Why should we make the team around Yao opposed to just playing as a team. Why not be like the Mavs. where they Pass the ball and everyone gets involved, but with better defense : ) Why is everyone saying trade Francis off, and make the team around Yao? Wouldnt you rather have a point guard who is capable of averaging 21 points getting 6 rebounds and atleast 6 assists opposed to having a point guard only capable of averaging 8-12 points, 3-4 rebounds, and 9 assists? A lot of the things people are talking about on here wont help the team. I honestly dont think that we should have to trade a lot of players next season. The only players that come to mind are Jason Collier, Terance Morris, maybe even moochie norris. Rice is a good veteran who comes off the bench, we need the veteran leadership, as much as you guys think it doesnt help, it does.
Why not like Mavs? You must be joking right? We don't have someone like Dirk who is 7-0 and can shoot from everywhere. Our PG couldn't push the ball like Nash. Dallas are a team full of shooters and we only have 1 or maybe 2 in our whole roster (Rice and maybe Boki), that's why we can NEVER be like Dallas. As for title question, Yao's our most efficient scorer, our best passer, our smartest player, why NOT make a team around him?
And yeah why make our team around that PG who while got good individual numbers but only led the team to 4 straight lottory unless we want to go to lottory more times?
I meant play as a team like the Mavs. do and not focus on just making a team around one player. Yao isnt the best passer, hes a good passer for a center.
Nobody was saying make a team around francis. I was saying not to make a team around just one player.
I like 8-12 points, 3-4 rebounds, and 9 assists. That is how Dr. Naismith envisioned it. That is how John Wooden preaches it - everyone on each team playing their "roles" to perfection. The team should be built around Yao because he is our best or least will be by the end of next year. He has great leadership qualities and he is the smartest. He will make everyone better on this team with more experience. Dallas built her BB team around Dirk, Nash and Finley. They complement each other well. Dallas will build her team around Yao, Shaq or Tim Duncan if they had any of them. That is how sport teams are built. This is done in all sports; Brazil building her 2002 WC around Ronaldo, Greenbay Packers building her team around Bret Favre, The Texans around Mr. Carr, Atlanta Falcons around you-know-who, LA Lakers around Shaq, 1984-1999 Rox around Hakeem, The bulls around .......Jerry Krause, the post Hakeem Rox around Yao ........................ you see the list is endless. In Yao we trust.
Build around Yao because he makes he gets other people involved and plays more of a team game! He makes other players better! It's that simple.
Yea you like the 8-12 points, 3-4 rebounds, and 8 assist, but would you rather have steve who is capable of much more?
Like who? Who has he made so much better, that we're way into the playoffs, yea hes a rookie but I just dont see the rockets being that good building just around yao.
I dont want anyone to get me wrong, im not a Yao hater or basher whatever you want to call it, Im just a "Team" kind of person, when a lot of the people on here arent really Rockets fans, they are Yao fans and dont get the big picture.
When he is on his game, he delivers great passes which result in easy baskets for his teammates. Guys are encouraged to cut to the basket. He opens up things for outside players, getting them wide open shots. These are things a star player is supposed to do! Create mismatches and cause double teams, then deliver the right pass. Of course there is much more to it, but I would say Yao has drawn more double teams than Francis, and his passing skills surpass those of Francis. He also has played some tough interior D, so people are allowed to take more risks on the outside and go for steals.
I agree we should play a team game. But that's exactly what Yao is- a team player. Always looks to pass the ball.
I guess your right in some way, but I dont think its a good idea trading off steve, cat, and the rest of the team and start fresh. Yes, they have some changes to make within each players' game but thats it. We should be fine next year, playing as a team not revolve around just one player.
Doesn't make much sense to claim Yao has "led" this team. The guy who leads the team is one who, common sense would tell us, touches the ball most and dictates the flow of the offense. Yao has started to take on that form at points in the second half... but christ, half the posters on this board would trade a body part for this team to REALLY be led by Yao. Steve Francis *has* led this team the past 4 years. I'm sure he's led it in terms of # of touches, seconds touching the ball, shots taken, and plays initiated.
Yea...the Mavs have 3 guys who average around 20 points a game. They've built the team around their 3 best players. And we need to build around our two best players...Francis AND Yao. And can't you see that we can't play as a team until we get a point guard who averages "8-12 points and 9 assists"??? As long as we have francis and mobley...it doesn't matter who we're trying to build around...as long as SF/Mobes are here, we will always be playing a dumbass iso game that gets us the lottery everytime. So far the only player on this team willing to pass is Yao and to a certain extent, Francis. Everyone else is just padding their stats. Griffin shoots everytime. Rice jacks up every 3 point shot he sees despite knowing that he can't shoot half as well as when he was in his prime. And don't even get me started about Mobley! Playing like a team is easier said than done. We need to get the right combination of players. Obviously SF/Yao/Mobley isn't it! One of them is going to be gone by November.
Look, Let's Try to Look at this Objectively Our two best players are clearly Yao and Francis. To maximize their potential, there is no reason that we need favor one over the other. In fact, under the right system, BOTH can and should flourish to the benefit of the team. IMHO, the real challenge is finding: 1. a SYSTEM that works for this team 2. the right role players to surround Mr. Yao and Mr. Francis. 3. hopefully a new INTELLIGENT coach in the event that RudyT cannot come back for health reasons. The way I see it, our Rox can evolve in either one of two directions. 1. They either take the Phil Jackson Lakers approach. i.e. a center and guard centric offense who individually play in excess of 30 minutes per game... and surrounded by ALL role players. OR 2. The Sacremento approach of going "deep" at every position. If indeed we are overstocked in talent, then that TOO is a bad thing. Too much talent, like Portland or Sac, can often be a bad thing. Right now, we need focus. And I have no qualms focusing on Yao and Francis for '04 theSAGE
