I was actually surprised this didn't happen earlier in the season. When I heard he was going to play for China and not give himself rest after having foot injuries each of the previous years, I figured it was just a matter of time. I figured since he had played the whole time this season, he was finally over that injury bug.
He is a fantastic basketball player and I am shocked that the Rockets didn't pound it in to him more often. Adelman is a great coach, but that he didn't figure out a way to get Yao 20 touches a game is really surprising.
This isn't a fraction of the loss that everyone seems to think. Yao is overrated as fuck, the only thing he has going for him on defense is his height, and he's a third scoring option that's been forced into #1 or #2. Now Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry get more playing time, and those two guys can be excellent role players given the players. Houston will be fine, they are no more or less in this series without Yao than they were with him.
Yeah, those 7’-5” 325 lb 20/10 guys are a dime a dozen. The biggest thing that was holding him to 17/11 in the playoffs was that his teammates couldn’t get him the ball when he was being fronted. Add good defense, a block, an assist, with 54% shooting, and outstanding free throw shooting, and I think he helps his team a bit more that Landry or Hayes. The Rockets could still win this series, but it won’t be because Yao went down...it will be in spite of it.
By this logic, Dallas should have never let go of Shawn Bradley. Yao plays good defense?? Maybe in relation to Evan Eschemeyer. He's also not an effective number one option, despite what those numbers may tell you. His height is the reason that people overrate him so much. If Houston somehow unloaded Yao for a late first round draft pick, I doubt they'd miss a beat next year (assuming they re-sign Artest). Hayes is a physical player who takes pride on the defensive end and is a very good rebounder. He doesn't score, but he doesn't have to. Landry is a good player when given the chance, though he struggles with consistency a little bit. Not entirely. They can play a more effective up-tempo game, and their defense improves due to Hayes getting more minutes. Houston's real stars are Brooks, Battier, and Artest.
here you kept saying that yao was going to wear down at the end of games because of his minutes. that clearly wasn't happening.
you really don't even watch basketball at all do you? yao absolutely is a number one option on offense. if you'd watched any of the rockets playoff games you would see the attention he got on that end of the court from both the lakers and blazers. when they tried to play behind yao and simply send double teams, he destroyed them. they had to change their whole defense and focus it on keeping yao from getting the ball(which leaves guys with wide open shots and lanes to the basket) to have any hope of defending yao. and your comments about his defense are just as ridiculous. of course his height helps him on defense. but it's not like you can take that away from him. but to act as if yao isn't a very good post defender is just silly. he's very good defending the post and also very good coming over to block and alter shots when opposing players get into the lane. there's a reason he anchors a great defensive team. the rockets have a very slim chance in the series without yao regardless of what happened in game 4. hayes is a great defender as well, but now there is a lot more pressure on everyone defensive because there is no shot blocking presence. not having yao there is going to force everyone to work even harder to stay in front of their man and likely will end up with the lakers getting more open shots when they make the extra pass because the rockets will have to be sending extra help in the paint. hayes and landry are both very good role players, but they can't come close to making up what yao does on the court. and offensively as soon as the lakers start putting some effort into their defense, things are going to get very difficult in a hurry for the rockets.
Yeah, just like that. Except SB never averaged 10 rebounds OR 20 points in any of his 15-16 years in the league. That, and Bradley never even approached 300 pounds. You think they are comparable players? Yao absolutely plays good defense, both on man and help D. Houston is ranked #4 in D in the league. You're saying that happens with a center that can't play defense? From what I've seen, Phil and Nate would disagree with you, given how much defensive attention they gave to Yao. The Blazers might have fronted another center this season, but if they did, I can't remember it. How bout Yao's PER? He's ranked #11, at almost 22, in the entire league - all positions. A rating of 15 is average for an NBA player. It's also a big part of the reason he's so good. You're entitled to your opinion. Portland has a late 1st round pick, and I'd bet my house that they would give it up for Yao in a heartbeat. It doesn't seem like much of an advantage to replace a 17pt/11rb shot blocking post defender with a 6'6" guy that doesn't need to score and a 6'9" guy that's inconsistent. Together, they've averaged 8/6 for the playoffs. I guess the Celts could sit Perkins and Davis and play more up-tempo, too...but I don't think that means they would win more games. We'll just have to disagree about the defense improving with Hayes at C over Yao.
lol JE, just lol. If they got a late first rounder instead of having Yao, you think they wouldn't skip a beat. That's just wrong. A late first rounder and finding a quality center. usually they get snatched up early, and most of them won't even have close to the impact Yao does.
Battier Artest wut Yao is adequate at best. They're giving extra attention to a team's number one option? Wow that's unheard of. He would be so much better as a 3rd option. PER also dictates that Kobe is the 6th best player in the league, Shaq is 13th, and Carmelo Anthony is 33rd. Is this a road you want to travel? It's the only reason his numbers have been as good as they are. When you think about it, someone with his height and strength has no excuse to pulling down less than 13 rebounds a game. Fantastic. Yao is as durable as a plastic spoon. It also didn't seem like much of an advantage to replace a career 20 ppg scorer with a perceived douchebag who was averaging roughly 8 ppg at the time and had played for 5 teams in 4 seasons. That didn't work out too badly for Houston. Except that those are the only two big men on the active roster worth jack shit.
Artest guards the post players, wut? Without Yao, who blocks shots? Your opinion. His team would not be ranked 4th defensively without his post play. If he's not worthy of being a #1 option, why wouldn't they let him do his thing and stop the Rockets stars? Yeah, he'd be a good 3rd options, but that's not a surprise, since he's a good 1st option. Why not? You don't have a PER of 22 if you worth is a late first round pick. You get a PER like that because you can play. PER is a stat, it doesn't rely on the players popularity. It's not perfect, but it is a pretty decent measure of a players production. Kobe is about where I'd put him, based on the few LA games I watched. Shaq is probably too high, but not more than a few spots. Melo....meh, 33rd sounds good to me. It's a given that being tall is a big part of why a center is good. As for it being the sole reason Yao is a top 15 player; we'll just disagree on that. Really big guys tend to have foot/ankle/knee problems. Hell will freeze over and pigs will fly out my ass before Houston trades him for a late first round pick.
Hey I give them props for rallying for that game.. I do think they lose the next 2 convincingly though. They cant rally like that 2 more times IMO.
^oh jesus, STFU! Your prediction is the reason for the Lakers losing! Shouldnt you be asleep waiting for your mouth to be ripped apart in the morning?
Yeah you can't let up in this conference, Houston has played well without it's stars this season and you can't take them for granted.
