While I'm encouraged in an "atta boy" way by Yao's reported physical dominance in the Asian games... well, it's the Asian games. However, what I do see in a few pictures that flat-out excites me are the stills of his turn-around jumper. The one major flaw in his TAJ last year was that he brought the ball too low, enabling 6'10" defenders to either get a piece or pressure the ball enough to disrupt the shot. What I see in these pictures is that he is holding the ball at various points in his shot 6-8" higher. If people familiar with his shot that have been watching the games can confirm and/or pay extra attention in the rest of the games, this would be BIG news, imo. I'm sure we'll see more and more sky/sweep hooks in the future, but IMO with the game on the line Yao's TAJ will always be his shot of choice. He shoots it naturally, with feel, turning left or right, and oh, an uncanny touch out to 16 ft. (That's "out to 16 ft." Of course during his career he'll be shooting most of them from 10-12 ft... right, Stevie?) Anyhow, here are the pics, judge for yourself. Free throw... with the natural "coil" or "hitch" in his shooting stroke. This seems relatively unchanged. Stepping back, turning right, along the baseline, left block. He'd get in trouble at this point by bringing it back and low to his head. The ball looks higher and more forward to me. I'm also looking at how much arm angle the defender can get. Too much and he's "into" the shot. He is not a factor here. Look at this release point. It could be the angle, but if I had seen that height from any angle last year, I might have lost my nachos. Now from the Syria game. If he keeps raising the ball up and not back... watch out league. Again, the sample size is small, and these are not motion shots. Anyone watching live or even on TV could spot this easily and confirm/deny. I suppose we'll all find out soon enough, though. But IMO, "playing (and shooting) his height" was something Yao needed to correct as much as his physical deficiencies (which to me were just a matter of eating and growing into his body). Done right, his TAJ should eventually be as unguardable as MJ's own turnaround, Jabbar's Skyhook, and Dream's baseline fallaway. And Yao may end up with something Shaq will never have... a Go-To move with the game on the line. And that... would be U-N-B-E-A-T-A-B-L-E. Part II.
I still hate it when he puts his left hand INFRONT of the ball. If you ever tried to shoot like that, then you can feel how much slower the ball is been released, which will increase the chances to be blocked.
Agreed. But with the size of his hands, he's got nowhere else to put them. Shaq's solution = do everything with one hand. therefore Shaq's range = 6 ft.
Yao's problem was that he brought the ball down where the D swiped at it. His hands were slapped more than a kid stealing cookies from the cookie jar. I am confident Yao will improve that this go around.
I shoot like that because it increases my shot % and adds a lot of arc to my shot making it harder to block. with practice, it really isnt that slow. It also increases the chance of getting fouled. its a pretty shot, that arc could do eddie griffin wonders.
I never noticed yao putting his left hand infront of the ball like that but as someone mentioned earlier his hands are probably too big or it maybe a shooting habit he never corrected.
Or maybe he releases the ball more towards "upwards" instead of to the front, so that the left hand in front is not blocking it.
