In football, the taller wide receiver has an advantage over the smaller, quicker cornerback if the quarterback throws a pass that the defender cannot get to due to the height of the pass. No quarterback should be throwing the football low to Randy Moss when he is being covered by Aaron Glenn. Why is that the Rockets post entry passers throw to the Yao's stomach or to the side of Yao when the least risky pass is a soft pass to some raised arms? To interrupt Yao from getting the pass that high would be definitely a foul aka pass interference call. Incorporate football principles into basketball for greater success.
Have seen plenty of high passes delivered to Yao that went right through his fingers. Yao needs to learn to just go get the ball, and keep his man sealed off. If Yao's career is going to depend on perfection from the entry passer, well .............................
Yao doesn't jump all that well, particularly in the 2nd half. That makes the "throw it up" very difficult, especially when the weak side help is sagging in. That means the entry pass has to be pretty much perfect for that to work, if you want to go over the top. Throwing it up top when Yao's being played from behind might work, but it also makes it very difficult for Yao to get a quick start to beat the double.
Blame is on both sides here fellas, when MJ gets frustrated passing the ball into Yao then there is a problem there as well as with the gaurds.
If Yao just puts his hands high up for a soft pass, Najera isn't going to jump up that high to be able to intercept the pass. Yao can't jump, but he is still tall enough to grab passes thrown high as long as they aren't bullets. I've seen Shaq get passes thrown high, but it is a very soft pass. I've seen Rick Fox pass to Shaq in this fashion many times. I remember Robert Horry throwing soft high passes to Hakeem plenty of times. I see no point in throwing the ball to Yao's midsection when a quick defender can get around Yao to steal/intercept the pass. Of course, this is only when Yao is not fronted. Najera wasn't fronting all the time, but he anticipated the pass and went for it upon the release of the ball from the passer's hands.
I'm not blaming anyone. I just know that if Aaron Glenn is guarding Terrell Owens, I'd much rather have the quarterback throw the ball up high to allow for the height discrepancy to be in the Terrell Owen's favor. The Rockets almost gave this ball away because the offense runs so much more smooth through Yao. When Yao doesn't get the ball, the offense is much more raggedy.
I just don't think this is a situation when you can attack the guards when Yao was having his own issues with smaller quicker defenders like Najera.
Yao needs to put his elbows out, create a box, and it stops players from coming around him. Put his legs and elbows out and he will be a better target. DD
I hope they let Jimmy Jackson front and come around Yao during practice and have the guards try to pass it in. Let them get used to it.
you keep making this football basketball analogy but it's just not the same! people are just standing around in football. year sure you lob it in with your goalline offense, but the nba court is so small in comparison to the endzone. here it's like you have a tall receiver by he's standing there with no separation and in double or triple coverage. do you throw it? no.
Thank you, coach DaDakota! And that is exactly what he needs to do. It is easy to spot someone who has played the game. Carry on.
The assumption is Yao is being single-teamed. Najera was basically the sole defender on Yao. It was the inability for Yao and the passer to adapt to the situation that almost lost the game for the Rockets. How can anyone think that throwing a pass down low to Yao is wise when Najera is slithering quickly all around Yao's torso? If Yao can't handle a high pass, then he better practice catching it because this game today just showed the entire NBA how to play defense against Yao.
The problem is twofold: 1) Yao is just too slow when it comes to creating a target where the guards can pass into and 2) the guards don't seem to know where he is comfortable catching it. That last lob play that led to Yao's game-winning 3-pt play was probably the best post-entry pass I saw all game, and that was almost sheer luck (it looked like it got tipped before it reached Yao).
Here's the problem with your foot ball analogy Charvo, most of the "big" guys you are talking about are also atheletic guys that can jump high for the ball. When throwing the ball high, whether if football or basket ball, the key is getting the ball at it's highest point at the quickest speed. That's why there are fast corners with hops that've done well in the league (Darrell Green). While it's advantageous to have size in football as a WR, speed and hop is just as important. That's why people feels that Keyshawn, despite terrific size isn't neccessarily good enough to a tier 1 receiver because his lack of solid atheleticism. I like Yao better when he (and he's doing a pretty good job now) seals of player, (i.e. Keyshawn running a slant and using his body to shield the corner from the ball), and put him self in position for to receive the ball. The only problem is that it doesn't help as much when there are 2 defenders, which is pertinent that our guards and sf need to shoot better.
To me it isn't hard to throw the pass to Yao at all even if against quick defender. It's all about being patient, the Rox either ignore him too quickly or is too late when he's opened or Yao move out too quick and ignore them. And i have yet to see Rox do some fake passes before the real pass. IT's always too predictable.
One of the things I noticed in this game in particular is that when Yao was trying to maintain position, he would lean on Najera. When Najera would make his move to go around Yao and get a hand on the ball, Yao was caught completely off-balance; when he has to lean to maintain position, he can't go up and grab high passes - forget about jumping to get a pass. He's going to have to work on getting position and maintaining balance when pressured as well as sealing off his man, but he has been doing a better job overall in these areas this season.