Thats messed up. You can tell the guy really wants to win, he just can't seem to get over that hump yet. He'll get a ring somewhere eventually.
I wouldn't lump Dirk wtih Tmac either. Dirk has gotten out of the first round countless times.I wouldn't lump in Dirk with Tmac.
Dirk's elimination game performance is pretty hard to defend. Dirk didn't try, or at the very least didn't go down swinging, like Yao and Tmac did.
But continue comparing them based on one single playoffs.
I can't tell you the number of times this series I saw Yao go up for a soft layup only to have his shot blocked by AK47 or Boozer. At his size he should not be getting his shot blocked/altered so often.
Anyways, back to the subject, ESPN keeps replaying that postgame video and it's really a shame. I think T MAC will eventually get out of the 1st round, Houston is a great team, but it was obvious they had a lot of missing holes. Even though Houston had arguably the best player in the series in TMac, the Jazz had the better team overall.
Really!! It wasn't Kerilenko, but it was Okur is it... Whoever was the primary guy playing him head up, Yao went up for a fadaway and main man blocked that shot so hard back at Yao. I was like you, he has no business getting his shots blocked that often by these shorter guys. I mean I know it happens, but at his size it happens way to much.
It's the coach's lack of adjustment to the D, if anything. There are ways around it. Besides, Duncan gets that same flak, because he gets stuffed several times by more aggressive 4's and 5's, and also has some stretches where he settles for a pussy lay up. You're just nitpicking a few bad plays on Yao's part. The dude gets his team 25-30 points and 10 rebounds for his team on any given day. He may not be up to his full potential, but he defnitely doesn't suck. I think if you compare him to how he started, he doesn't suck at all. He's only in a position to get better, with proper coaching. He's actually underused in his abilities.
Yao is 7'5, Duncan is barely 7'0. There's a difference. Yao literally doesn't even have to jump to get a layup he's that close to the basket....
True he doesn't have to jump. But you can't really use that height argument, because Shawn Bradley and Manute Bol should have been getting layups and dunks all game too .
Yao's just too lumbering to ever dominate with his height.
I'm sorry, I watched the game (and several others of the series).
Yao didn't show up. He's shown a lot more at other times in the series, and this one, there was just a lot of passiveness. He settled for 3 ft jumpers when a little more effort would have been a dunk or a foul situation. He hoped to get calls that weren't forthcoming.
TMac tried to balance getting his team involved with making his own shots. He had defense in his face constantly. He appeared to do the best he could out there.
I thought JVG did what he could, but that team was one really good player, one above average player, one really good defensive player with streaky offense, and bubble gum and twine holding it together. I wasn't there to hear all the things JVG said to his team, but there is only so much you can tell your players and the rest is up to them. Houston's offense was terrible. They ran play after play and nothing would go in. Utah was hurting them on the boards or being offensively efficient.
Anyway, I feel quite badly for TMac, because over his time here in Houston, I've come to have a LOT of respect for him and what he tries to do. I will not be surprised if he asks for a trade or something. He's getting screwed. Of course, if Yao continues to be passive and sucky in big games, it won't matter much what else they put out there. A point guard who can also score would help a lot.
I felt quite badly for TMac watching that press conference. Like Dirk, I just wanted to give him a hug.
Dude just wanted to win and get to the 2nd round. I feel for the guy..
I say again:
Yao getting his shot blocked has nothing to do with his height. It is because of his immense size that he moves so slowly that shorter players who move much quicker are able to elevate faster than he can.
Anyway, Yao's good for 20-25 points, 52-55% shooting, 8 rebounds, but none of that matters because he gets his shot blocked here and there?
Who would you rather have at center?
Erick Dampier?
Jason Collins?
Francisco Elson?
DeSagana Diop?
Andrew Bogut?
Rasho Nesterovic?
Jeff Foster?
Eddy Curry?
Kurt Thomas?
Andrew Bynum?
Chris Kaman?
Andris Beidrins?
Zydrunas Ilgauskas?
Nazr Mohammed?
Tyson Chandler?
Samuel Dalembert?
Darko Milicic?
Brendan Haywood?
Please. The only guys who you might - and for emphasis, I repeat the word might - want to take instead of Yao are Ben Wallace, Marcus Camby, Shaquille O'Neal, and Mehmet Okur.
Ben Wallace's best is behind him.
Camby is actually the negative image of Yao: great on defense, irrelevant on offense. You'd get the Bizarro Yao, in Camby's case. And he's a good deal older than Yao.
O'Neal is still a great player, but he's near the end.
Okur is an interesting player and I like his game - but I'd rather have Yao.
People really get hung up about a player's single weakness instead of the many things he can do well. It's interesting to me.
Yao could have played better in the series - 44% shooting (career 52%) and 4+ TO per game, but on the other hand, he averaged 25 and 10. In a seven-game series. The margin of the deciding game was four points.
Another notable All-Star post player averaged 20.6 points per game on 42% shooting during a seven-game series two seasons ago. The margin of the deciding game was seven points. Does Tim Duncan suck, too?
Yao is a great player in his own right. He brings a lot of positives to the game and excels in what he can do; but he is a limited player. As everyone has mentioned, he's slow, plodding and has difficulty tracking down long rebounds (a problem that was very apparent at the end of the game).
But he has always had these flaws, it's no big surprise. However, on the balance he's a player that positively affects a team much more than negatively.
I fault the Houston front-office for not properly identifying his weaknesses and bringing in players that can cover for him. Notice, Shaq has similar deficiencies, which is why the teams he's been on have always had a mobile, rebounding and decent shot-blocking power forward backing him up. Yao has been saddled with Hayes and Howard; not exactly what you're looking for in a front court partner.
Between Mcgrady, Yao and Battier, Houston has some players to build around. They just need to completely revamp the supporting cast.
I watched the clip on NBA.com and I felt bad for the guy... He did cry. He shed a tear or two... and I felt bad for the guy bc I wanted to see him make it outta the first round.
Plus - he cant do it all by himself and I fear he might have this issue for a while...
Houston's FO baffles me. On the one hand is the high risk shots they took with little reward. Stromile Swift was brought in to be the athletic PF that so many teams have nowadays and wound up chained to the bench. Bonzi Wells was going to be a power guard that gave mismatch issues and instead fell flat. And I can't make heads or tails of getting Rafer Alston as a PG in Van Gundy's system.
At the same time, they also pulled some pretty big good deals in the last few years. They turned Steve Francis and Cutino Mobley into T-Mac, and managed to unload Swift's sorry ass for Battier at the cost of only one draft pick. So there is hope yet for McGrady and I'm sure in coming weeks it will be all over Houston sports reports that the Rockets are working the phones and close to making all sorts of deals. At least for his sake I hope so because the bench as it is ain't going to be enough to get out of the first round if the West stays this stacked.
McGrady seems like a decent guy and one I would definitely consider putting on my team should I own one.
I lived a very unhappy nine months in Houston and to this day can't bring myself to really root for any Houston teams, just because of the association.
It doesn't help the Rocket's case with me that I was at the game when McGrady went off and scored 13 point in 30 seconds ( or whatever it was) on the Spurs.
That game was my Christmans present- not so merry
Good post!
Also, I read on here some people dissing Dirk for choking. While Dirk had a bad series and a terrible game 6 he's been about as clutch as you can be in all the game 7's he's been in during his career. Last year vs. the Spurs, the prior year vs. Houston (good game in blow out), the year prior to that vs. Portland (had a really good game). Just a little information about Dirk before everyone goes judging him based solely on the finals last year and this year's playoff series.
Tracy McGrady sucks. The funniest thing I read on this forum about McGrady was "Tracy McGrady is just Vince Carter with a good at ude".
The media expects too much of some teams these days, and that's why there's all of these so-called "disappointments". It's unrealistic to advertise the Mavs as the favorites for the championship this year when they've only got one weapon on the team. It's too much pressure to repeat constantly "Tracy McGrady said if his team loses this series, it'll be all on him".
Media pressure = failure for teams. I mean, when was the last time the "Media favorite to win the championship" won? Probably 2002.
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