Everyone always talks about Yao being a "smart" basketball player. Well, I have some "questions" about that assessment. 1) Why does he ALWAYS wait for the double team to arrive after he gets the entry pass? Don't say he's always waiting for the cutter to try to make a pass, because that's just a sad excuse. You'd think he would change it up a little. 2) Why does Yao bring the ball down to let other guards steal the ball away? 3) Why does Yao not know where to find the open man when he's double teamed? He acts like he's never seen a double team before when i'll be wiling to bet that he's been double teamed since he was in China...you know, being the tallest player in the country and all... 4) Why does Yao fade away from the basketball with his shots? This may not be a matter of smarts, but it seems to me that you would want to move toward the basket rather than away if you're not gonna jump straight up (ideal).
Oh, you're going to get roasted for this one but most of this board will say it's because of dumb gaurd play not Yao's basketball IQ.
oooh, couldn't come up with any rebuttals? That's what I thought. Just because I have the balls to say what 99% of the rest of this board is too afraid of doesn't mean you have to hate. I never numbered my questions for you, shut up and try to stick to the topic next time. Making your dumbass comments on MY thread without addressing the issue just means you got no answers.
1. He does not wait for double teamming...he was actually observing and seeing if anybody going to double team him before he start. Every player does that...if you don't ..ur consider one dimensional player like Maurice Taylor where upon when he makes up his mind to go to the hoop, he has no other option but to go to the hoop even by means of forcing the shot and that's not a smart player. 2. You should blame the coaches on that part. 3. Actually from what I seen, the players were not helping him out when he's double and trapped, the players weren't rotating and find themselves opened for Yao to pass. They got to constant move or change up the play to support Yao if he's trapped. 4. He did move toward the baskets and occassional fadeaway since he's accurate enough to knock every shots down and I trust him to shoot those than some other players in the ROckets team. Smart player dont always drive to the basket all the time, you have to mix it up to confuse the opponents.
Yea it's true....there are times when Yao is double and pass to someone close to the hoop for an easy bucket...these ROckets players (Nackbar or some other dudes i dont' remember) were too slow or not good enough to get that easy bucket. Man ..i wish the Rockets have more good players surrounding Yao...i mean those passes are money right there and they blew them. Hopefully Pikowski and A. Griffin will help.
1. i'm not saying he should drive to the basket upon catching---which i havent seen him do EVER---im saying dont wait 2-3 seconds after he catches the ball to even put it on the floor. 2-3 seconds is MORE than enough for the defense to double him. 2. agreed, but Yao already knows this problem, its up to him to fix it 3. at least he can do is jump straight up and make a pass out instead of getting his hands all tangled up and losing the ball. 4. 7'6" and fading away...i can't justify that. sorry.
All I said was to keep it in the game thread. No one told you to shut up. Feel free to vent and say anything you want but don't subject the rest of us to another dumb thread. However after reading your testy reply worthy of a 12 year old, I now agree that you should shut the f*ck up.
Go back and re-read the original post Einstein. Not once did I use the words "tonight," or "blazers." These are season long observations on Yao Ming or have you not been paying attention? So when is the time threshold after a game where a new thread may be started instead of posting everything related to the rockets in the game thread? You're ridiculous.
I reiterate: oooh, couldn't come up with any rebuttals? That's what I thought. Just because I have the balls to say what 99% of the rest of this board is too afraid of doesn't mean you have to hate. I never numbered my questions for you, shut up and try to stick to the topic next time. Making your dumbass comments on MY thread without addressing the issue just means you got no answers.
1. It's a big stretch to say "ALWAYS" but regardless that is something he needs to work on. On a different note, what do you suggest him to do? Remember his role is to draw the double team and pass out or attempt to score 1 on 1. Waiting for the cutting man is not a sad excuse. 2. I'm sure you can look at it on a case by case basis whether this is true or not. Most likely old habits are hard to break. 3. First he won't know who is going to double him. Second he has to worry about what the rotation will be. So how will he know who will be open? Also the person may be open but does he have a good angle to pass the ball to him? It isn't the easy making good passes when your pressured by 1 person let alone 2. 4.If he jumps straight up, he's going to get blocked. Have you been watching any of his games? He's not the strongest person so physical defenders can push and shove him while he jumps to shoot. He's not the quickest either. So when you add that up, the fade away jumper is a good shot to get separation from the defender and get a clear look at the basket. Remember he's not a finished product. I'm sure the more experience he gets and the stronger he becomes he'll address some of his current deficiencies.
Yao is dominating the game and u guys are still criticizing...and it's only his 2nd year....actually 12 games into the 2nd year and he's already show signs of dominating the game inside. I can't imagine where the Rockets is without Yao presence inside defensively and offensively.
I agree with you on these points. I've noticed these things also. I think the "high basketball IQ" deal stems from the type of team we have. Yao and Jim Jackson look like Magic and Bird on the floor compared to some of the rockheads we have on this roster. Yao definitely has a lot to learn on the floor. I think some of the other reasons are simply lack of agression. He does look confused on the floor, not sure when to attack and when to pass. He doesn't know how to attack some players. He's still feeling his way around. The thing that *really* annoys me is when he doesn't jump. Nobody can block that guy's shot when he actually jumps on a jump hook or something. Nobody can touch that shot but he just never does it. He just kind of bunny hops around in the lane and gets forwards slapping his shots back in his face. It's frustrating to watch.
Don't let the angry responses get you down, most people cannot stand to have the magnificent Yao criticized. That being said, most of these problems you've listed can be adjusted fairly easily with time. 1. and 2. are just learned habits that will be broken with time. I'd rather see him get into his offensive game a little quicker as opposed to surveying the floor first. I'd also prefer it if the player who fed the ball into the post didn't ALWAYS run across the baseline looking for that one predictable pass. It makes it too easy for that defender to rotate off the feeder and double Yao. As for 3, I'm not all that worried about his passing out of the double team. For the most part it's been decent with the exception of tonight, and should get better. And for you last point...well, you go with what works. A fadeaway is an unstoppable shot, especially from a 7'6 guy. Many of the great's bread and butter was the fadeaway. He's shown he can take it to the hole on occasion, too. It's all good there. The only significant problem I see with Yao, and one that's giving me alot of headaches to see, is his rebounding. Yeah, he's got a good average, but he doesn't have a knack for getting the ball. So many times when he pulls down a rebound, he's actually catching right above the "Rockets" on his chest. He's got a horribly slow reaction time when it comes to boarding, and he rarely jumps for it. If Yao were just a 7 footer, he'd be a Mo Taylor-esque rebounder. If someone like Steve Francis was in Yao's body, he'd average 15 rebounds a game. (Oh yeah, and stupid Cat for stealing that rebound away from Yao...although that never should have happened, Yao needs to tear that stuff down.) We lost this game tonight not only because of Moochie's horrible ineptitude, but because we just got flat out hustled on the boards, leading to alot of frustrating offensive rebounds for Portland, especially by that one European guy whose name I don't care to remember or try to spell.
Oh?where and when?who slap his shots back in his face> why u r so frustrating ? Did u watch this game? pls in detail!
