T-Mac was the best player on the team. He was supposed to shoot 24 times a game in the playoffs. Yao emerged and became more featured as Mac's body broke down in the following seasons.
Mac being the scorer he was while guarding and hindering Dirk is why the series went 7. Penny deferring to Yao doesn't get them past Dallas. Yao averaged 21 PPG anyway. Penny averaging 22 to feed Yao to 27 PPG doesn't change the series. The Mavs players 3-6th men outperformed the Rockets.
They don't get past the Mavs. I don't see Penny doing what Tracy did push the series where it went.
Penny would've averaged what he needed to...We've seen Penny explode for back-to-back 40-point playoff games as the #1 option versus a very good defensive Miami Heat team.....We saw a past-his-prime Penny match Kobe's output during the 2000 playoffs series versus the Lakers....Yeah, LA beat Phoenix in 5 games, but Penny held his own.