they aren't doubling him b/c they know yao cannot overpower okur. okur is 7ft but he's strong. yao is not that strong outside of his lumbar legs. his upperbody is like tmac's chicken legs. and if yao is doing what he's been doing => fadeaways from 12ft, they WANT him to take those shots.
How the hell is he mentally weak? To admit that he's disappointed in his performance is a sign of mental fragility? Should he pound his chest like Kenyon Martin? Would that make him more of a "man"? He's getting something like 25/11 this series. Without him, it would be over already. I would say that he's played ok/mediocre for a player of his stature. TMac has been playing horribly.
so how can the other posters say tmac is mentally weak and has no heart also? like tmac, yao has not been going into the paint like he should. tmac is not driving. maybe tmac is playing "mediocre" also. if a guy criticizes tmac's game, fine. they have every right to do that w/ his horrible performance. but please, like u said, don't bring up heart b/c he's not "screaming" or doing all those stuff that makes you thing it's his heart.
Yes, we were all dispapointed at the scores. Don't blame it on oneself. In that game, we were phyiscally outplayed by the oppenent. It was tough to watch. But as many games go, we win some and lose some. So in the next game, just be positive and it will turn around. In the end, I still believe we are a better team. Go Rockets. Finish the JAzz in 6.
I agree with you. He shouldn't be playing that way at all. But I also think that he's in the wrong system to begin with. I think JVG has done the best he can, and needs someone else to mentor the development of Yao. I can't believe for 4 freakin years, we have yet to develop an efficient way to feed him. It's really simple, he needs to post and then repost for deeper position and not accept anything more than 7-8 ft away from the basket. Its always wait till Yao gets open like 18 ft from basket, then past him the ball, and hope that he can dribble his way in. Its just ridiculous how bad we are in utilizing the team's strength in offense.
All you need to do is watch how they play. If they scramble, dive, and throw themselves around, and to do whatever it takes to win, then you know they have heart/will. T-mac and Yao simply have yet to show me that they have that. They say, when the going gets tough, it shows the true colors of people. In essence, if we have trouble scoring, then you take it the basket to try and create something. It really is as simple as that. There's nothing difficult about it. Playing passively is also sign of a lack of heart to me. If you really want it that bad, then you sacrifice yourself for the cause, and I just don't see T-mac doing that at all. For every turnover he's made, I have hardly seen him run back to attempt to stop the ball, like Pietrus did today in the Mavs game tonight.
yao has a weak upperbody? bullsh!t. he can physically overpower anybody he wants to including okur. yao isn't limited by anything but his own mentality. the half year last year and the games before his injury this year, he was a man on a mission. an absolute unstoppable force that we couldn't make comments like "he's not mobile enough, or he's not strong enough." right now we don't have that yao. i don't know if he's still physically hampered or if he's scared of getting hurt but the "you can't f#$king stop me" yao would have us in the second round already and the nba fearing the crap out of us. i'd love for that guy to show up monday night.
uh that's not the system. JVG is at his best w/ a big guy. u see the only time yao gets good position is when it's not him who does the work. it's when tmac uses the pick and roll and forces okur out so yao can roll to the basket and then he gets good position. but when it's yao only to get good position, he can't v. okur. u can't run the pick and roll to death b/c tmac is always forced to pass b/c they're blitzing him harder than any team b/c it's the playoffs
most superstars, and i could say ALL, don't do the "dirty" work. u do know that right? even MJ himself didn't do that.
u must be kidding me. look at his upper body and now compare them to his MASSIVE lower body. u don't see a HUGE difference?
exactly. usually, u don't want to show any signs of frustration publicly or looks pissed or angry. if anything, u should be mad at what yao's doing b/c that shows utah has them kinda rattled. we ALL know tmac must be heated b/c he'll be blasted even moreso if he loses this series. but he keeps calm. JVG seems calm. u gotta show utah did their thing, but we're not frustrated or rattled ourselves.
And to go along with that 25/11, he's getting 4+ turnovers and 1 assist. Throw in a 43% shooting (abysmal for a guy that plays so close to the bakset) and that sounds like a little less than mediocre. Throw in Tracy "can't buy a basket so I'll act dejected" McGrady and it is no wonder we got killed in Utah.
Yao's upper body is very, very strong. Don't be fooled by the fact that he has the largest calves in the league. There was an article posted on this board a couple months back which described how the Rockets had to order newer, heavier weights, because Yao was already outgrowing all of the Rocket's weights.
There are many ways to flash from side to side, move the ball sharper and quicker, or even set screens for him down low, to find openings that would let Yao get closer to the basket. The PNR, and our telegraphed method of getting him the ball are not the only two ways. We also have horrendous post entry pasts for having a dominant low post player. As for the dirty work, why don't you say that to Baron davis... he was there for every single tip, loose ball, drive to hoop, defending, drawing charges, you name it. He sacrificed his body to win and willed them to a victory. D-wade and AI does it on the offensive end. Why don't you explain to me T-mac's notorious 5 second stroll up the court, compared with Davis's buzzer beater at half court? All those points matter, and GS was rewarded for his efforts. Jason Richardson did the same tonight as well.
