Without Yao, Rockets have no title shot
Houston will have to use smaller, quicker lineup, but that’s not as potent
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Other than wait 'til next year, there's not much the Rockets can do with Yao Ming out for the year.
Center is the most difficult position in the league to replace and Yao is not just any center. He's arguably the best in the league playing the best of his career.
Dikembe Mutombo, 41 going on 65, certainly isn't the answer. He's scored seven points and pulled down all of 33 rebounds in the 14 games he's taken the court for the Rockets this season.
Not that any 7-6 All-Stars were on the market but trying to find a replacement via trade is out because the diagnosis came four days after the trade deadline. Perhaps the Rockets could have made a run at a former starter such as Primo Brezec if they had known this a week ago.
Don't look for much more than a body on the waiver wire or in the D-League, either. Jelani McCoy is about as good as it gets.
The Rockets' best — more like only — chance to keep their hold on a playoff spot is to go small. That likely means moving 6-9 Luis Scola from power forward to center, and inserting 6-6 Chuck Hayes back into the starting lineup or maybe giving 6-7 Carl Landry a chance to start. Seldom-used Steve Novak, 6-10, is the only player on the roster besides Yao and Dikembe who is taller than 6-9. Because they started the league's tallest center, the Rockets were able to get away with an undersized power forward. But with Yao out, they'll be even smaller at a time when the West has gone bigger.
About the only positive spin to put on the season-ending blow is that Rick Adelman's movement offense does not revolve around the low post. Of course, no matter what system the Rockets run, replacing 22.0 points is going to be near-impossible.
Well, until next year when Yao comes back, anyway.
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