Yao Ming Mania - Latest Comments in Yao and Brooks break Knicks

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

Brian — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 03:12:15 -0000

Yo, BOBBYNYC, I def agree with what you said. Adleman is just trying to give his vets a chance to prove themselves before he switches to the rooks.

I'm kind of sad that Tmac is unhappy in Houston. Hes a great player and we need him to step up to lift the rockets to a championship.

Does anyone else remember when Hollinger from ESPN predicted the rockets to finish first and be the Champs!? Whatever happened to that? :(

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

jeff — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:52:54 -0000

It does not pay to tease T-Mac. He does not deserve that. No matter what, he is the best of the Rockets and the Rockets have to rely on him. Remember this is a team sport. He cannot win every game by himself alone or even by him and Yao. The other guys have to perform also. But when the opposing teams well know that the other 3 starters, namely, Alston, Hayes and Battier, can only score at an extremely low rate, it is not difficult to contain T-Mac and Yao with 5 guys. It is up to Rick Disaster Idleman to give minutes to Bonzi, Scola, James, Brooks and Novak who can score at a much better rate than the said THREE great starters.

T-Mac or Yao is not responsible for the final decisions for the team. The responsible man is Rick Disaster Idleman. We must be fair and logical.

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

Jainon — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:01:42 -0000

According to Chris McCosky of The Detroit News: "The topic of Tracy McGrady came up in the Pistons' locker room before a game last week. McGrady is now injured and unhappy in Houston. Reports there say he has told friends he wants to be traded -- again. One player, who shall remain nameless, joked that McGrady was becoming more and more like his cousin, Vince Carter. "They should call Tracy, 'half-man, half a season,'" the player cracked.

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

James Ma — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 07:43:02 -0000

John,

I finally saw the highlights of the Knicks game on Youtube. With 6:10 left in the 1st quarter, Yao made a spin move to his left and somehow got the ball to go in the basket even after getting a hard foul from Zach. I don't ever recall Yao making a spin move to his left and driving to the basket, it's always been to his right. Am I right about this? If so, this must be a new move for Yao.

Thanks,

James

He had made a spin move to his left before, but never finished that way where he throws it up with both hands while twisting. I don't think it was intentional that he twisted at the end; he had to improvise with the way Randolph was playing him, and it worked out beautifully. -- John

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

cardfather — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:11:43 -0000

Suggestion to Rocket's management:

Trade T-Mac for a future first round draft pick! The Rockets seem to be playing better without him anyways. We have enough talent in the guard positions on this team. McGrady's shooting and field goal % is terrible in the last 2 seasons. Inject Scola in the line-up as well. He's a good offensive rebounder .... reminds me of Boozer.

With Yao, Scola, Battier, and Brooks in the starting line-up, the Rockets should be able to match up against any team in the league.

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

Ramon — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 20:58:05 -0000

There's a lot of continuity, ball movement when TMac is not around. He could take more rests if he wants.

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

Jainon — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:44:30 -0000

Tmac's three-week absence is a blessing in disguise. No disrespect to Tmac, but it was difficult for other role players to get into the flow of the game in this new system when he dominated the ball so much. Now that Brooks and Scola got a chance to play more mins(and they blossom), the team is playing with more confidence and more intensity. They look more like a team as a cohesive unit as opposed to a one-man show. When Tmac returns, I hope he will learn to fit in and not continue his old way of playing. His talents can help the team in so many ways because he is a good passer and a capable defender. I would like to see him defend better, pass more and shoot less. No one wants to see him hoisting up 25 jumpers a game.

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

BOBBYNYC — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:40:33 -0000

Hey John, another great report of the game. You are right, this Rockets team is starting to Gel. Let me add why I love this game too. I love this game because it's so great to see a struggling team put in hard work and finally find an identity and become a team in its real true sense.

Now I want to be cautious and not get too carried away, because these victories has come through teams struggling as of late. Also I can't really get on Adelman too much, this dude knows what he is doing as far as respect goes. If you want to be a successful coach in this league or any other league, it's not just about x's and o's and making the right substitutions. It's also about giving respect to players such as Yao, Mcgrady, Hayes, Alston. Players who has been there before him. Now imagine if he scews Hayes and Alston for Scola and AB and it ends up not working, you can't just expect him to go back to Hayes and Alston and expect them to honor their coach anymore. Respect goes a looong way. I am pretty sure he will slowly work Scola and AB in just as he has been, but I am sure it won't be to the point where they will overtake Hayes and Skips minutes. This might change next season though, but slowly but surely it will eventually happen. Just imagine yourself at work overtaken by a rookie. Give Adelman props.

Lastly, I know ppl have been on McGrady all year, calling him soft, no heart etc. He needs to stop settling for jump shots, well err untimely jumpshots at least, and he needs to show his true emotions more like Yao is doing now. Other then that the guy is still a special talent. More importantly the dude is not a bad guy. Check out this article I found.

http://www.theledger.com/ar...

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

jeff — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:47:17 -0000

I want to see whether Aaron Iverson Brooks will be sent to the D-League again.

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

Wilson — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:23:21 -0000

YAO + SCOLA + AB= ROCKETS NBA CHAMPIONS!!!
(DUNCAN + GINOBILLI + PARKER= SPURS).
(GARNETT + PIERCE + R. ALLEN= CELTICS).
(JORDAN + PIPPEN + RODMAN=BULLS).
(SHAQ + KOBE + PHIL JACKSON= LAKERS).
(SHAQ + WADE + PAT RILEY= HEAT).

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

Wilson — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:19:22 -0000

WOW!!! THIS IS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!!!
IT SEEMS COACH ADELMAN IS FINALLY LISTENING BY PLAYING AARON BROOKS MORE!!!
AND NOW...LIKE I SAID YESTERDAY, IN ORDER FOR THE ROCKETS TO WIN BETWEEN 50 AND 55 GAMES THIS SEASON...THEY NEED TO INSERT LUIS SCOLA IN THE STARTING LINE UP INSTEAD OF HAYES WITH OR WITHOUT TMAC PLAYING!!!
YAO + SCOLA + AB= ROCKETS NBA CHAMPIONS!!!

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

Allen — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 10:20:08 -0000

Brooks has been getting a lot of PT lately, but from what I have seen, the majority hasn't been at the point guard spot, its been as a combo guard in the 2 hole. Doesn't surprise me though, bc that is what he played in college. He has been playing great and injects a lot of enthusiasm into the lineup, but it will really get interesting when Mac comes back. Alston is pretty entrenched as the PG starter, I don't really see Adelman changing that (he played 40 minutes tonight), plus Brooks hasn't had any significant duties as far as running the team for significant amounts of time.

It seems to me that there are three options when Mac comes back.

1. Luther Head will lose significant PT to Brooks as the backup SG. This makes the most sense to me, since Brooks is just like Head, an undersized SG (both were in college), but he brings more to the table than Head. I think Adelman is slowly turning Brooks into another Bobby Jackson. Small, mismatch shooting guard coming off the bench for bursts of offense. Maybe this could be a good reason to put Head on the block.....

2. Mac moves to SF, Brooks comes in as SG, and Battier goes to the bench. I think this is the least likely because not only does it screw with Bonzi's playing time (which is one of Adelman's favorite mismatches) but it puts our best defender on the bench; and you know Mac can't defend worth a damn. Plus, Mac has said he likes the SG spot because you don't take the physical punishment of the SF spot on offense.

3. Alston and Brooks become a platoon at the point. I think as much as everyone has pined for something like this, from day one getting MJ and SF, and with Alston being the big scapegoat and all (somewhat justifiably so), I also think this is unrealistic given the coach. Obviously Alston handles the total point guard package the best on our lineup. I even think Brooks helps Alston stay on the court more. The big knock on Alston is his lack of scoring, but hell, if Brooks is coming in a la Bobby Jackson and scoring in bunches, it minimizes Alston's lack of offense.

Who knows. Whatever happens, the great thing is that the Rockets are improving. We have more than just two players avg'ing double figures now, and the offense is looking better and better; all without our leading scorer. Throw him back in, and we might be ready to go on a serious run.

New systems and new coaches do take time to adjust, and I still have faith in Adelman. When coaches are too fickle and change too much too fast, you can end up with a situation like Larry Brown in NY where he had like 60 starting lineups in one year. IMHO, the players need consistency, and incremental change. But anyway, loving the last two games (even if one was against maybe the worst team in basketball...)!

Thanks so much for all the work. Glad to see you pumped up again!!!

Great analysis, Allen. I think option #1 will happen, but when Brooks or Alston struggles (like everyone does), then Head will start sharing more of the time with them. I wish they would add this twist and say that they're going to bring McGrady along slowly because of his knee, like maybe 20 minutes a game so that Brooks can still get plenty of playing time.

I have always had faith in Adelman's system, but this year I've been more critical of the coach himself for not "staying the course" and reverting back to last year's offense (like he admitted he did) during that 6-game losing streak. The other source of their problems was the poor play of Francis and Mike James, who no one could expect. But that was a reality, and Adelman took too long to adjust, like by keeping Brooks on the bench for so long when they really needed someone like him, and who had proven he has what it takes (in college, in the D-League). He kind of had that JVG mentality that rookies can't be trusted, and they have to earn their stripes by riding the bench for a year or two. That's too old school, and thankfully Brooks is showing him that he'd be crazy to hold him out of the line-up.

Adelman's not playing Scola as much was a little frustrating, too, and I still think he should play him more in place of Chuck Hayes. And I think he got a bit lucky when McGrady got injured, which gave Adelman an easy "out" to get players in there who would play according to his system, and Alston started attacking the basket and making shots (rather than shoot as many 3's, which I think he does too often still). Adelman should have told Alston "don't shoot as many three's," but instead he let him do what he wanted. Now the Rockets are playing much better because of all the aforementioned reasons, not because some so-called experts saying that the "system is working" and that people who didn't believe in Adelman were being too impatient. However, I agree with the approach of not changing things around too significantly too fast. For example, I think Alston should continue to play, that Battier shouldn't lose too much playing time, and that Hayes still is valuable. I never like to rip any starter out of the line-up completely just because they're struggling. Reduce minutes, yes. But completely rip out, no. I think playing 9 or 10 players is a good thing to do to keep everyone fresh, and prepared for the playoffs when you have more options for matching up against your opponents. -- John

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

JT in MD — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 10:17:48 -0000

Another great game! I'll be at the wizards game and will post whatever I can that you can't see watching it on tv...

Re: Yao and Brooks break Knicks

James Ma — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 05:01:12 -0000

John,

I didn't see the game and only listened to it online. What happened with Scola? He was rolling offensively at one point, then suddenly was yanked from the game and didn't appear again. I noticed that he got pulled out after a good run by the Knicks. Was it Scola's poor defense that kept him from the floor?

Thanks,

James

I think when it was time for him to come in, Brooks was already in the game doing lots of damage to the Knicks defense, so I don't think Adelman wanted to mess with the chemistry he had on the floor at the time. What he had seemed to be working very well. -- John