No, this is not a thread discussing (complaining rather) whether or not Yao is getting enough touches, but instead a thread discussing whether or not Yao's talent is being under-utilized. One of Yao's most heralded attributes to his game is his ability to see the floor and make extraordinary passes. He has wowed fans and players alike with his uncommon talents. His savvy in this facet of the game, along with many of his other trappings, is what initially made him the number one overall pick in the draft. And currently one of, if not "the", best center in the league. The combination of court vision, size, passing ability, hands, and shooting touch (let alone defensive presence) are the tangibles Yao has, to become the centerpiece of envisioned "Dynasties". These "five tools" if utilized properly can be the staple of a very high-powered and dominate offense. An offense that entails movement; screening, picks with and without the ball, back-door cuts, ect... All designed and executed to find and create space to allow Yao Ming to orchestrate these uncommon and uncanny talents. So this begs the questions: How do the Rockets expect to fully utilize their orgainzational centerpiece? Are the Rockets curbing Yao's potential by wasting precious time and energy on inadequate personel? Are Francis and the other band of characters really the right players to surround our "diamond"? You be the judge. IMO, If the we miss the playoffs again, everyone under 7'5" has very little job security!
is Yao getting open? What is Yao doing with the ball once he gets it? I'm tired of everyone blaming everyone but Yao for the way he is or isnt playing.
Are you suggesting this is a fault of coaching? You can't teach a mouse to not take the cheddar from the trap. No brains. Catch the drift?
JVG said early in the season (maybe in training camp) that he wanted Yao to learn the low post game before he started putting him in the high post. To be a dominant big man in the NBA, you MUST establish your low post game before you do anything else.
Fail once (four times to be exact) under one coach. "It" rests on the coach's shoulder. Fail again, under a hand-selected, new coach. "It" goes on the players. This is one of the most widely known, unwritten rules.
Respectively, Yao Ming does not have to be Shaq to be dominant. He will never dominate the game in the way in which O'Neal does. Physicality aside, I believe Yao Ming has more "tools" and is a better center than Shaq. Shaq does not need key surrounding players to showcase his dominance. His ability to be a force is largly dependent upon his physical nature; where in which to exercise Yao's dominant features, he must be surrounded by the "key" players.
In a way, Yao has to shoot more. If you go to my thread on the # of FTA, Yao is ranked #8 in the league, he averages 6.7 FT/game, is generating 1 FT per 2 FGA. His FTA/FGA ratio is better than that of Duncan, Stoudamare, J'Oneal, Garnett, worse than Shaq's, Kobe's and Maggette's. It tells you that when he does take the shot, he is very much aggressive by getting a lot of foul calls. With his high FT percentage, I don't see why he does not take more shots. He is only taking 12.3 shots a game, he needs to take at least 15 shots a game. If he can maintain the same FTA/FGA ratio and take 15 shots a game, he is going to average more than 20 PPG.
Yao curbs himself every time he brings the ball down to get stripped, fades away instead of goes to the basket, passes out of single coverage, or goes for a wussy lay in underneath the basket.
Interesting point! But would he get more shots, as well as most everyone else, if we had more productive and efficient players to surround him?
I have not seen Yao's passing skill used that much except to kick it out of double teams. The Kings use Vlade a whole lot in terms of ball distribution to cutters and open men on the perimeter.
Maybe. Right now, he only takes 12.3 shots that he LIKES. Yao typically does not force shots. If he can take 15 shots that he LIKES, he will average around 8 FTs a game, that's like a Duncan who is averaging 7.8 FTA. Look at Duncan's stat: 8-15.1 for FGA at 52.8%, 5-7.8 for FTA at 64.2% for 21.1 PPG If Yao averages 15 shots/game, with the same FTA/FGA ratio and other percentages, he will do: 7.3-15 for FGA at 48.5%, 6.3-8.2 at 76.6% for 20.8 PPG. The question is: can Yao get 15 shots that he likes?
Okay, Yao gets scolded a lot already on his fadeaway jumper, which i think he uses about 25% too much of, but Yao is not the only center that gets stripped. Nor is he the only center that passes out of single coverage (which is doing less of this year), even shaq does, the idea is once you pass out, you establish position and get the pass back, Yao has improved remarkebly in getting position, Francis has improved a little in getting him the ball AT THE RIGHT TIME, Cat hasn't and Moochie takes too long. And although we want Yao to dunk more (which again, i see him doing more of this year, and at least wanting to do more this year) not every center dunks every time...NOt even Shaq, watch laker games no way does shaq dunk everytime, he does a lot of layups, so it is incorrect to assume (not saying you Samfisher) Shaq dunks EVERYTIME, and Yao NEVER DUNKS, such a conclusion is simply without merit, although we want Yao to dunk more...in fact i ask the board, what center is so dominant that he dunks consistently SEVERAL times a game? the conclusion is Shaq is the closest, but not many after that, the reason is because in the NBA you get your arms hacked off and go to the charity stripe.
That is true Sam, these are the things that happen when everyone is standing around watching. I can't tell you how many times the ball is fed to Yao in the post and everyone looks like a statue. The double team slides over and everyone is still watching. Nobody slides over to bail him out, no movement or cuts to the basket are made. If the proper movement on the floor is made, then the double teams will be exploited. The bottom line is that the offensive movement with and without the ball and the proper spacing is not being executed. It sounds to me as if you are putting Yao at fault. How can you fault Yao for not finding an open man clear across the court amidst a double team? You've clearly seen his passing ability in the two man game or to the cutting player. Insert Nash for Francis and we are clearly a better team.
Whether it be the players or the playbook, something is not being planned and executed properly. I agree, Yao's strengths are being under-utilized to the point that it's basketball robbery. The game plan, if I am not mistaken, is to dump the ball into Yao in the post. He attempts to go one on one with his defender. Meanwhile, his teammates are setting up on the 3 pt line as well as moving off the ball. If Yao cannot take on his defender, if he gets double-teamed, or if an opportunity arises, he dishes the ball to an open teammate who is moving along the 3 pt line, moving weak side to strong side or vice-versa, cutting through the paint, or cutting towards the basket. Furthermore, if the recepient of the ball is covered, he himself is able to dish out the extra pass to an open teammate who is, of course, moving off the ball trying to get open. Makes sense to me. The problem here lies in the fact that this just isn't being done!! This was no more painfully obvious in the Seattle game. It was like ISOitis all over again. The ball into Yao. Yao attempts to back defender down. Meanwhile, teammates clear the floor and park themselves at weak side 3 point line, watching while their hands scratch their asses. No movement off the ball. None. Once in a while, one player will make a cut towards the basket. I remember JJ doing this on occasion, with relative success. But for the most part, they were usually just standing there, watching Yao attempt to back down his defender only to inevitably put up the ever-so-anticipated fadeaway jump/hook shot. Once again, they stood around waiting, hoping, counting on the man with the ball to make something happen. Sadly, they fail to realize that they themselves need to move their asses around the court in order to make something happen. ISO all over again. Just subsitute high post for low post and Francis/Mobley for Yao Ming.
I'm not questioning you, but I don't remember reading that anywhere.... I'm very interested. Do you have a link? DR
Even he does all that, he still averages 6.7 FTA a game, ranked #8 in the NBA, higher than that of J O'neal (5 FTA) and Stoudamare (5.9 FTA). Moreover, his FTA/FGA ratio is higher than that of Duncan, J O'neal and Stoudamare. It just tells you Yao's pretty aggressive when he shoots the ball. By the way, I'd like to see some data if you argue otherwise
Anyone that watched Hakeem in his prime knows the pain of center oriented offense, but it worked. But the problem is that Yao isn't as dominating as Hakeem and doesn't have nearly as good of shooters around him. The main problem with us not having cutter is Yao's indecisiveness with the ball sometimes. The other problem is our guys dont' cut hard enough. I've seen a couple of plays that a player cuts lazily, Yao holds on to the ball too long (partially because the cutter didnt' create enough space and partially because Yao was indecisive). The defender instead of following the cutter all the way stops and help to double Yao, our cutter runs all the way to the other side of the court but at this point Yao is swarmed and the ball the doesn't get to the open man and we just wasted a lot of time on the shot clock. We know Yao can pass better than that (look at his rookie year) but what we really need is for our cutters to cut harder.
Exactly. We can't blame Yao cause he can't find anyone open because everyone is standing on the weak side behind his back and because they're just standing they're covered by their defender. In event of a doubleteam, the open man is probably standing in the corner waiting for the pass but Yao can't see him. I mean, he's a great passer and has good court vision, but he doesn't have eyes on the back of his head! However, Yao needs to be more aggressive (duh) and try to take it to the hole or create a shot when he's not getting the movement he needs. What Vlade does and the plays the King run would be perfect for Yao and is what the Rox need to do. And if that can't be learned by the current team, then the Rox need to change this line-up.
