Top > Sport > 2005 > December > 2005-12-02

Yao?s Supporting Cast Doesn?t Deliver

Yao is being bashed a lot lately, unjustifiably so I might add. Every body is expecting him to do more in Tracy?s absence, while the fact of the matter is that he is not the reason why Houston has been doing so poorly this season. The Rockets hardly get anything from their bench. Yao supporting cast is simply not delivering this season. Guys like Jon Barry and Derek Anderson have been completely unable to hit open jumpers.

When people are not hitting open shots that allows their defenders to clam down on Yao. If Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, and Mario Elie had all stopped hitting their shots at the same time the Olajuwon-era Rockets would never have been the dominant playoff team that they were. The Rockets acquisitions haven?t panned out so far this season. Rafer Alston was supposed to be the ?true? point guard that the Rockets have been missing. His quickness and fast-break were supposed to make the Rockets a lethal, quick-hitting, end-to-end type of team. He?s averaging less than a steal per game (basically half his average from last season), 7.1 points (exactly half of last season?s average), and 4.1 assists (2.3 fewer than last season).

Let?s not forget the second addition Stromile Swift. So far, Stro has been a no show. While we have seen flashes of what Stro might become (17 points in Boston, 11 points and 12 rebounds against the Suns, 12 and 7 against the Bulls), we have not seen any consistency. He is as likely to get into foul trouble as anything else, and that won?t cut it. The team line is that Stro is young and will grow into a bigger role. We can certainly hope that he will grow into a bigger role, but the word ?young? seems laughable in today?s terms. At 26 years old (and now a five-year NBA veteran) Stro is hardly wet behind the ears. There?s certainly some room for blame here.