But when Tracy McGrady couldn’t make his own shots...
Jeff Van Gundy couldn’t possibly go out there and perform the shots himself, could he?
After coming to Houston, the biggest change for McGrady was that as his weight increased year by year, his once-prided speed in starting had beco increasingly sluggish.
Historically, due to back injuries, McGrady’s true shooting percentage was only 49.4% in the 05/06 season.
Injuries indeed affected McGrady’s performance.
But more importantly, under Van Gundy’s tactical system... those ineffective long-range two-pointers that McGrady took were like a grand spear without a tip.
Many tis, even when he had cleared the space to shoot, McGrady would decisively give up the three-pointer to step forward and gamble on his long two-pointer percentage, which was around forty percent.
The decrease in penetration frequency and too many inefficient shots...
In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that Yao Ming’s height and weight ant he and Shaq couldn’t exhaust over twenty-five shot attempts like the guards...
Van Gundy genuinely wanted Yao Ming to execute more offensive tasks on the court from the bottom of his heart.
After all, throughout his entire career, Yao Ming had almost a sixty percent true shooting percentage.
As a center primarily responsible for undertaking offensive tasks on the court, this set of data is already quite impressive.
Just like tonight...
Even though Brown and Qin Yue didn’t give Yao Ming any easy shooting opportunities, by the end of the third quarter, Yao Ming still scored 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks with over 50% shooting percentage for the Rockets.
What is Yao Ming’s most insolvable point in the low post?
Is it his physique?
Or is it his soft touch?
No, neither.
It’s his terrifying free throws.
From the 05/06 season to the 08/09 season, Yao Ming’s free-throw percentage had been over 85% for four consecutive seasons.
This ans that once he falls into a deep position in the low post, you simply cannot stop him from scoring by fouling.
Moreover, this sumr, the advice Grover gave Yao Ming quietly changed Yao Ming’s career trajectory.
That is... although Yao Ming did not showcase the three-point shots he tried during the preseason in the regular season, he did increase his mid-range shot frequency.
This ans that in the process of posting up, you also have to guard against him suddenly pulling up near the free-throw line to punish your defense with a mid-range shot.
Before the final quarter, Brown complained to Qin Yue, "If Shaq had Yao Ming’s free throws, I can’t imagine how terrifying he would be."
Hearing this, Qin Yue speculated, "It’s very likely... Shaq wouldn’t need Kobe to win a championship."
In the final quarter, because the Rockets habitually fell apart at critical monts, the Warriors didn’t spend much effort to secure the victory in this Chinese Derby.
Why do the Rockets always fall apart in the fourth quarter?
It actually cos down to the sa issue.
If the Rockets were truly Tracy McGrady’s team, then this situation shouldn’t happen.
Because Yao Ming can’t bear the burden of offensive tasks for all four quarters of the ga.
In summary...
Since the Rockets have never been "T-Mac’s" team...
So as Yao Ming’s stamina declines, the Rockets, unable to overco the opponent’s defense at critical monts, thus rely so heavily on Yao’s endurance.
Tonight, the substitutes Murphy and Qin Yue thoroughly drained Yao Ming while on the offense.
For instance, during the first half of the third quarter...
Just after Yao Ming completed the offensive task for the Rockets, he was imdiately pulled away from the paint by Qin Yue and Murphy working together.
Watching Qin Yue dance gracefully on the periter then, one jokingly said, Yao Ming in that mont might have hated not stepping on Qin Yue a few more tis before the ga.
Then, dribbling past Yao Ming...
Taking three big steps under the basket of the Houston Rockets, Qin Yue barely encountered any interference and broke down the Rockets’ vaunted iron-clad defense.
"The ssiah tonight has personally shattered the Rockets’ beautiful fantasy of the playoffs. I can confirm right now that once they et in the playoffs, the Rockets will be swept out by the Warriors," Barkley said confidently during TNT TV Station’s comntary on the ga.
While on CCTV, the relatively tactful Coach Zhang comnted, "Hey, now, despite the Rockets having a better record than the Warriors... if they don’t solve the issue of their power forward (secondary center), the Rockets will definitely have a hard ti advancing far.
Because the West does not only have Qin Yue... but also Duncan and Nowitzki."
Beside him, Sun Zhengping added, "The Jazz, who have also faced the Rockets, are a team that poses a headache, too, with Okur and Boozer, both being inside players who can pull out to shoot."
The problems of the Rockets are already known to the world.
And through this evening’s Chinese Derby, Qin Yue undoubtedly poured another layer of fertilizer on the budding seed within Yao Ming’s heart.
Next, a question concerning Yao Ming’s fate will be brought forth thoroughly.
That is whether the stingy owner Alexander of the Houston Rockets...
Will help Yao Ming resolve his issue of lacking protection on the court?
And if not...
Then by that ti, the seed in Yao Ming’s heart is destined to lead him to make a decision completely different from the one in Qin Yue’s mory.
Finally, at Oracle Arena, the Houston Rockets lost 91 to 110.
Yao Ming scored a total of 27 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.
The sleeping "T-Mac" beca Qin Yue’s good friend.
Because throughout the ga, hitting 5 out of 19 shots, including free throws, scoring 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists for the Rockets, he successfully helped Qin Yue score his first career "30 20".
With the Rockets’ lousy power forward position and McGrady’s joint assistance, Qin Yue put up dominating stats of 35 points, 24 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals that night.
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