Shaq had illegal defense. The zone defense was instituted for the sole purpose of stopping shaq. Shaq or not, with 3 defenders on you, anybody will have a hard time. Hakeem always had trouble with the pseudo zone seattle played.
i dont disagree with that...we definitely need more to win a ring, but it's not a bad alternative to the yao experiment, at least as a starting blueprint.
I did it to myself, I'm confused. Earlier you said We are going with the options of Loser Guards or Loser Big Man here sadly. Yao is PART of the No-excuses Almost-means nothing himself. Yao hasnt won anything. You're going off NBA HISTORICAL trends, which favors Yao. Yes, length and size DOES COUNT in the postseason, no argument from ME there. I think people here are going off of actual Yao Physical trends and what currently works. The point is no is saying outright get RID of Yao, they're saying to adjust Yao's role. On THIS current team how its designed, along with Yao's current limited minutes condition, what the else CAN you do with Yao? Force feeding him the ball for slowdown offense, he's been WINLESS. MYSELF (where I got things confused) I'M SAYING if they don't increase Yao's minutes to give him a bigger footprint on the game, we might as well get a Gortat, Mark Gasol, Brendan Haywood. Who cares about historical trends when Yao can only play half a game.
You are correct, Yao had done nothing in the playoffs short of beating portland. This might be his last chance to prove himself worthy. Time is running out on Yao and he no longer gets a free pass. This preseason, the fans were expecting a team built like 95s rockets, a dominant center surrounded by long range bombers. Martin, brooks, budinger, lee, and maybe battier are all pieces designed to complement yao. I mean, seriously, I can't wait to see more of Yao passing out to Martin for a sweet 3, its money. Unfortunately, the injury bug hits again and the team will have to wait to see if things work out. If Yao is healthy and performs well in the playoffs, he gets max. If he gets injured again, he'll go to the knicks because it will be the only team willing to pay max to go along with oft injured amare.
First of all, playoffs??? Second, the Knicks will be busy signing Carmelo to pair up with Amar'e. I do think someone will give Yao a nice salary, GS or OKC come to mind, but certainly not max money.
Not only do the Spurs have the right mix of talent, but they've had many, many seasons of relative good health to hone and perfect their style of play. Chemistry wise, they don't get much better.
Agreed, just a bunch of veterans who know their role and do it well. Everyone knows the system and complement each other finely it seems. On the contrast, we're a young team that struggles to stay healthy year in and year out, lowering the amount of time our players have to get to work together and build chemistry.
Just thought some of you would enjoy a reminder of what Yao what doing before his season ending injury in 07-08 and why he is still relevant today. Makes me sad http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mingya01/gamelog/2008/
Yup, it's not just the personnel with that team, but the years of playing together in the same system. It may sound pessimistic but I don't know if the Rockets could replicate their method of success with Yao at this point in his career. One more thing. The time to steal a page from the Spurs book probably would've been last season, when they could've tanked and aimed for a top draft pick. Get someone to play Duncan to Yao's David Robinson.
Why does the board covet players from all over the league? Because the players the Rocket's organization have drafted, traded for, or otherwise acquired have taken the team virtually nowhere for the last 15 years and still stuck in neutral. The easiest explanation is: THEY PICKED THE WRONG PLAYERS. Have any examples?
I think d12's numbers are around that and he has zero offensive skill... however he rebounds better, flows better in offense, and blocks more shots. I dont argue that yao is playing in a bad era but that doesnt excuse him or the rockets.
Les can't make money off of yao if yao isn't playing significant minutes...the more the team is centered around yao the more money he makes...if yao is not as effective as before and yet still is in there taking up too many minutes, then there is something to worry about. He's going to keep us from acquiring a better player at that position, or one that fits better.
The problem here is Yao isn't even fit to be in duncan's shadow. TD is one of the most complete big man to ever play hoops. He's just solid at every aspect, and this versatility allowed the spurs to alter their game plan when Duncan started declining. Yao Ming isn't as mobile as Duncan, so using him ala Varejao (defend, clean the boards, play off everyone else) wouldn't work because Yao is too slow and has like 2 stamina points. You talked about playing an 'open court" offense where there are spaces for parker and manu to do their thing, well in yao's current condition having him jump around the court like a monkey to open things up will make him tired 5 minutes in the 1st quarter. Another difference is the fact that TD has elite hands and can react quickly to situations. Yao Ming, while not kwame "stone hands" brown, is pretty average in this respect, its hard to consistently make entry passes to him, esp. when he can't get proper court position. If we're gonna use Yao its gonna be the old-fashioned "big slow man in the center clogging things up" way. He's far too limited by his size and injuries to do anything else.
Good points there Leeb we need to make a list of "2 way" players who can actually be acquired. I am sick and tired of players who can just play on one side of the court. Stephen Jackson schooling K-Mart on the post was so annoying to watch.
