Obviously we can't blame the entire thing on Yao, but he's part of the team so he's part of the blame. However, it's undeniable that the last 2 games Yao has not come up big in the final minutes of games when we needed him most. But that doesn't mean he won't in the future. But he does deserve some criticism for failing to make shots he normally makes all game long. That's the burden of the superstar: blamed when you lose, credit when you win. It's the same way with McGrady, and what's good for the goose...
we lost this game not because of Yao but because we stopped playing in the 4th quarter and turnovers... they were making layups after layups - where's the transition d?! and let's not get started on the post entry passing... you can't be clutch if you're not getting the ball and with some good amount of time to work with.. granted he missed some shots but the dude was 8 for 8 at one point...
WE need to rememberr that Yao Ming is being called to play through his threshold which is about 36 mins so when he gets to the later part of the game he is a spent force. If we need him to be a closer then coach A is going to need to give Yao sufficient periods of rest.
I read this at another site on some Yao fan saying trade Yao because he deserves to win a title. As for his unclutchness, yeah perhaps his minutes are a problem. I remember back in 05-06 when McGrady went down for the 1st time Yao was having this same problem. The problem is if he can't play for 40+ minutes then the Rockets don't have a chance anyway. So he needs to take a cliff shot, drink a gatorade, and play through it. Oh, and he's got to stop letting centers like Samuel Dalembert and Michael Doleac deny him the ball by themselves. He's stuck with this polite basketball mentality and won't use his arms to seal anyone behind him.
What sucks for Yoa is the BS rules they have as far a zone defense. 3 guys around him before he even gets the ball. As great as Dream was he would have had a hard time getting the entry ball in that position too. The thing about Dream was that he could take you off the dribble from the outside or pull up from 15 and hit. The NBA has got to get away from this college style defense. These guys are supposed to the best of the best yet apparently they need a gimmick "d" to help out. It almost gets to the point where it is unwatchable anymore. The BS defenses and all the damn flopping!! Be a man! Take a real charge and guard your man 1 on 1!!
heard morey on the radio this morning saying that the league now feels like they have tipped the rule changes too much to favor the guards, and next year out it may change back a little.
Logic dictates that if your Center is being hounded by three opposing players, that you should use him as a decoy and let the other players who are unattended score for you.
The problem is stupid Head and Rafer who thought that they were the next Mcgrady's and decided to forget the big man and jack up stupid shots ending the third and the fourth. Then, When the sixers came back, they decided to force feed Yao. Those two are idiots, especially Rafer, listen to his interviews, ever since he has been doing DECENT, he thinks he is the man. He is a cancer, a loser, get rid of him. Luther is just an idiot for following him. I don't see why Snyder doesn't get some burn, at least he takes it hard to the rim and can rebound. Think about the athleticism in the five closing out the game....Battier, Rafer, Head, Scola, and Yao. Four out of five cant even dunk the ball, not saying it is important, just shows how hideously un athletic the rox are.
And Morey is an idiot for trading Juwanna man for Mike James. Juwanna man woulda had some value as his contract was expiring. Now we have Mike james for another year. GUT THE TEAM!
Lastly, the score shoulda been a blowout if we had a good backup PG that can play some defense on Andre Miller i.e. Jacque Vaughn, AC Carter, etc. Relying on Skip to my Lou is a recipe for disaster.
That was on Adleman. If you heard Aaron Brooks, he said that we needed to get better on inbound passes to Yao at the end of games. That is why you saw Head and Rafer trying to force feed Yao.
In this league, almost every final shot come from guards. C is not a clutch place I think. Yao is not that fast, it is difficult to pass to him when they double or front him. So in 4th q and clutch time it should be guards to do the job and no force to pass to yao. Out team plan is toooo obviousbly to pass to yao in 4th q, that's not good. Answer is Tmac or someone worth 2oom dollars. So our RA need to figure out and make some plans for clutch time and 4th q.
I'm sorry but I have to bump this up. How many times did we go to Yao late in the 4th and both overtimes and how many times did he convert? I counted only one time. Please correct me if I'm wrong. If he's tired then go to Ron, which we finally did in the 2nd OT. AND THANK THE FREAKIN' LORD FOR RONALD ARTEST! And I did a search for the word "unclutch" just to see if it's just me: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/search.php?searchid=116974
