Last week, Yao Ming found out that his season with Houston was over due to a stress fracture in his left foot. The very same left foot that has cost him months of being in the lineup for the past three seasons. Although the Rockets have been on an amazing win streak as of late, they are and have been a highly inconsistent team when Yao is on the floor. Now that Yao is gone, despite the win streak, and the Western Conference being the most competitive that its been in at least a decade, I HATE their chances come playoff time. Remember, Tracy McGrady has yet to get the Rockets out of the first round of the playoffs, or any other team for that matter.
While Yao is a likable guy, a hero to his country, and one of the better centers in the league because of a current lack of skilled big men, I never thought Houston would get exactly what they thought they would out of the player they drafted first overall on Draft Day ‘02. He was obviously drafted because he was 7'6 and could potentially dominate every other Shaq-less team in the NBA at the time. Also, Houston was probably hoping to catch another Hakeem Olajuwon and ride him to at least two titles, like they had just seven years before. Since Michael Jordan retired from the Chicago Bulls (the second time) at least 20 teams in the NBA have been one dominant center away from taking the title year after year. The thing is, is that like most players over 7 feet, think Sean Bradley, because of “freakish” dimensions of your body, its not made to run up and down a court every day and take a beating from other strong players, and this results in constant injury. It is just physically impossible, its simple physics. Add this to the fact that as a condition of Yao being allowed to play in the NBA that he must play for his Chinese National Team during world competition. So on top of being forced to withstand a whole NBA season, which is difficult for a lot of players under seven feet, he also spends his summers taking a beating around the world during international play. Yao is 27 years old right now, by the time next season rolls around he will be 28 on opening night. I give him two more years in the league, three max, by the time he hits his 30's, his body will not withstand the NBA anymore.
Yes the Rockets have gone undefeated through the month of February, but lets remember that they were 13-15 in December. And most of the wins come against terrible to average teams, Miami, Memphis, and Indiana shouldn’t even be counted in win streaks. This team can be explosive but like I mentioned earlier they are and will continue to be inconsistent. This team’s largest problem is that its filled with guards who do the same thing. McGrady, Francis, Alston, Jackson, and Head. All of them can score, and all but Jackson aren’t exactly enthusiastic on the defensive side of the ball. And then their banking on Mt. Mutombo to anchor the team in the middle, maybe back during his younger days in Philadelphia when he was in his early 50's he could have helped, but the Rockets will not be able to trade points with teams like the Lakers and the Suns in April. I get so tired of hearing about how great McGrady is, and likely due to his team’s recent streak, he may get a vote or two for MVP, but he isn’t one of the five best guards in the league. McGrady has never played defense or even looked interested when guarding a Kobe Bryant or Steve Nash late in a game. All the greats play just as well on the defensive side of the ball as they do on the offensive, today’s examples are Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson. Yesterday’s examples are Gary Payton and Michael Jordan. McGrady is considered the leader of this team and if he isn’t going to play defense, how can anyone expect for him to set the tone and avenge last year’s game seven loss to the Utah Jazz? I’m not willing to believe Houston’s recent luck is anything more than a product of their well-known inconsistency where they occasionally look as if they have finally turned the corner. The rest of the world should figure this out in another few weeks during March, where I expect teams like the Hornets, Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs to once again expose them for what they are, a team that cannot put it together when it counts.
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