The problem is that Rockets won't leave that $17M on the bench forever. If giving the same money to other bigman who can run and defend a little bit, this team could be better. Since Morey is a genius, he might come up someone better than Yao and TMAC using their money.
It'll be a good situation for Yao, the team has proven that they can survive without him. He doesn't need to carry the load as far as minutes are concerned. They can get Yao down to about 30 minutes a game and even less if there is a bad matchup. As far as the team is concerned the questions are whether they can play up tempo while Yao is on the floor, whether they have to play slow down when he's on the court, whether they can actually play 2 different styles in the same game. We don't know the answers until he actually comes back. Hopefully Yao is seeing the team progress and working on changing his game and his mentality some. There was resistance from Yao to the Adelman style of play, a few comments about not wanting to be in the high post or whatever. Yao needs to buy into the new system and change his half court game to more of the Vlade Divacs style, and he needs to work on his outlet passes. Yao doesn't need to be sprinting down the court on the break, he needs to trigger the break better. In the past when Yao got the rebound he'd just be safe and wait to hand off the ball to the PG, he needs to break out of that JVG style and be looking to actively trigger the break.
I remember the coach mentioned C-Bud as a perfect fit for yao. Imagine when Yao drao double team next year and leave C-Bud open, C-Bud may get over 20 ppg.
This run and gun style will not win championships, even with high caliber talent. The playoffs is a different game of half court and execution. Without Yao this system is toast anyways.
Orlando would laugh out loud in you're face. dwight has'nt even come close to reaching he's prime and is allready much more dominante then yao has ever been. even if yao returns, he'll be nothing more the a upgraded version of big Z. dwight is a beast who will continue to get better. yao will sadly only decline from here on
Having Yao gives this team more options in terms of style of play and nightmare match-ups for opponents. I imagine all going well (touch wood), Yao will play carefully monitored minutes when he comes back as the team will "rely" less on him during the regular season. It's in the play-offs where we need Yao to unleash "You Can't Stop Me!!!" Yao.
Unlikely. That's why I am all for packaging Yao and TMac for player(s) who fit with Coach Adelman's games more. That's better for both sides.
I'm more concerned with theses questions: can he seal off his man and catch a entey pass? will he be able to rotate fast on defense enough to guard the pick and roll? If this answer is still No then we should see if we can trade him.
he'd fit in perfectly, with the way scolandry and the ariza, battier are playing, we may just have one of the best frontlines in the league.
Not again... Dwight is in his prime and his numbers aren't gonna improve much. Anyway, Dwight is def. a better all around defender, but when it comes to domination on the offensive end? Are you kidding me? You must have missed all those games where Yao made Dwight his b****. Can't believe I just replied to one of a million "Dwight is soooooooo much better than Yao " post started by someone who never watchd them play. My bad.
Being more skilled dosent equate to being more dominante. dwight is far more consistent. he gets he's points at a better clip then yao. so what ya has a few more post moves .he is a much, much better rebounder, shotblocker, far less injury prone, runs the lanes better, finisher........ list goes on. david robinson was more skilled then shaq, but a prime shaq>admiral. yao is only more skilled, but dwight is more dominante.
I want you guys to read the other comments in this thread. See what everyone else is doing? They're discussing the question at hand. How about dialing back the condescension for a bit and doing the same? If you have nothing to contribute, then you know where the back button is. Anyways though, I like the idea of switching up our style of play whenever Yao's on the bench. It'll be an asset if our second squad can really turn up the tempo and put up some quick points while Yao rests. It'll also provide a fallback plan if Yao's getting shut down--put in Hayes and let the transition game start. Clearly, we've seen how effective our team can be with Yao doing his thing; who knows what might have been had he stayed healthy for the whole Lakers series. But with a year of this faster-paced, transition oriented game, we could have a real two-headed beast next season.
We can go round and round on this, the bottomline is this Roster was designed around Yao. Rick and Morey knows, that's why they keep saying with Yao on the team, it's not the question can we make the playoffs, it's how deep. I trust those 2 more than anybody on the board, as should all Rocket Fans.
if our system is to beat the bad teams and have everyone rejoice....then get beat by the good teams....then Yao won't fit
i dont think he'll fit because he can't run. yao is strictly a halfcourt player. its the same reason why shaq didnt work out with the suns. they actually became worse with shaq and are now better without him.
Holy Angels, Holy Saints, please help these poor fans who are unable to see the big picture, especially the ones who do not understand or appreciate Yao Ming. Please let them know once and for all time and understand that yao isn't going anywhere and when he comes back the game will be adjusted inorder for him & the team to play at their maximum capacity. Calm down let Morey and Coach 'A' do their jobs!!
Couldn't disgree more... Rick, is now starting to get the players that he likes.. This team is built to run and move WITHOUT the ball... This team is removed from Yao's strength... This team needs a running, defensive center.. Yao does not fit that description.
