Comments on: Without Yao, Rockets lose big game to Jazz

By: Shawn

Shawn — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:03:31 +0000

I found this Link on espn.com, it’s time to package McGrady and Alston to the trade block.

http://blogs.chron.com/jeromesolomon/2008/01/its_time_rockets_and_rafer_als.html

Yeah, I saw it earlier, too. It’s actually on the Houston Chronicle site, but we know what you mean. Jerome Solomon is much more assertive in calling out the Rockets to make changes as opposed to his colleague Jonathan Feigen. I kind of like that. — John

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:19:16 +0000

i agree that we do miss Yao’s 22 points a game and that we do have a better chance of winning with Yao than without.
Yao’s defensive presence in the lane? LMAO. comon, you’ve gotta be kidding me
ask yourself: isnt it more like, free jumpers after jumpers for Boozer and Okur? didn’t we have enough of it in last yr’s playoff run? i’m not even going to bring up Kurt Thomas.. and we sure missed Yao’s defensive presence against portland in the last 7:30 of the fourth quarter when we made a run to beat portland by 10??
its not Yao’s fault, he’s just can’t move fast. but it is what it is.
its one thing to support Yao, as we all do, but we also gotta be real to ourselves.
and what’s the point of starting off this article claiming Yao’s more important than Tmac?? its so pointless.
its almost like you were hoping that the Rockets would lose to prove Yao’s worth..
to be honest with you John, reading your one-sided, bias articles here makes me feel depressed for being a fan of Yao. we are better than that…

Some of you guys need to read my posts more carefully before posting. I never said Yao was better than McGrady. It is an indisputable fact that there are still many people who want to make it a point that Yao is better than McGrady, and that McGrady should be traded, and I have never taken either side because that’s pointless. Here’s what I wrote verbatim:

“There may have been a lot of debate a couple of weeks ago if the Rockets were better off without Tracy McGrady when the Rockets won more games than they lost when he was out with an injury. However, there is absolutely no way that discussion has any merit when it comes to Yao Ming being out, as Rocket fans saw Sunday night against the Utah Jazz.”

Regarding Yao’s defense, the Jazz got alot more easy buckets around the basket that Yao could have altered (like the 2 or 3 alley-oops, D. Williams taking it to the rack countless times). I didn’t say anything about the defense that Yao provides outside the lane, and that’s not really where the Jazz killed the Rockets — it was either inside where he usually is, or outside around the 3-point line where Yao doesn’t play anyway. — John

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:00:47 +0000

John how can you give Adelman credit for leaving Novak in without McGrady??? Steve can’t create any shots for himself. He should have played Bonzi because at least he can pose a mismatch.

Rather than go with Bonzi, Novak was hot and they needed his outside shooting. It would have been nice to have had both of them in there, though. Unfortunately, Novak didn’t get many touches in the fourth quarter for whatever reason. That was a shame. I think McGrady needed a rest at the beginning of the fourth quarter, which isn’t unusual, because he had played almost the entire third quarter, I think. — John

By: Billy

Billy — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:37:09 +0000

How is Yao’s upper respiratory infection going? Is it serious or will he be back next game?

Don’t know, but I would be shocked if Yao doesn’t play Tuesday. I don’t remember an upper respiratory infection keeping a player out for more than a couple of days, max. — John.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:36:55 +0000

It’s crazy how quickly some fans forget. Tracy McGrady leads the Rockets to a 20-12 record without Yao and there’s no way the Rockets are a better team without him(and long time Rockets fans agreed). Yao leads the Rockets to a 7-7 record without Tracy and there’s talk that they don’t need him anymore. LMAO!!!!! So 1 game proves their relative values??? LMAO if that’s not bias I don’t know what is. Reminds me of a thread where a “fan” wanted the Rockets to lose because Yao wasn’t playing. Check their overall record without McGrady and then check it without Yao before making gleaful generalizations.

That being said, we were missing Yao tonight. I don’t know how many layups Hayes, Scola, and Landry blew. Add that to all the missed FT’s and it’s a wonder we didn’t lose by 30.

Anyway, you’re absolutely right that JVG wouldn’t have given Novak much PT because of exactly what happened. I was at the game, and after Korver hit the 1st 3 from the corner there was a collective groan when he got open again. Yeah, Novak had a great night, but what good is scoring 14 points if you’re going to give up that many in the 4th quarter of a close game??? Also, what was Adelman thinking leaving Novak in the game to start the 4th without Tracy McGrady. Novak is useless if there’s nobody creating shots for him. I think all but 1 of his baskets was assists by T-Mac. Not a smart decision on RA’s part taking apart the lineup that had gotten the Rockets back into the game. He showed faith down the stretch in the lineup that closed out Portland so what changed??? Sadly, Novak will probably never learn to play D because it isn’t something Adelman emphasizes, and that’s a shame because I was watching him warm up and the guy just does not miss

Actually, I think Adelman did keep the same players in the game at the start of the fourth quarter who had gotten them back into the game in the third, except for McGrady (I believe) who needed the rest for the stretch run. I had to give Adelman credit for sticking with Novak, Brooks, and Scola. — John