skyhookii

I don't think losing Yao Ming and T-Mac were that big of a deal. First of all, T-Mac has been playing real bad in recent seasons and he has missed so many games that the Rockets are probably used to playing well without him. Second, Yao Ming slows the team down. With a speedy point guard in Aaron Brooks and a small team overall (no Deke and Scola is tallest at 6-9 after Yao), they should really be playing small ball, but because of Yao, they can't since he slows the team down. Plus, it's no secret that the Lakers have had their troubles with quick point guards e.g. Devin Harris, CP3 and Jameer Nelson.

skyhookii

Yao isn't really that dominant. He's got the size and can shoot over other centers, but he's really too slow and often weak in comparison to opposing centers.