, and he still has room to grow, while McGrady is probably on the downswing of his career.
If it were really McGrady's team, his "It's on me" proclamation should have propelled them to the second round, in a series where we had home court and the Jazz were reeling.
Agreed. Yao is comfy playing second fiddle to TMac, and TMac is comfy having the offense directed around him. Although I surely wish it was vice-versa.
That makes zero sense. Because the Rockets as a team were beaten by the Jazz in game seven (despite the fact that T-Mac accounted for most of the teams production with 29-5-13-3 with only 2 turnovers), it is now not his team? Wow. This team, at least in the van Gundy era lived and died with T-Mac as he was the only person sans Yao who could create his own shot, AND he had to create for everyone else. Couple that with the team's record with and without him, and the teams defensive production with and without him. He puts the team on his back and takes all of the criticism that comes with losing yet its not his team. Again, I don't get it.
First off, it's Les Alexander's team for everyone debating whether it's Yao or T-Mac's team. Secondly, its truly doesn't belong to either one from a leadership standpoint. They are both great leaders as far as leading by example, but I think Battier is our true vocal leader on the floor. So if your talking about a leadership standpoint, it would be Battier then Yao and T-Mac. As far as the face of the Rockets franchise, that will forever belong to The Dream and The Glide. Those two are the faces of the franchise until Yao and Mac bring another title to the organization. Once they do that, then Hakeem and Clyde will be joined by Mac and Ming and possibly the Franchise depending how important his role is on the championship team.
Edit: Forgot to add an example that further proves my point. I think the Yao/Mac debate is kind of useless because when they do bring a title to Houston, I believe that Rocket's team will be remember the same way the Magic and Kareem Lakers are remembered. They don't refer to that team as Magic's or Kareem's. Many Laker fans just refer to it as the Magic and Kareem Lakers. Thats how I see the Yao and T-Mac title team. Even Shaq and Kobe's Lakers are referred to by both superstars.
