Why do I keep hearing this team isn't good enough with Yao?

Thanks for posting that Yao video against the Blazers.

Watching Yao at work makes his latest serious injury even more heartbreaking, as this current team would indeed be championship contender with a healthy Yao.


ps. I would think the docs would tell Yao to lose 20 lbs to help you in his recovery.

 

Yao in that video is an offensive machine. We have alot of scoring options with the current team we have right now, and the funny thing is we wouldn't even need Yao to touch the ball in the post as much as he did in the video. What we really need is for Yao to come back and be an anchor for us defensively. Maybe taking some of the scoring load off of his shoulders will allow him to focus more of his energy on the defensive end where he can really change games. His defensive prescense in the paint has been vastly underrated over the years. Its not just his shot blocking, but its also his ability to take up space and deny opposing players good position for offensive rebounds or easy scores. He's so vital to our defense, and I think everyone who watched us this year realizes it now.

 

u keep hearing that because its true

 

If all that happens in the off season is we get Yao back and resign our free agents we will be a playoff team next year but not a contender. The reason is simple. We don't have a player that can be considered the best player on a championship team in my opinion. I believe Yao is a great 2nd option on a championship team, but if he is your best player then you are in trouble because it is way too easy to deny Yao the ball. He got taken out of the Portland series way too easily after the first game and the same in the Lakers series when both teams decided to front him. His lack of mobility and lack of good hands are a killer.

If you sit there and rank our players from top to bottom, they would be:

1. Yao
2. Kevin Martin
3a. Luis Scola
3b. Aaron Brooks

If you compare them to previous NBA champions, almost all had a better #1 player than we have (and probably #2 as well). The one exception might be the Pistons but they are the exception to everything, not the rule. Now if we had a team where the rankings went:

1. Player X
2. Yao
3. Kevin Martin

Now you are talking championship material for this team. The problem is that getting Player X is gonna be potentially difficult because there are not many of those type of players in the NBA. Bosh might be the best chance we have and he is a borderline #1 guy in my opinion but gives us the best chance in winning.

 

Davis of course.....and WHO GUARDS YAO?

DD

 

Yep. Neither of those guys could defend Yao in the post. Yao on the other hand would probably guard big baby. I can live with big baby taking all the shots for that offense.

 

I think it's because of yao's injury. He will not be the same player, his speed will suffer and so will that vertical of his, that could leap tall buildings in a single bound. =/

Yao is going to be Yao when he comes back, the best center in today's game. The question is, will he be healthy come playoff time?

 

If the rockets play boston, the matchup problem isnt garnett and davis, its garnett and wallace.

 

I still think in that instance one of those two guys will get into foul trouble trying to guard yao.

 

total bull****.

He broke it in the next round against the lakers. it wasn't even an issue in the ptl series.

quit making stuff up

 

If you want mediocrity, sure we can survive without Yao with our current lineup. Not making the playoffs, below average defense, no shot blocking.

 

I want to know, if the only way to get bosh was to give up yao, would you do it?When i say you, i mean posters in general.

 

He will be a top 3 PF next season. KG and Duncan are falling apart.

 

Gotcha....

Personally I think it's a bad match up for Yao no matter who he guards Davis or Garnett. They both on the outside and their both too quick for him.

I am speaking about a Yao after surgery... He had a tough time trying to guard those guys before and it's going to be worst when he comes back.

I can see the Celtics switching Davis and Garnett up and also doubling down.

 

I don't know much about basketball? Lol

Dream was indeed older than Yao when he won his first ring but he wasn't injury prone like Yao. He was much more durable. Yao was already breaking down at the age of 26. The Dream didn't deal with major injuries like Yao.

J Kidd is much more durable than Yao is. Kidd is old but he is durable. Yao is much younger than those guys but right now, his injuries are taking a big toll on him. For Yao, being 30 in the NBA is old for him. His body cannot last long. He keep on breaking down every season. The Dream is a Hall of famer and J Kidd will be soon when he retires. Those two players don't have to deal with major injuries like Yao did.

Yao Ming even stated that his father retired early because his body couldn't hold up. Same goes for Yao. You think Yao can even last another 3-4 seasons? I don't think so. The way he's going right now, he be lucky to be healthy for another 2 seasons. Yao suffered a season ending injury for the past 4 seasons. His frame can't hold up. He is fragile. He isn't mobile like the Dream. Plus the Dream is one of the greatest Centers to ever play the game. Yao Ming is no where near that level.

 

Oh yea one more thing. Yao Ming won the series against Portland is because he had a great deep team to back him up. Portland was young and inexperience. Yao did do very well in the first game but after that, it was Brooks and Scola who really took the series away from the Blazers. Brooks and Scola deserve much more credit than Yao but because Yao was the main player, he gets the credit.

 

If Yao was so great, how come whenever Tmac was injured and miss a handful of games, the Rockets with Yao Ming cannot stay above .500? If Yao was a superstar, the Rockets should be able to win games without Tmac. But they struggle so much when Tmac was hurt.

But when Yao Ming was out, and the Rockets just had Tmac, they were still winning games and manage to stay well above .500.

Like I said before, if Tmac would go down and miss a majority of games like and the Rockets had a healthy Yao Ming, they will never see that 22 win streak. Most likely they will lose the next few games after Tmac went down. But without Yao, the Rockets with Tmac still manage to be successful.

Every single team with a superstar will struggle big time if they lose their superstar to injuries: Cleveland, OKC, Miami, etc...

Probably only the Lakers because they had Gasol, Artest, Odom but they still struggle a bit without Kobe.

Yao Ming is a good player and probably one of the best offensive Centers in the NBA today. But he is not a superstar. He is an all star caliber player that cannot even stay healthy for one season.

People please stop comparing him to the Dream, Kareem, and the great Centers of all time. Yao Ming isn't even near that level and never will be. Those guys were down right dominant. Yao Ming isn't dominant. Dominant players are guys that no matter what the defense does, they will still dominate the series in the playoffs. Yao Ming may have a couple of good games in the playoffs, but he never dominate the series. Look at him during the Jazz series. Boozer looked like a superstar compare to Yao.

Yao Ming cannot be the main guy for a contending team. Look at Pau Gasol. When he was the main guy, his team sucked. But now that he's the 2nd option behind Kobe, he is much more successful than he was when he was the main guy.

 

because:

1) No one can pass the ball in halfcourt to Yao
2) we have bad perimeter defence with Brooks and Martin on the court (Just remember Deron performance)
3) Right now we are just not ready. we need Favors (or another Landry's replacement), Morey should dump Ariza out and get a Sixth Man for this team ( Healthy Rudy Fernandez type of player. Or just more intelligent person than Von). After this moves we can name our team as a legitimate contender, only if Yao can play efficiently for a 33-35 minutes in playoffs

 

Hayden excuse accepted...

Personally I think the best overall center in the league now and for years to come is Brook Lopez.

I would love to see the Lopez of next year against the Yao of last year, but that want happen.

Right now Yao is a spectator and not a player so you cannot compare him to anyone in the game and you cannot automatically make him a top 3 player next year with him coming back from his injury. This is the same as the TOF making T-Mac a top 5 player after his injury and we see how that turned out.. You can't have a double edge sword....

I appreciate the fact that we are discussing the situation and not the comparison of...

Again my beef is not with Yao.. It's with the YOF... the same as inman with the TOF.. Yao is a good player, but as Leebigez pointed out the team is still very competitive with a 6'6 center and was very competitive with a 7'0 40 yr old center. Yao has a good shooting touch and he gives you a 100% day-in and day-out...

Again I don't have a beef with Yao.. My beef is with the YOF who keep trying to make Yao more than what he is.

 

The operative world is "enough".
We will be good w/ Yao. Are we good enough?


/Thread