T-mac and Yao experiment what has to happen next year ....

JordansBulls · Post #1 » by **JordansBulls** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:48 pm

What has to happen for the T-mac and Yao experiment to stay together after next year?

Is getting to the 2nd round enough to keep them together after next year?

Do they have to get to the Conference Finals?

How far do the Rockets need to go?

Ming Kong! · Post #2 » by **Ming Kong!** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:38 pm

They need many things. They focus their depth in two players way too much. I'm surprised how far they took Utah with Yao hurt. They need more than Yao and TMAC, which simply not enough. I mean too many teams have 3-4 very good players, like Boston, LAL, SA, Utah, Detroit, etc.. When you don't have that sort of depth in the playoffs your stars will get ezploited, and then you'll have nothing else to throw at your opponents.

Baller 24 · Post #3 » by **Baller 24** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:48 pm

1) Stay healthy, when both are healthy playing in the same games together they have a 171-65 win loss record, in result could lead to 60+ wins a game per year, which makes them both undoubtedly the best 1-2 combo in the league right now, but big issue is health.

2) They have to get past the first round, if they don't The Rockets IMHO can say goodbye to McGrady if they don't, his contract the year after is expiring and is worth close to 23 million.

3) I'd say 2nd round, possibly WCF, because they have the ability to do it, and now they even have a good bench with depth, which they didn't have in 2007 vs. Utah. But its all going to again come down to the first round.

4) Whats going to happen if they don't...well McGrady traded, rebuild around Yao. I highly doubt they get rid of Yao, just because of the revenues and the global marketing money he brings in. But the injures and stuff have to stop, he needs to man up and keep everything healthy, or this could be the last year of the infamous McGrady and Yao duo. You can't measure two years of playoffs between a combo, but in this case, when you have had 5 years to try, then its time to move on. McGrady has the higher impact on the team as I've stated before he can carry this team on his own, but Yao is just worth more, and McGrady isn't really worth 23 million in the league today.

Storm Surge · Post #4 » by **Storm Surge** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:53 pm

2nd round probably

Malinhion · Post #5 » by **Malinhion** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:22 pm

Its gotta be farther than the second round. That's only a marginal improvement that still has no hope for the future with all the rising squads in the West. If they make the WCF they can make a decent case to the FO that they're getting their act together.

icewill36 · Post #6 » by **icewill36** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 5:05 pm

what they NEED is a third star..... two just isn't enough in the western conference, and to remain healthy.

Ballings7 · Post #7 » by **Ballings7** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:24 pm

Stay healthy, and get out of the 1st round.

To do that I think they need to stay healthy, and get more creativity offensively around them.

Post #8 » by **pillwenney** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:59 pm

I think they have to put up a hell of a fight in the second round, but maybe not necessarily advance past there--but definitely past the first round.

In order to do that they'll definitely need health, and probably another main offensive weapon. Rafer won't cut it.

A.J. · Post #9 » by **A.J.** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:05 pm

1. Stay healthy- If one of them gets hurt for a short period of time, we are in trouble. This is where having the 3rd scorer comes to play. Just imagine if we had a 3rd scorer, we would make up for some of the points caused by either Yao or T-Mac.

2. Getting past the 1st round- Every year with these two the question is are we ever going to get past the 1st round and the answer stays the same, no. This year we have to get past the 1st round.

Killuminati · Post #10 » by **Killuminati** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:46 pm

The Houston rockers IF** Healthy, can do a lot of damage in the playoffs. I can see them getting out of the 1st round of the playoffs if both YAO, and T-Mac remain healthy and play the same D' they've been playing that lead them to that 22 win streak. Sky's the limit for this team, they should come in the playoffs with an udnerdog mentality (Dallas Vs Rockets in 2005) and this time get the job done. If they can get passed the 1st round that momenutum should build up towards getting passed the second round. Anything passed the second round is enough to hush the media hounds.

Real Talk 07 · Post #11 » by **Real Talk 07** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 8:43 pm

They need a true third option for them to rely on...sometimes McGrady/Yao just isn't enough to give them the punch on offense they need....with a third option, T-Mac and Yao wouldn't have as much stress on them on offense every single time down the court.

AgEnT50 · Post #12 » by **AgEnT50** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:48 am

Stay healthy & get out of the 1st round. . .

RapsGM · Post #13 » by **RapsGM** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:39 am

Before we even think about where they go in the playoffs, both of them just have to stay healthy.

knicksNOTslick · Post #14 » by **knicksNOTslick** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:28 am

3rd star could've been Rudy Gay...

Baller 24 · Post #15 » by **Baller 24** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 2:48 pm

knicksNOTslick wrote:3rd star could've been Rudy Gay...

Don't remind me. Well Battier isn't bad because of his defense, and I dunno if we would of had the same amount of success during the season that we had in 2006-2007. Gay would have helped A LOT this season especially. And Gay's favorite player was McGrady...man what could've been

tylero87 · Post #16 » by **tylero87** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 3:50 pm

What has to happen for the T-Mac and Yao experiment to work out and not be broken up? It's simple.........

-Don't play Utah in the Playoffs

JordansBulls · Post #17 » by **JordansBulls** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 3:55 pm

Real Talk 07 wrote:They need a true third option for them to rely on...sometimes McGrady/Yao just isn't enough to give them the punch on offense they need....with a third option, T-Mac and Yao wouldn't have as much stress on them on offense every single time down the court.

Why do you need a 3rd option when you have 2 top 10 players in the league? The problem was that they didn't have rebounding in 2007 with Hayes at PF and last year no offense with Yao out.

They have everything they need. They have rebouning up front with Scola and Yao and then they have a Defensive stopper in Battier and a playmaker that can get you 25 ppg easily in T-mac.

Really they have no excuses to not be able to get to the conference finals next year. In fact, they should be able to win it all with what they have.

Dr Aki · Post #18 » by **Dr Aki** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:26 pm

they should win

except there are even more stacked teams in the league that make it hard if not impossible to win a championship

Real Talk 07 · Post #19 » by **Real Talk 07** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:27 pm

I said they need a third option because T-Mac isn't the McGrady from 02-03/03-04 anymore, the one who lead the league in scoring twice. Though he did lead the league in scoring earlier this year, as we got deeper and deeper into the season, his scoring avg. dipped, because he's not able to maintain that same level of aggressiveness anymore.

He's a playmaker/shooter now, and when his jumper isn't falling and he already isn't driving to the rim like he used to, the Rockets offense tends to look a little stagnant. A 3rd option could really help out in that case....though I'm not a Rocket fan, this is just my observation....anyone is open to correct me.

boogydown · Post #20 » by **boogydown** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:54 pm

Alston (Maybe an upgrade over him)
McGrady
Gay
Scola
Ming

I think that would have been enough.