I've seen many times plays drawn for Yao to post up was scratched because the opposing centers literally push him all the way outside. The play spoils and Yao would then have to set a pick for one of the guards to run as a secondary play. Here is my suggestion for JVG to get yao in great position everytime down low. I've mentioned this many times before: <b>Instead of Yao having to battle for position by himself, why not send somebody like JJ or even Cato to set easy screens around the paint for him to get good position? </b>This way, Yao will not be tired fighting for positioning against big lengthy centers like Dampier, Z, and Jake Tsakalidas that he has problems with. I've seen Phil do that for Shaq quite often. I guarantee you this will alleviate problems passing into the post. At least try it, please JVG!
While I agree that it would be great to have more movement off of the ball for all of our players, a play such as you described requires excellent timing and execution - not the current team's forte. Yao also needs to work on his finishing when he gets the ball on the roll from a pick and roll. The ironic thing is that while the Lakers have the timing and execution to succeed at those plays, even if the timing is a little off and the defender arrives in time to front Shaq, Shaq can jump up and grab a lob pass that most defenders can't reach. Unfortunately, Yao isn't good at getting these types of passes, which limits some of our options.
IMHO, the Rockets don't need to add any new plays to get Yao the ball in good position. They need to hit their 3's and some mid-range J's to keep the defense from sagging. But most importantly, they need to pass the ball quickly back to the weakside (as opposed to dribbling it to the weakside). If you watch closely, you will see Yao get through the paint and get decent position on the weakside block but the ball hasn't arrived yet.
Oh! ! Everybody have weakness, depend on long strong point its, and others do not have,whether it is very difficult for his weakness to remedy. It is not difficult to look for a coolie's sportsman , should want to see that any scorer is not a difficult matter, but should look for a person who can change the match , do you have a try? ? I am not a star fan, is not clustered round, do I only know where is the biggest problem of the rocket now? ? Where is the most unreasonable one? ? It is to really want to solve the attitude of the problem to burn! ! Yao Ming has a weakness naturally , but this is not main now, the main one is in wages space and other players outfit ! !
Not exactly. They were 2-13 last night vs the Grizz who were 10-19. Last loss vs GSW - 4-14. Last loss vs LAL - 10-29. Last loss vs SEA - 6-26. Jan 28 loss to SAC - 9-23. Jan 26 loss to MIA - 5-19. Jan 19 loss to MEM 7-20. The man who handles the ball the most shoots 28.5% from the arc. If you take out Jim Jackson, they shoot 35.1% If you remove JJ, Padgett and Wilks, the Rockets shoot 34.1% from the arc which puts them right in the middle of the pack. I don't have time to do the research, but I have a strong suspicion the Rockets 3PT% is driven by up by wins vs the EC or non-playoff teams. I have a hunch that the %age is middle of the road or low vs WC playoff teams.
Gater: I don't think that's a very strong argument. The fact is JJ, Padgett and Wilks are part of the team, making us one of the better three point shooting teams in the league. But I do agree, having more than 2 3pt shooters (JJ + Cat) out there at the same time would help stop the sagging.
maybe if yao made sure he had really bad breath right before the game, the opposing center would be less inclined to push so hard.
But why would you remove JJ? Do we play without him often? That's like jusdging the Lakers without Malone. I see your point, that he's shooting a blistering 40%, but in the end, whether it's normal or not, he IS that shooting that high. I think we're a good 3-pt shooting team, but not fantastic. Francis normally shoots around 38%, so he's bound to hit an unreal number of 3's at some point during the remainder of the season because he sits at around 10% below his career average right now. Hopefully, this sudden thrust will come sometime in the playoffs when he'll find it dfficult to miss and we will ride that to a second round playoff series.
I agree with the original post about setting more screens down low to free up Yao inside (a la Malone with the Utah Jazz ... As much as we hate them for their cheap-shot tactics, their offense was truly something special). You obviously have to have quality players to move, make quick decisions, quick passes, quality passes, and set strong screens. I'm not so convinced our current personnel has the abilties to satisfy our needs for a Jazz-like offense. It would definitely save Yao from having to battle so hard. Defenders couldn't just lean and push on him while he's working and waiting for an entry pass. Maybe it would even offer him the longetivity and injury-free career like Malone. It would take our team to the next level. As for the 3 Pt stat questions ... Does anyone have Cat's breakdown of 3 Pt performances (East Vs. West, Teams +/- .500)? I can't help but feel he's just too streaky. He never seems automatic unless he's hot. Even if he's wide open on crisp passes as the final option on the swing, he's hit-or-miss ... Unless he's hot. If you're wide open after Yao kicks it out and the swing passes ensue, it's imperative that you hit that wide open shot ... like it's automatic ... like it's a lay-up. We're not talking YMCA here, you know? These guys get paid millions. Perfect your craft, man. You don't have to make every one, let's be reasonable. But wide open? Give me Steve Kerr-like accuracy. Make it know league-wide they're gonna pay everytime they choose to double down low ... not just sometimes ... not even just most of the time. Make it "feel" like everytime. ... Make some noise, Rockets.
I also notice that Yao does get pretty decent position from the weakside, and that making our outside shots would definitely prevent them from sagging towards Yao. We also definitely need crisp passing to swing the ball around on the weak side quicker when he got good positioning. BUT posting up on the strong side is a different story. I swear ever since Dampier roughed him up in GS, I don't remember Yao getting good position much on the strong side anymore. So many times the typical Yao posting up on the strong side play was called off because Yao couldn't get good position by himself due to the pushing. With regards to learning Utah Jazz type plays where the smaller guys screen off the big guys, it doesn't look that complicated to execute (what am I thinking, we are talking about our beloved r****ded rockets here).
The original post is CONSTRUCTIVE. I can't agree more. It's also a good idea to pass the ball quickly to the weakside. But are the nearsighted Rockets guards capable of doing it?
Setting screen down low for Yao is a bad idea. Lots of time, the opponents double team him before he gets the ball, especially if Cato is playing. Cato's man doubles Yao but he still needs to keep an eye out for Cato. He would be tickled pink if Cato would volunteer to come down low and bunch up with Yao.
Yao can get low post on the move likes he does now. It works pretty well. If he wants to get low post from a stationary position, he needs to do 2 things : 1) Don't turn his back to the basket too early, the moment he does, the opponent will lean and push on him or go around him to front. Yao needs to walk to the low post facing the opponent, try to get as low as he can with his arms above his head. If the opp pushes on him, he will be called for a foul. 2) Watch and wait until the passer gets in position and then turn and post.
That would be a bad idea if it was Cato. However if it were JJ or Cat it would be a great idea because neither Cat nor JJ's man can't hold Yao if they were forced to switch off.
These are two fantastic suggestions on ways for Yao to get the ball in good position down low. This is definitely alot easier to incorporate in the short term than my idea. If we can get him the ball as soon as he establishes position before being pushed out, that would be great. Slow entry passes are definitely part of the problem also. So your reason as to why this is a bad idea is because they double team Yao before he gets the ball 'lots of times'? How often does this really happen? Obviously when they double, there is no use on setting picks. The best way to attack that is to zip the passes around to the open guy. I am talking about when they initally play straight up against Yao (this happens a lot more than you think). Cato might not be the guy who should set screens because he might be too slow and he doesn't have any range in his shot. I was thinking somebody like JJ or maybe Mo. If he sets a pick and immediately go to an open spot (like the weak side baseline or right inside the foul line). The entry passer will now have multiple options depending on the defense's reaction: 1. If both guys flashed at Yao down low, then pass it to the picker for an open shot. 2. if there's a switch and missmatch down low, zip or lob to yao. 3. If the defense sag in any way trying to help out, pass it around to the open three point shooters (or the entry passer can hit the 3 himself if they sag that much) 4. the entry passer can penetrate when the defense is having too much attention to the pick. Ideally, that would sound great, but I wonder how difficult it will be to incorporate such a play. Theoretically, it will put the defense on it's toes throughout (In my nOObie coaching mind it will anyway ).
I've watched all of the Rockets' game except 1. I would guess opps play behind Yao 1/3 of the time, front him 1/3 and double him 1/3 of the time. These suggestions are good, but like you said, it's complicated. It can be done but it needs a lot of people's involvement and timing ... We are doing some of the things you say except for the screen. We did some screens last year when Rudy was here. Yao started from the weak side. A teammate would set a screen so Yao can cross the paint and get low post on the strong side. What usually happened was Yao being too slow and the play was too obvious, Yao's defender always got to the spot before him.
Oh yeah, I remember for the first time this year in the last game against Minnesota, JVG set a double screen for Yao down low away from the ball. Yao had pretty decent position but miss the shot from what I recall from my bad memory. Yao was near the FT line and flashed to the strong side. There was a double pick on his man, and he got good position as a result. He didn't have to sweat like usual for his good position. Coincidence? I think NOT!
