When Yao was with us, our PGs weren't good at passing in to Yao. Battier might have been the best passer we had at dumping the ball in low. Draymond could front Yao all he wanted, but with two elite PGs on the team, that pass over the fronting defender to a center who's just shy of a foot taller would be his downfall. If that doesn't work, bring Yao out to 18-20 feet and let him pop over whoever the put on him. I honestly can't believe some of you think Draymond Freakin' Green could keep Yao in check for long without having to resort to a kick in the 'nads. The big problems I see with Yao's game in the modern NBA is that he wasn't quick enough for guard anyone on the perimeter in a switching defense, and he was too lumbering to be effective in the P&R.
Lol, yao wasnt even that great back then, he would get destroy now. GSW would pick him apart doing pick and roll. Think back on what curry did to Anderson on the outside, now imagine that with Yao Ming.
Actually he was that great. Coaches just didn't use him properly and unfortunately he played with two ball hogs who didn't pass him the ball as much as they should have. Trying to compare Yao with Anderson is crazy and nuts averaging 25ppg in a season is pretty good
GS isn't the standard to actually to be able to play in today's nba. people have been exaggerating this tremendously ever since the series ended. GS makes a ton of players in this league ineffective in the postseason just based off them being a historic team and the lineups they are able to put out. But there's only one GS. That in no way means players aren't effective against the other 29 teams in the league. this logic of if you can't play against GS in the playoffs then you basically suck is just false reasoning. They are the team to beat if you're trying to win a championship yes but they're not the definition of whether or not you're good enough to be a player in this league.
Yes this esp with the switching defense we employ. He would get a lot of illegal defense calls. His usefulness is in controlling the paint and stopping drives to the basket.
Super max, considering he is a dominant two-way player who can shoot over Draymond green and shoot the 3?! Try getting around Yao in the pick and roll. He would be killer in the playoffs when the game slows way down. He is a great passer too. I really hope Zhou qi busts out this summer.
Those stats are wrong. The offensive/defensive efficiency numbers are also totally off. Note the sudden dip in pace stats after that season. It’s a glitch in their calculation. Trust basketball-reference.com. It’s Morey-approved (his answer to what is the best stats site publicly available).
I think he would be effective... for certain teams. I don’t see the similarity to Jokic. At all. Yao was not asked to spot up because he simply couldn’t. If you crowd a shooter that can’t put the ball on the floor they’re going to find it hard to get a good luck no matter how tall they are. Having a slow release doesn’t help his cause. He was not placed at the high post not because of Mcgrady but because he wasn’t effective from there. He played the post because he was like you said most effective there. Until he got fronted. The reason why Jokic is so good from the high post is because he has incredible vision and ability to find the open guy and ability to deliver the pass for an easy bucket usually in an instant. Jokic also has the other factors which you don’t think he possesses. He has the ability to put the ball on the floor and he does it quite often. Also he’s a way better shooter than Yao from range. The big reason though is the passing and vision isn’t now just ‘better’ than Yao’s. It’s night and day. Jokic is already in the conversation and widely considered THE BEST passing big man of all time by many. The only thing that’s not there is the longevity but it’s only a matter of time. His ability to find the quick assist without having to dribble is truly a special gift. Also, his release is plenty quick..... especially if you compare it to Yao’s. Speaking of quickness and mobility. Jokic doesn’t look quick but he’s very fluid and mobile. Yao on the other hand doesn’t look quick because he’s simply not quick. To put it bluntly he was slow AF. That shouldn’t be too surprising though since one is 6’10 and the other 7’6. Just cause Yao can pass a little compared to the average Center and has a soft touch around the hoop doesn’t translate to Jokic.
Its wrong. Do teams average more points today or in 2008? The league average in 2008 was a 100points. Its 106 today. Do you think pace could have been higher 10 years ago?
I saw this very tall asian guy, probably chinese, and his wife at the dps office yesterday. I figured he was the chinese player on the rockets. The fact that they were accompanied by a rockets security guy pretty much confirmed that. He gets so little playing time until I don't know his name. I think his first name starts with a Q. His wife took a driver exam.
He didn't have good enough passers getting him the ball. Imagine boozer, or draymond trying to front yao against pinpoint entry passes from chris paul or even harden.
yeah because McGrady couldn't pass as good as Harden lol. Chuck Hayes/Landry didn't have problems with his passes
Yao would be on the bench in a suit next to CP3. We spent years around here saying “when healthy, he’s on of the best players in the league”. Every time he was discussed, it had to be prefaced with “when healthy”. One thing I learned during the Tmac and Yao era was that it doesn’t matter how good you are if you are always hurt when it matters most. I have my concerns about CP3 too. Not only did we need him to score, we needed him for ratings. I don’t think the NBA was going to rig it against us until he went down.
Yao would be very effective but teams will try to go small to take advantage of him. That's why it was always important to get him involved in the offense early so that the opposing team would have to match up with us. Back when Yao was playing, if he even moved an inch on a screen, they'd call the foul, but if they called screens like they do today? It's good night for the opposing team. HIgh screen and roll and if they switch, Yao just backs down the middle. Almost no need for him to be super athletic to catch the lobs from Harden or Paul. It'd be one step baby hook or one step, fake, sidestep slam. TLDR: Get Yao involved early and teams will have to match up a big guy onto Yao instead of going small. Other than Davis, and maybe Cousins, Yao eats all other centers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Today's screening calls is advantage for Yao
