In watching the last 12 games, I believe that Yao Ming hs progressed a lot from the beginning of the season as to protecting the ball and dealing with double teams. That said, I do not understand the following......... 1. Against Seattle and Utah, Yao was rarely double teamed, he had 4 shots in the first quarter, and only 3 more I believe until the latter half of the fourth. I believe this is the primary reason we lost today. The maddening this is, that against teams that are not going to doube team Yao, he should touch the ball 8/10 possesions, but he doesnt and it isnt his fault. He had perfect positioning at least 10 times today, when the ball should have at least gone into him, and instead was swung around. I understand that JVG has restricted the # of plays that he is the "first" option, but against Jaron Collins, give me a break. Until the 4th Quarter, the Jazz were leaving Collins on an island and double teaming Mcgrady heavily (except for the first Q, where there was really no immediate double on either.) 2. I like the Yao/Mcgrady or Yao/Wesley Pick and roll. But I think that it is losing efficiency, because teams realize that Yao is not going to pop out, which he should at least 2-3 times a game out of that designed play, he would get an elbow jumper every time and he is instead relegated to expending energy to "roll" and is never passed the ball. This however is partially his fault, Yao is slow and broad and often, the 2 defenders caught in the double team can effectively guard both after the pick. I see the idea behind it, but I do not see it working. I see why JVG shifted the focus of the offense earlier in the year, and I am not saying that Mcgrady shouldnt be the primary option, but in todays game and Seattle's there were numerous times when it would have been effective to throw him the ball, and it was passed the other way (I assume in accordance with the offensive plan). We need Yao to shoot 15 times a game. Sometimes teams may double team him heavily, but with teams that guard him like Utah, I think he needs to be fed more.
They never pass Yao the ball in the first option. IT's always that pathetic fake...which i don't understand why they do that all the time and not mix it up
Exactly! its the pass fake, and swing the ball around, then have Yao run up the pick and roll, I wish I could have recorded the game to see how many times this became a basket. Sidenote: 10 shots, I think I saw 2 double teams on him all game , in the 4th quarter none the less. We didnt deserve to win today, nor did we go about winning in the right way.
A few times they ran that PNR, Yao was wide open pretty close to teh basket, but TMac always opted to make a long pass to the corner for a three, or drive to teh basket. Maybe he was worried Yao's bad hands wouldn't catch it. I dunno. That play where Yao catches the ball deep in the low post is almost an automatic 2 points. Why swing it around? They should go to him everytime if he gets position like that and isn't doubled.
I concur. I really like James’ s play, he certainly is not disappointing us, but he needs to remember: pass the damn ball to yao whenever Yao is single covered and not fronted, which was the case for the entire game today.
One of the negatives I see about controlling Yao's touches too much is that if he gets into a funk early, he can't/won't be allowed to shoot his way out of it. Everyone remembers that game against the lakers where Yao dropped 27 and fouled out Shaq. Yao started off horribly going 3-9 or something like that yet because he was allowed to get as many touches as he wanted, he shot 7-12 the rest of the way. I don't see that happening now. Unless Yao starts off 6/7 then he won't get more than 11 shots a game, and even if he does begin the game red hot, he'll only get 15 shots max. Hopefully the rockets will find a way to balance things out although it'll take a while for everyone to get adjusted to James.
Yao has actually been getting a lot of shots lately, not today, but he's been on a tear the last 12-13 games. However, Yao's rebounding has been terrible. 8 rebounds combined the last 2 games, no excuse.
