Van Grumpy launches attack on Yao! http://www.nba.com/games/20041115/HOUNJN/recap.html This is an insult to Yao. Rudy would never say anything sarcastic like that. Another reason Van Grumpy needs to go!!! I believe Yao's is playing inconsistently on purpose. Yao is sending us a signal that he can't stand Van Grumpy's coaching.
What he said was the truth. Yao hasn't done what he's capable of when McGrady's in the lineup. It's a valid criticism. And the day you're inside Yao's head well enough to know he's hurting this team 'on purpose' is the day Ewoks set up a lemonade stand in my apartment complex.
I also agree with JVG's statement. Tonight, he got 2 early touches, fouled twice with no calls, and then he basically just stopped trying to be aggressive. He started setting picks after only 2 failed attempts. Then JVG took him out, and we got the huge lead. when he came back in, he posted up more, but did not get the ball much because of the huge amount of attention the nets were putting on him. However, that attention led to easy shots for Howard and other guys. So far this season we have only done a good job of establishing Yao early in one game, against the Lakers. We should look to go to Yao on at least the first 8-10 possessions every game.
Everytime Yao was in the game something bad happened. TO, offensive foul, lack of aggressiveness, missed dunks...it was a bad game for Yao. He deserved the criticism! Stop treating Yao like a baby! Or he'll play like one! Just because McGrady is playing doesn't mean that Yao can take the night off. He should bring it every night! 3-11 shooting, 2 rbs, 5pf, 6 pts. Yuk! By the way, Yao out-rebounded Travis Best by 1. All I can say is that Yao better bring is A-game against Atlanta tomorrow!
JVG knows what he is doing..he plays these mind games all the time and they usually work. He is just calling out Yao and telling him he needs to step up all the time. I don't think he is taking it in a bad way at all....
Yao deserves the criticism right now. Whether we like it or not or whether he understands it or not, the assertive thrive in the NBA and the passive do not. If he needs a role model, he can look no further than one of the guys he watching growing up - Hakeem. Dream would knock a guy out with an elbow and hard foul the hell out of someone coming down the lane just to let them know he was there. That is how the NBA game is played. It is just the reality and Yao will have to adjust.
Teams have learned how to take Yao out of his game. They swarm him with small fast guards and double team him. On offense... they take it too him and suck him into stupid fouls. He is a terrible... and I mean terrible weak side defender... I could go on. I like the guy. I like his game. I like that fact that 4 billion chinese are ROX fans... but he gets way too much hype for what he does. Match him up against a big, slow center and he will own him every night. But teams aren't going to do that and Yao will find himself sitting on the bench more and more often.
Yao needs to regain his jumper. He needs to widen his range on the court in order to prevent games like what happened tonight. You can count with 1 finger the number of non-black guys in the entire world who solely has an offensive game in the low post. That's Yao. The low post is where physical weaknesses are amplified and exaggerated. Brad Miller is no fool. He wouldn't last a season trying to get most of his points posting up in the NBA. KG is one hard SOB, but he still gets a lot of points stepping outside on the perimeter to shoot fadeaways and jumpers. He doesn't want to have a defender stick elbows in his kidneys all the time.
I'm afraid that the only way to stop Yao from being lazy is for us to start losing a bunch of games. If we go on playing .500 ball, I doubt he'll ever get that sense of urgency to step it up.
