Is it possible that the tides have turned?

[DynastySS]

Since 2004, it has been pretty apparent in my mind that T-mac was the most vital cog to our team's success. While Yao ultimately made T-mac's life easier, and they need one another, it seemed that T-mac was much more capable of leading our team to victory. Whether it was pure talent, the system, the players or what not, it was a general given T-mac was our man. However, in my mind, there has been a slight swing in power this year. In my mind it seems that Yao is the main piece to the puzzle, and that T-mac no longer carries the team, but just helps relieve some stress off the big guy's shoulders.

I suppose the part that has been bothering me of late is I am not sure what exactly was the main cause for the switch. It could be Yao's increase in skill coupled with T-mac's struggle with his physical condition. However, I wonder at times if it is the new system, the new players, or just a different coaching strategy. What is your take on that situation?

[Amel]

TMac started to become a pussy

Yao grew a beard

[BaYBaller]

It's pretty obvious to me, it's just the role players stepping up in the new system. The old system simply had an offense revolved entirely around T-Mac and Yao so when T-Mac was out and they swarmed Yao the offense was shut down. Now there are plays being ran for other players, more movement and passing to disrupt spacing.

Yao more or less has been how he was last year in terms of production. He doesn't score as much but he keys the offense a bit better and has gotten better on the offensive glass.

And we still need T-Mac to close out games. The issue with T-Mac is more that he still likes to handle the ball a lot and create off that instead of letting the PG run things and finishing plays off. He also hasn't pushed the ball very much. I don't really know if this is because T-Mac refuses to do these things, that it's a conditioning/injury issue, or if it's just hard to break habits (he's been playing this way for over 10 years).

[compucomp]

In January Yao has been planted back in the low post. Not surprisingly, his numbers this month have risen to Player of the Month quality numbers, 25.1/11.6/2.4/1.9 on 54%/84%. He has stopped taking perimeter jumpers, he has stopped trying to play at the elbow, and lo and behold he is playing better. Coincidence? I think not. It seems the silly "Yao at the high post" idea has been phased out in favor of what really works, namely Yao at the low post, and not a moment too soon.

[Iggyemu]

Tide turned quite a few weeks ago.

[RoxFan08]

If we get Tmac back to early season form (healthy) and have Yao playing like he is now, we can beat ANY team in the NBA.

[dontel]

If we get Tmac back to early season form (healthy) and have Yao playing like he is now, we can beat ANY team in the NBA.

i would love to put some "duuhhhh" on that one!

[moofs]

One thing about "we need T-Mac to close games" with regard to "the way it worked before is when they realized it was going to be primarily Yao and T-Mac they just geared the defenses toward those two" is that if we consistently use them that way, teams will just gear their defenses that way to close out games, and then we have the same problem. It needs to be an option, not a habit or crutch. Great teams always have guys they can go to both during and at the end of games other than their stars.

[Alex_De_Large]

vs the Jazz Tmac he was not really good, and we missed Yao. but mcgrady has not been bad this year when he was on the field.

Conclusion, it's easy: we need both.

[BaYBaller]

One thing about "we need T-Mac to close games" with regard to "the way it worked before is when they realized it was going to be primarily Yao and T-Mac they just geared the defenses toward those two" is that if we consistently use them that way, teams will just gear their defenses that way to close out games, and then we have the same problem. It needs to be an option, not a habit or crutch. Great teams always have guys they can go to both during and at the end of games other than their stars.

The reason we need T-Mac to close games is because when we're up we need to run down the shot clock and there is not much time to run a system offense. It also reduces the chances of an early turnover which is the worst possible scenario when you're up down the stretch. That's why the iso play is so popular for teams down the stretch, even teams without a dominate scorer.

The other benefit from relying on T-Mac to just close games compared to all game is that the other players on the floor would be in a rhythm and established themselves as threats which will only benefit both T-Mac and the role players if they have to take those final shots.

[nyk_buc]

as long as we don't iso yao and try to force feed him the ball, with this system and role players, yes we can win some games without tmac.

we nearly blew the lead b/c we kept feeding it into yao and play JVG-ball.

tmac just needs to come back and play like he did earlier in the season. just look to score. don't hold the ball too much and try to create.

[compucomp]

as long as we don't iso yao and try to force feed him the ball, with this system and role players, yes we can win some games without tmac.

we nearly blew the lead b/c we kept feeding it into yao and play JVG-ball.

LMAO how did the Rockets end up winning the game? Oh wait, did they possibly do it by ISOLATING YAO ON THE LOW BLOCK AND GIVING HIM THE BALL? Oh wait Yao delivered in the crunch this time? You must have been crying when you saw that because your Yao hating messages have been utterly discredited. Funny how you say the same junk even though you've already been proven wrong.

[nyk_buc]

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LMAO how did the Rockets end up winning the game? Oh wait, did they possibly do it by ISOLATING YAO ON THE LOW BLOCK AND GIVING HIM THE BALL? Oh wait Yao delivered in the crunch this time? You must have been crying when you saw that because your Yao hating messages have been utterly discredited. Funny how you say the same junk even though you've already been proven wrong.

how often does he do that down the stretch? that's the problem. yao was ON FIRE v. the warriors and we pulled it out. it needed a WORLDLY effort from yao.

yao is NOT going to put up 36 and 19 every game. so again, what has been the trend this yr with isoing yao and force feeding him?

and if u read my post, we lost the lead in the 4th b/c of constantly getting him the ball.

we got the 20 pt lead b/c we move yao the ball and let him get it where he just takes one dribble and shoot.

[King Roosk]

Actually compucomp, we've had a lot of trouble closing games without T-mac. We couldn't finish off New Orleans for one. As for what nyk_buc is saying...he's 100% right. When we iso Yao and try to force feed him the ball (aka JVG ball), then we USUALLy turn it over. If you don't believe me then please go watch the 4th quarter against Philadelphia.

We do need Yao to get the ball in crunchtime (or Mcgrady if he's healthy), but we have to find more efficient ways to get him the ball. Isolating him on the block with everyone else standing around watching makes it very easy for the opposition to steal the ball. In situations where Adelman wants Yao to get the ball to close out a game, we have to continue to run our offense so we can get him the ball easily and in a favorable situation.

[nyk_buc]

Actually compucomp, we've had a lot of trouble closing games without T-mac. We couldn't finish off New Orleans for one. As for what nyk_buc is saying...he's 100% right. When we iso Yao and try to force feed him the ball (aka JVG ball), then we USUALLy turn it over. If you don't believe me then please go watch the 4th quarter against Philadelphia.

We do need Yao to get the ball in crunchtime (or Mcgrady if he's healthy), but we have to find more efficient ways to get him the ball. Isolating him on the block with everyone else standing around watching makes it very easy for the opposition to steal the ball. In situations where Adelman wants Yao to get the ball to close out a game, we have to continue to run our offense so we can get him the ball easily and in a favorable situation.

u want to get yao the ball in crunch time. but NOT when he's posting up and we're wasting time trying to get it to him if he's isoing in one place.

get some picks under the basket, move him from the strong to the weak side, swing the ball and get the ball to him where all he has to do is shoot or take one dribble and shoot.

having tmac in there allow us to do that.

we lucked out w/ the warriors b/c yao was as dominant as ever. but we cna't get into that mode of constantly trying to look for him if we're not moving him around.

[compucomp]

[quote="nyk_buc"][/quote]

So Yao fails to deliver in the crunch = "Yao is a choker, anti-clutch." When he does = "Does he consistently do it?" NOBODY delivers in the clutch EVERY time. Not even Jordan, or Kobe, or Tracy McGrady, or Lebron can claim that. He's delivered in the crunch several times when we went to him in the fourth, and there were several times when he didn't. We can say the same thing for McGrady. So McGrady is now anti-clutch and can't be trusted down the stretch?

Isolating Yao on the block IS the most efficient way to get him the ball if he is not denied the ball; GS had called off their fronting by that point in the game, if you watch the game again you'll notice Harrington was playing behind Yao. If the defense is fronting, sure ball movement will get Yao the ball. If the defense is playing conventionally you just throw the ball into him.

[nyk_buc]

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So Yao fails to deliver in the crunch = "Yao is a choker, anti-clutch." When he does = "Does he consistently do it?" NOBODY delivers in the clutch EVERY time. Not even Jordan, or Kobe, or Tracy McGrady, or Lebron can claim that. He's delivered in the crunch several times when we went to him in the fourth, and there were several times when he didn't. We can say the same thing for McGrady. So McGrady is now anti-clutch and can't be trusted down the stretch?

Isolating Yao on the block IS the most efficient way to get him the ball if he is not denied the ball; GS had called off their fronting by that point in the game, if you watch the game again you'll notice Harrington was playing behind Yao. If the defense is fronting, sure ball movement will get Yao the ball. If the defense is playing conventionally you just throw the ball into him.

tell me, did u know why we blow the double digit lead in the 4th v. the warriors?

answer yourself that.

we want to get yao the ball. but not when he's isoed and everyone stands in a spot. not only will that make it easier to double him (which can cause TOs), but the role can only shoot 3s.

that's why we never closed a game out without tmac and we never failed again v. the warriors (a 20 pt lead nearly vanished).

[nyk_buc]

watch the boston game, why did we start losing?

watch the hornets game, why did we start losing?

watch the sixers game, why did we start losing?

when we iso yao, we FORCE FEED him. that's the problem. FORCE-FEED means we will try to et him the ball regardless if we waste 12-15s, disregarding other plays, and just focus on getting him the ball regardless.

[compucomp]

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tell me, did u know why we blow the double digit lead in the 4th v. the warriors?

answer yourself that.

we want to get yao the ball. but not when he's isoed and everyone stands in a spot. not only will that make it easier to double him (which can cause TOs), but the role can only shoot 3s.

that's why we never closed a game out without tmac and we never failed again v. the warriors (a 20 pt lead nearly vanished).

8-7 without McGrady. We managed to close out 8 games without McGrady. When the defense plays straight up, throw Yao the ball in the post. He fails sometimes, like against KG in Boston, but he will succeed other times, like yesterday. That's about as good as you can say for ANYONE. In case you didn't know the Hornets lead our division right now?

If the defense fronts then we need to move the ball, but GS stopped fronting and went to single coverage, so ball movement will not help, only Yao dominating will.

I have a question for you: When we went down 102-101 with 2 minutes left, who went on a 9-2 run by himself against the Warriors?

Answer yourself that.

[BaYBaller]

Big men aren't traditionally relied on during crunch time because they are prone to turn it over. That's just reality. That's why we need T-Mac. Shaq didn't close out games, Kobe or Wade did.