Seriously, what is wrong with Yao?

aw i hope that isn't true but im starting to think his foot is bothering him or something but he just dosen't want to say it. I feel bad for him though. We'll see how he does tonight though. Maybe he's depressed or something idk

 

he doesnt even jump for rebounds. he stands under the basket. ON EVERY PLAY

 

i agree with you. but i also said there are 2 problems. 1. yao isn't at 100 % physically and mentally. 2. he's lacking confidence and aggressiveness because of 1 and because he has played so poorly since his return as a rocket.

also, i'm just explaining how things are. i'm not looking for excuses for yao. but blaming everything on yao and saying he's a mediocre player is just not right. it's like bashing rafer after 4 games or saying t-mac is a soft p*ssy and drama queen with als his injuries and his talk in the media.

this team has struggled and lost as a team. not because of single players. the coaching staff has made errors. yao's playing poorly. t-mac can't defend. rafer has shot horribly. artest isn't very effective on offense. landry hasn't played too well. scola has struggled defensively. our transition defense is bad. our guys get burned chasing quicker guys around screens. our high energy guys can't outrebound other teams like they used to. brent barry has not contributed as much as we'd like offensively and he gets burned by anyone defensively. there are just so many things that aren't working right now. you can't just pick one.

 

Yes, this a good thread. Clearly something is not right with Yao, but it is difficult to know except himself. But for the team chemistry aspect, the rockets should let Artest to post more, let Yao get out if he can not post and use his middle range jump. Right now, it is still a two-men game, go Yao first, if it is not working, then let TMac do something. By the way, I know this thread is about Yao, but Scola just can not guard any PF we played so far, that is a problem too.

 

His conditioning is clearly not there right now which is no surprise after a 10 month layoff. I mean, this is the first real basketball he's played in a long time.

He needs a few months before he's back into game shape.

I wouldn't worry.

 

Joel has always guarded Yao well and Boston has very good team defense. Perkins plays tough defense also. So far those are the only bad games Yao played.

If Scola has been our best starter, why he is sitting on the bench during the final moments of the games?

 

But I will say this, I think the team's chemistry will come soon. It's going to take time. I don't want to say that Artest is screwing up the chemistry with the addition with him but I don't think the Rockets have learned how to play with him. There were stretches in the preseason where the Rockets just look soo great. It will come. I'm just worried that it's going to cost them good seating in the playoffs.

The other thing, I don't know if Rick's system is for the Rockets. Yao and T-Mac haven't bought into it yet and we're going to have to see.

 

Hayes did a better job of guarding KG. He played well against him ( I mean Scola) because he made KG play defense.

LaMarcus was pretty much eating Scola alive. Scola is not strong enough and he doesn't give his body.

Hayes plays perfect defense. He is not very tall but he is strong and he give his body to an offensive player forcing him to take contested fadeaways.

The problem is on the other end of the court. Team won't guard Hayes, they will come out to double Yao, Tracy or Ron as Przybilla did last night.

But I agree, Scola is not a problem

 

oh, i agree with you on that. yao could do better and that would mean we would be a better team, which would be enough against most teams. but that's not the way we as rockets fans should think. this season is a work in progress. we need our time to be at full speed when the postseason arrives. so, yes, yao could do better on his own, but overall, that's certainly not enough for us. we need to look at the whole picture. yao definitely has his own problems but a lot of it has to do with the team, it's structure and it's identity as well.

 

I thought that Aldridge made every shot when he was guarded by Scola, then we switched Hayes, Aldridge can not anything. Yes, he outplayed KG offensively, his offense is the one of the best on the team.

 

Dont worry, whenever there is no big game, Yao will be back.

 

Yao is soft that's why he plays like crap from time to time.

 

Did you even watch the game? Scola was getting torched by Aldridge.

 

Agree, but I'm really not blaming Yao for everthing or calling him a mediocre player. Yes the rest of his team mates are struggling with certain aspects of their game, T-Mac hasn't defended well but he's bringing it on the other end and attacking the cup, Rafer has shot poorly and played poorly period, Artest hasn't been to effective on the offensive side of the ball but he brings it on the defensive end, Scola has struggled defensively against certain matchups but he bringing it on the other end and is getting after the boards. What I'm trying to say is when you play basketball there usually is some aspect of your game that is not always going to go well ie.(not all shots are going to go in for you), but basic fundemental basketball especially for a 7'6 all star center is blocking out and rebounding, shot blocking and just owning the paint. I heard Reggie Miller comment on one defensvie possession in the 4th quarter lastnight that Yao should have had an easy rebound and that there was no excuse.

 

Yao needs to understand basketball relies on being aggresive, though it is not in his demeanor. He needs to up strong, watch some Olajuwon tapes and dominate the offense, come from the weak side to block some shots. I know he is slow but a guy 7'6(!!) should intimidate the hell out the opposing players to come into the paint. Last night, he was called for a foul where he was standing outside the circle with his hands up waiting for the player to come at him. The foul got called because he's soft and instead of waiting he should have gone a step closer and block the damn shot. Even stupid big guys like Muresan, Bol & Bradley had 2-3 blocks a game, without even trying.
Yao should average 3-4 easily and same goes for rebounding. Go up strong and box out, don't let ****ing 5 and 6 footers take that rebound from you. He should see that as an insult and get made, make sure he gets the next one.
Yao is terrible at using his size advantage, something he has always struggled with but that can change. They just need to address this and since the RA offense is not being implemented, let's make Yao our Olajuwon; meaning, give it to him every time down the court. No more 10 second ball hogging by Rafer, Artest or T-mac. Get it to Yao is priority and when he draws the double-team, kick it out and move the ball from side to side, then penetrate and take it hard to the rim or shoot the wide open jumpshot.