Yao Ming is not a good defensive player when he has to matchup against a 3-point shooting big. Adelman was correct to remove him from the game. What I don't understand is why he went with Scola and Landry, instead of using Chuck Hayes.
There is no excuse for Chuck to not get any playing time unless he is hurt. Also should of gave Brooks more PT, he only played 10 minutes. I don't know what RA was thinking this game.
I'm talking about the second to last posession of the game, not the consecutive possessions that happened a minute or two earlier. when you are down to the last possession of the game that could decide the game you do not dare the other team to drive to the hoop with freaking Scola guarding the paint. thats ridiculous. I would much rather make the other team shoot a long threepointer to win the game than invite them to drive to the hoop and thats what Adelman did with his decision to not have Yao guard the goal on that last possession.
Agreed on Chuck in that situation. Only thing I could think of is not wanting to bring in a guy who hasn't played the first 47 minutes into the final minute. Also not sure why we didn't make more of an effort to match up with Granger -- when you can choose your defensive matchups, why have Landry on Granger? We probably have 3 of the top 10 defensive forwards in the league available, and we end up with Landry guarding Granger on the perimeter? Brooks generally has seen his playing time as a function of his performance that game. He played pretty poorly tonight -- bad decisions, missed shots, and mistakes on defense.
Did you see how easy Granger got to the basket and scored? it was pitiful. With Yao Ming protecting the paint, the Pacers take a much lower percentage shot. Even after T Murphy made two earlier, him taking a three and hitting I could live with over that uncontested drive and layup by Granger.
My guy right now is Morey. When his tenure is over, I will still root for the Rockets. I was not happy when we drafted Yao, and although he turned out to justify the pick relative to his performance vs the performances of other picks in the draft (except Amare), at this point in time it is looking more and more like the pick will do even more damage than a null pick (i e picking someone who is out of the league now like Jason Williams) because, as an organization, our fates will now be tied to those of Yao Ming's for the duration of his career. Meaning that if he is not a good enough star to win a championship while we are paying him a superstar's salary, then we'll just have to settle with being competitive but never winning anything for the 15 or so years he will don a Rockets uniform. And you know what? Speaking as a Rockets fan, that SUCKS. I would gladly sacrifice ten years of competitiveness for the chance to get a few years of actually having a real crack at taking the whole thing. One round is nothing. If that means being in the lottery often enough to luck out on a guy like Chris Paul or (now) Derrick Rose, then so be it. I trust Morey and all the players that he has acquired, until his and their actions prove otherwise. And T-Mac shares this blame equally. Who'd have thought he'd have peaked at the age of 23? I hope Morey can find a superstar on which to put our franchise's championship hopes, somebody with heart and a real shot at winning it all. I became a Rockets fan like many here because of Hakeem and his ability to persevere with honor and superior skill even when the opposition (mostly the Jazz) tried to use underhanded tactics and thuggery to close the talent gap. In my own life I judge myself based on my ability to perform under pressure. Why then should I have to blanket adopt an idol that can't even embody those qualities? I think that's the general methodology of how a lot of fans think, even if they can't verbalize their sentiments as such. They either want their team to win it all, or to make inroads towards having a good chance to win it all as soon as possible. Treading water is not acceptable.
I'm actually shocked by your train of thought. This is the type of spoiled fan that has been desensitized by Hakeem and the repeat championships in the mid-90s. Let me assure you that you are in the minority as far as Houston Rockets fans (and all sports fans) when you say that you would rather have no pick at all than Yao Ming. You're jumping the gun when you state that we won't win a championship with Yao. He may not be perfect in any way, shape, or form, but he's certainly good enough to be a part of a championship squad. But, you know what? We might not ever win with Yao. We might not win with Tracy. Or Ron. But, the idea that you rather be a bottom-dweller with NO ASSURANCE whatsoever for the "Promised Land" than being competitive in the Western Conference is just utter trash. We're not New York. We don't have a day of reckoning when the King is set to sign and bring about a decade-long dynasty.
One more thing. Look around the league, and tell me how many players get paid the "superstar salary" of $15 mil a year that Yao gets paid. Would you rather be paying Marion $17 mil? Or Zach Randolph? Vince Carter maybe? Yao is worth ever penny, compared with the vast majority of the league.
I guess alot of my criticism of the whole deal is i understand what he is and yet people call me a troll or say i dont know anything about hoops. I've said countless times that Yao is Brad Daughtery. Thats not a insult to either man, it is what it is. Those that watched Brad know he was a very good center during the mid eighties. He wasnt a guy to build your squad or the offense around, but he was a guy that you could win with as long as other pieces were there. Thats Yao, but there is a side on this board that thinks he's that guy. He's not. He's Brad and I'm cool with that. Just as the Spurs knew who Robinson was, the Rox should realize who Yao is. 35 games he'll monster out,25 games he'll be solid, and 20 games he'll kinda suck. Thats yao. Thats why I've been beating my hands together talking about the construction that can help yao and this team win. Yao is at his best when he plays 32 mins. When you get past that, you get some lazy, uninspired play on offense and defense. The sooner people realize Yao isnt the guy we thought he might be, then maybe people wont be so pissed when he looks ok to suckie against mediocre players. He shouldve dropped 40 on a team like this tonight, but oh well.
I think most people (aside from Yao-trolls) already know that Yao isn't Shaq, Hakeem, or even Ewing. But at the current state of the league, I'll take a Brad Daughtery against the likes of Marcus Camby, Kaman, or Biedrins. But your central point is right on the money. We can win with Yao, given the right pieces, but he shouldn't our version of Shaq in the championship Lakers offense.
When i say this, people go off! Not that i care or anything, but they want yao to be the Shaq or Hakeem v.2. What made those guys so good is they would bring it to you for 37 mins none stop and 40 if they had to. Also, those guys wanted to dominate you. Shaq wanted to embarrass the opponett whenever he could and dream had a confidence that he knew a double and sometimes a triple teams couldnt stop him. Yao feels this way in spurts, but its not his character. Brad Daughtery was the same way as well as Robinson. Look at that cavs team that lost to Jordan. Price- A stocton clone before injuries, lights out shooter. Ehlo/wilkens- Atheletic smart swingguys who could get to the rim. Nance- Very atheletic swing forward. 6'11 shot blocker who could also run the floor. He would also play the 4 spot. Hot-Rod Williams- Another tall multi positional kinda atheletic skilled guy. Could play center and pf. Those guys made up for brad's weakness which was speed,quickness, explosion. The rox need to do the same with yao. Alston basically playing sg isnt going to do it, the 2 pf arent shotblockers nor stretch the court guys.
I think our roster is fine if we resign Deke, and get Tracy back to 80% of his full abilities. Our biggest issue with the offense right now is that we have no flexibility when they start to front Yao, and when Artest can't post his defender up. I seriously think the fronting defense can be used to our advantage as long as we stop trying to force the plays. Essentially, our mentality shouldn't be to try to score IN SPITE of the fronting, but BECAUSE of it.
Just watched the Recap Highlight at nba.com. I think the coach was mad at Yao not even tried to guard the 2nd threepointer from Murphy. It can easily be noticed from the Coach's body gesture after that shot. Coach then triggered the awkward "yo yo" plan, i.e. put Yao in the offensive possession but then pulled him out and switched to Scola when we were back to defence. The strategy failed totally: we didn't score nor stopped Pacers from scoring. I agree with you that Coach Adelman should have put Chuck Hayes instead of Scola if we wanted get a stop at the defensive end. But I think a time out with some heavy words to Yao to make sure he understood his duty at the defensive end would be better. Clearly Coach thought Yao had become a burden to our defence at the end of the game and chose to give up on him in that area.
yao is a very good player, who can look great for stretches of games. but i've said this a thousand times, there are some games teams can take him out and make him look ordinary. dude got blocked a lot today by a team with zero 7 footers. that's why he's never been considered a franchise player to me. if we had just yao, we have zero chance of making the playoffs. but again, yao is a very good player. if we want to get where we want to be, tracy has got to get healthy (and i mean pretty healthy). he's the only guy who can literally explode and take over games. the mere presence of tracy out there just knowing he could play in the last few games give us confidence. tracy's out tonight and WE CHOKED literally. this loss just exposed the lack of a great player for us right now. as of now, we have zero truly great player. unless tracy heals up quick to about 95% of what he did in the playoffs last yr, we won't fulfill our potential.
I tried to avoid your ad hominem attacks and keep on point but you seem intent on insulting those you are debating with (I have hardly been the only victim). "Spoiled" is the LAST term I'd apply to any Houston sports fan. And I have never said that my opinions reflect the majority as you have, just that those fans frustrated with the underachievement of Yao and Tracy might be thinking the way I do. Please keep these discussions polite. I never said I would have preferred no pick to picking Yao, I'm saying that a lot of other teams have gotten lucky (perhaps not all due to luck, Mr. Stern) by hitting rock bottom and slingshotting their way into championship contention, the Spurs having one losing season in fifteen years comes to mind. In the Rockets case, IF this regime of T-Mac and Yao is not the one to take us all the way, and no indication has been made over the past four years that they will, then it will probably take the Rockets hitting the lottery once again to actually pick up enough talent to get another contending team later on. In that scenario, sitting through the entire Yao Ming era will have delayed the whole process, just the same way Drayton McLane is delaying the Astros' rebuilding process by overpaying a few free agents and painting it out to be a real effort to contend every year. On the matter of Yao's chances of winning a championship, I do think he could help us win one, but for someone being paid 15 million he does impose a strain upon our ability to win one if he can't demonstrate the toughness needed up front to hold his own in the playoffs. Not to mention the health to stay out there. I hope he's better than what he's shown so far this year, but honestly, none of this is new. Hence the thread title.
i think so. i want yao to do well. yao was great tghe last 3 games. but fans have to be realistic about our expectations of yao and know teams can play him like this (ala utah 2 years ago in the playoffs). i'm realistic about yao. so games likethis, i'll know he'll have them. i know he won't dunk and just kill people. but he has his strenghts. he does make this team better. just be realistic.
If Adelman needs to be angry at someone, it's himself. Why the heck did he not think about Murphy's 3-point threat when he decided to match Yao up with him??!! And when Murphy hits 2 3-pointers, it's not Yao's fault. Who in his right mind would put Yao on a perimeter-oriented player? At least consider playing zone defense and use Yao's length to guard the basket, not a 3-point shooter, sheesh! So far Adelman hasn't impressed me.
And thats why we will never beat the Utah Jazz in the playoffs. Okur will light up Yao like a Xmas tree. Yao's weaknesses will kill us in the playoffs when the intensity is taken to the next level.
