When Phil Jackson came to the Lakers there was a lot of talk about the Triangle offense. It worked great as long as the ball ended up in Shaq or Kobes hands,,,not so good when it didnt. Enough about the Lakers. BACK TO THE ROCKETS....When Yao starts hitting those sweet 18ft shots and the opposing big men come out to defend, it will be a lot easier for Steve and Cat to get tothe basket. NOW THATS THE KIND OF MOTION IM TALKING ABOUT.
Actually, it might be more effective to have Yao hitting high percentage shots in the paint which will allow our outside shooters wide open jumpers. Teams usually dont win the ultimate prize with their big men shooting outside jumpers the whole game (see Ewing and Robinson).
Well I recall Gene Peterson yelling "Shakes left, right...Hakeem from 20....it's good" And Ming will not shoot ONLY jumpers. Why does everyone think that Yao can't get inside. His post-up skillz are atleast decent.
Last I heard Yao was hitting 75% from ANYWHERE. Also when you are 7 ft5inches Tall you dont have to jump when you shoot.
Not saying Hakeem didnt shoot 20 footers, but we won and were more effective when he was beating people down on the blocks or passing effectively out the double team to our wide open shooters. I think Yao does has have excellent post up skills. The problem is, will he be able to hold his position down on the blocks to get off those high percentage shots or will he get pushed out and be forced to settle for medium-long range jumpers? I think thats has to be one of the biggest questions. In China, there was no one that could do that so Yao shot 75%. Obviously are players are bigger and stronger here. Yao will have to prove he has the strenght to maintain his position down low and get off high percentage shots where people will have to double team him.
If i 7'5'' guy didnt jump to shoot, then a 6'9" guy with a 30 inch verticle can block is shot every time. Of course you have to jump. lol
.... from 20 hands??? I damn sure do not remember Dream taking many shots from near the 3 point line!
If they move the 3 point line to 20 ft , we need to re^sign Calvin Murphy. He can hit 75% from there.
I'll telluwhut, I saw a feature on Calvin a feww years back where the reporter was interviewing him on the court while Calvin was explaining about shooting form or something like that. While he was talkin to the reporter, he just kept popping shots up from long range(just inside the 3 line) and sinking just about every one of em. He wasnt even lookin at the basket half the time. That man can still shoot.
I remember when Calvin would do the vodoo hand shake at people like Mark Price so they wouldnt get his record. Now THAT was classic.
Actually, going back to the original subject, with the right personell, Ill take Rudy's post-up/kick it out to the open shooter offense (our championship offense) versus the motion or triangle offense any day. Its very effective and has proven results with not just the Rockets, but with the Spurs also (although slightly varied). Key of course is Yao. Cant do it without a big man.
I was watching some old games, and it was amazing how he got his shot off over all those tall guys. He was a stud.
Not true Codell. Yao doesn't really jump more than 6 inches on his jump shot. However his release is alot quicker since he doesn't have to jump to get his shot off. All he would have to do is put any kind of fake and he has an open shot. He did this during the olympics with Garnett in his face. He faked like he was going right and hit a jumper right on top of him. He barely got off the ground.
He was fearless too, I remember seeing him drive into the lane where the guys towered over him, and still get the ball in the bucket. I have such good memories of Murph playin from when I first started watching the Rox. That s why even tho he wears the scariest clothes known to man and acts so weird sometimes...I'll always ignore it and forgive him..He was one of my favs when I was a kid.
Well I should clarify myself on that statement. Its kind of like comparing Hakeem to someone like a Sabonis. Sabonis has several inches and long arms on Hakeem but he doesnt really jump much. We all know Hakeem would swat his shot all day long. Maybe I should have explained my theory in that way. And really, I was just trying to make the point that jumping ability does matter and that if a tall guy like Yao shoots the ball flat footed, other players will have a better shot at blocking him. Also, Ive said before, I like Yao's release, which is kind of on top of and towards the back of his head, rather than in front of his face like a Robinson. I have heard that Yao's vertical isnt where it should be and that the Rockets are hoping to improve that. For the record, if Yao does improve his vertical a little and keeps his release point where it is, his shot will be almost impossible to block if it isnt already.
Imagine Yao learning a Jabbar sky-hook. there were very few players that could block that. and Yao has a couple of inches on Jabbar.
I wonder why more taller players that have come into the league after Jabbar havent tried using the skyhook. Hell Magic could do it, why not someone like Ilsgauskas?
Maybe becasue it's not the easiest shot to perfect. Also, it leaves the ball vulnerable to blockers coming from behind the player while the arm is on the upswing. I really think Yao could make it work tho, he has a good touch and his added height would make it more difficult for players to get to it...
I read a post that claimed he had a decent hook shot already. he probably just hasn't had a need to develop it yet.
