Ever since that toe surgery it seems as though Yao has been jumping higher than usual. That Warriors game last night I was starting to closely monitor Yao' jump and it seems to me he was actually jumping higher? Also did you notice his tenacity ( which he really didnt have before ) in getting most of the rebounds. A couple of times he actually took it away from other Rockets... Could it be..... Yao Ming is evolving even more ohh what good times lay ahead.
i think yao is getting it....mentally he saw how bad the team was when he wasnt in the lineup and how bad the team was without tracy. i think now that he is playing without pain he can play the way he wants. honestly all yao wants to do is win. i am sure it would be a huge disappoint for him and his fans in china if the team did not make the playoffs after the success last year. right now there is still an opportunity for them to make the playoffs. i mean did you see how yao was in the olympics...he was taking total control (granted not same competition) but he had fire and passion, something he did not have when playing here (not to say he wasnt playing hard)...but slowly but surely it seems he is starting to put the rockets team on the same level now in passion. its good news for all rockets fans and yao fans (you know who you guys are )
Yeah, JVG also said his lateral quickness has improved. I noticed that since he came back from his injury, he's about 6 inches taller and has three arms that makes him a terrific post defender.
He uses a lot of the Deke tip tip tip rebound technique now too. I think it really helped a lot seeing the game from a 3rd person point of view which he never really got to since he never missed a game, but overall it's just everything slowly coming together. His maturation and his confidence primarily. The guy definitely does not get down on himself for too long anymore after missing a shot. You can tell he still wants the ball and won't shy away from shooting it. He will have a great career and I'm just so happy *tear* that he's a Houston Rocket .
He knows his responsibility when T-Mac is out; He knows we need to at least want to win every game to make playoff. I really wish he was a bit shorter so that he jump higher, move quicker, and won't wear out so easily.
He is 1 point and 14 rebounds shy of 20 ppg and 10 rpg. If he has a few 15+ rebound games...like 3 of them...he will be the 20-10 guy we always knew he could be. DD
Maybe some of the people, there were plenty of doubters even on this bbs. I wasn't so sure myself that he would be able to get 10 reb per game just earlier this year.
Another equally important factor is Yao's stamina (very much improved). Last night he played 38 minutes like it was nothing. It is not uhuru yet in this department for him but the much progress he has made has been the key imho to his improved offensive and rebounding numbers. 1. Pain free toe (or at leaset much reduced) 2. Confidence 3. Stamina
He's just playin smart ball, staying out of foul trouble. Yao is realizing that just his presence on the court means more to this team, than him trying to block every shot and take every charge to stop the every bucket. And he is realizing that even if his shooting is off, we're better off with him putting up 19 shots, than trying to get the offense from somewheres else. I love the jumper from the right baseline as he spins away from the double team.
Yao has had some poor rebounding games as well (3 rebounds in 27 minutes against NY, 0 rebounds in 19 minutes against PHO). Overall, he's averaging 10.6 rpg since coming back, which is pretty good, but he's had similar stretches before in his career. Let's hope he can sustain it this time. I'm more impressed that he's been staying out of foul trouble and keeping his turnovers down. That's the biggest area of improvement I've noticed.
I don't want to rain on the parade, I'm just as happy as everyone else about Yao's awesome rebounding since he's been back, but look at the centers he's matched up against in the good games... Chris Kaman, Andris Biedrins, Adonal Foyle, Rebraca, etc. I have noticed a lot of things change for the better in his game, the foul situation, the lateral movement, the agressiveness, etc. and I'm loving it. I think the big man game has really died in the NBA. Shaq is the only remaining dominant big man. I hope soon, Yao will be the only dominant big man. I really feel like there is no better center in the league (all things considered) than Yao Ming. We'll soon enough be playing the Suns again, let's see how Yao (and the coaching staff) adjusts this time. Just like T-Mac, Yao can get his shot off over anyone
I'm starting to think the toe surgery has really helped his mobility big time. There is no other explanation for why he is so much better now than he's ever been. His endurance was improved before the surgery but he wasn't playing THIS well. Whatever the reason, hopefully Yao has turned a corner and won't look back, the Phoenix game notwithstanding.
You know what might help Yao? If he would jump BEFORE he thinks he should.....like leave his feet early, he would get FAR more rebounds that way, as he would be up in the air at the right time instead of a half a second too late. Someone should get him to try jumping early..... I remember in High School we had this 5'9" guard who kept getting tip in after tip in...just below the rim, and I asked him how he did it, and he said..."I jump early" and sure enough I watched, and he would be off his feet a half beat before anyone else and thus was able to get a lot more rebounds that way. It works, I wonder if Yao should give it a go? DD
Jump balls don't necessarily equate with mobility. Take a look at Deke. You make an interesting point. Yao seems to have the worst timing on jump balls of any player in NBA history. He's gotta learn that it's OK to cheat and tip the ball on the way up. He loses way too many jump balls.
Let's not getting ahead of ourselves here. It's not like Yao is doing something we've never seen him done before. Yao has had good runs during the late part of the seasons in the last two years, he also had 20/20 against B. Wallace in the past. The problem is not if he is capable of putting up those numbers, most of the NBA players can put crazy #s for a couple of games, it's him doing it night-in and night-out, over a 82 games season.
Yao is coming into his own, he should be entering his prime in the next two seasons, hopefully McGrady will be healthy enough and still dominant enough then so we can take the league by a storm.
