HoustonChronicle.com: It's obvious Yao's still learning

I think the article is right on. One thing is Rox need to work on the pass, the timing and spacing. Another thing is Yao needs to work on his moves. From what I see, if he receives the ball 8 feet from basket, he only has the spin move to the right to get a dunk. Opponents learned that and guard that spin move now. Other than the spin move, Yao has no reliable move to get himself close enough to the basket for a dunk. He can back in a few steps if the court is clean, but then he has to either step to the middle for a hook shot, or turn around for a fadeaway. The hook and fadeaway shots fall some nights, but not all nights. Yao has to pick up a couple of moves to get dunk shots or layups. Another thing he should try is bank shots, just like TD's.

 

TEAM




He is the second best player on our team right now(a week ago...I would have said first). It is not Yao's or Cuttino's or Francis's or Cato's or Jackson's fault we lost this game. It is all of the above(too lazy to put in all the bench players names) that lost this game. It might just have a little bit to do with the Mavericks players as well...I don't know...just my .02.

 

YM has tons of skill, and tons of height, and tons of basketball IQ, but he no aggression or anger in his game.

You need that to play in the NBA, not just an attitude but a mean streak, a desire to humiliate your opponents.

Without that desire to intimidate, he will never be the type of player the Rockets need.

Raven

 

I think the article is dead on. People like to blame the guards, but everyone was to blame for this loss. Francis and Mobley did not play well, but to their credit they were attempting to get Yao involved. I think the argument that the guards do not pass Yao the ball is lame. He just hasn't been getting it done and it's as simple as that. I foolishly made the premature prediction after the season opener that Yao would emerge as an MVP candidate this year, but it is sadly very clear to see that that will not happen this season. He still has much work to do. I don't think his lack of agression is his main problem, I think it is that he has extremely slow reaction time. He looks very awkward at times out there, going after rebounds, or reacting to the double team. I'm afraid that this might be something he will never improve on because it just isn't in his physical makeup. One thing however that he can and must improve on is his agression. He must make teams pay for putting undersized power forwards on him. He must make teams pay for not doubling down on him immediately after he touches the ball. He must make teams pay for allowing him into the paint. He must make the basket pay for only being 10 feet high. A man of his height and skill must be more of a force than he has been. He will never be a great rebounder due to his slow reaction time, but he must work on being a dominant player.

 

I've edited and numbered a few points from the article, which I will discuss below......

In regards to the article (I've outlined a few points)

1) Agree. No excuses Yao, no excuses, remember? You're 7-6 so of course you're going to attract all the attention, and physical "greetings". That's a given. So instead of viewing your height as a disadvantageous, use it to your advantage!!! You can do things very few players can do, SO DO IT!!!

2) Agree. Yao has to demand the ball. And that doesn't mean establishing position and then kinda waving his arms around. "Give me the FARFING BALL!!!!!" is what he should be doing, especially when he knows he's gotten good position and has a mismatch. The guards have to feed him, but they need to know that he wants to fed. IF YOU DON'T WANT IT, YOU WON'T GET IT! And when you get it, throw the damn ball down!!! I'm 6 ft, and if I were playing against a bunch of 5 footers, I would be running and dunking (if i could, which i can't) all over them. YOU OWN THE PAINT, SO USE IT! And the same applies to defense. Please stop letting Steve Nash dribbling around like you were a telephone pole!!

3) Agree. The Mavs are definetly not known for tough defense. In fact, they're soft like bread. What the HELL was up with our offense that we couldn't even get into the paint!?!? All those long range jumpers and three pointers were so frustratingly pathetic. It was like a high school team playing against the Globetrotters. JVG needs to find an adjustment to the zone. It was pathetic.

4) Agree. The timing of the entry passes are all wrong. It's the fault of both the guards and Yao. The guards need to recognize when he's in good position. $hit, even if he's not, give it to him so he can pass it out and then get into better position to receive the next pass. The guards are sometimes too hesitant or slow to make the entry pass. This of course, has something to do with Yao's positioning. Although he's making progress, he's still not doing it on a regular basis. He needs to fight for position ALWAYS! Too many times I saw him chillin' on the wings or at the top of the key. He's got to keep battling, only then will he eventually get the position he wants! And of course, he needs to demand the ball when he knows he's in good position or at a mismatch.

So, I agree with the article. Yao is STILL learning. I ain't hating though, cause he's only in his 2nd year, has to overcome cultural/attitude hurdles, and his still adjusting to a new system.

And reptilexcq, I disagree with your premise if Yao gets out of position it's the coaches fault for not letting him know. It is Yao's responsibility. That is number one on his To-Do list!! There should be no confusion or compromise!


CAN SOMEONE PLEASE POST THIS ARTICLE ON YAO'S WEBSITE! I mean, not to sound like a broken record, but he needs to understand this. I'm sure he's heard it before, but it just doesn't seem to be setting in. I know it takes time to adjust, but he needs all the reinforcement and reminding he can get.

 

You guys are all pathetic. Did you guys actually think you were going to beat the Mavs! If you lost to the heat then, whatever, b**** all you want. The fact is you lost to the Mavs, the team which will most likely win it all this year.

 

I think it's steve's responsibility to help yao have his confidence. But steve seems hesitate to pass to Yao after yao miss his early shots. One time, Yao was guarded by the 'stick' one on one in the low post and waived his hands, while steve tried a one-on-one on dirk which finally caused 24 sec.

 

Agreed. He needs more moves. Hook shots, fadeaways, and spin-moves to the baseline (with his akward dribbling looking down at the floor) are pretty much all he's displayed so far, and teams are getting wise to it. He needs some over-under moves and needs to be more agressively mobile, like jump stepping over legs or between defenders to split them.

AGAIN, COULD SOMEONE PLEASE POST SOME OF THESE POINTS ON YAO'S WEBSITE? THANKS.

 

It is always easy to say "throw it down". The truth is Yao has trouble getting that deep to dunk the ball. When he get the ball 8 feet out, he can make maybe 2 dribbles. The more he dribbles, the more likely someone will steal the ball. He has to learn a couple of moves that can get him closer to the basket without losing the ball.

 

I agree on the fact that Yao seemed to repeatively post himself up on the wrong side of the court. Our guards would bring it up on one side, or the pass would go all around and then yao would run through the paint and post up on the opposite side of the key. It look rediculous.

and what was up with him hanging around the line, nearly out of bounds to the top left of the back board?

Yao has a lot of skillz, i just wish he would put it all together with agression and some POWER.

 

Mavs floor it
Dallas trying to win jackpot without a lottery ticket
01:14 AM CST on Friday, November 14, 2003

The Mavericks' grand experiment continues. To hit the NBA jackpot without ever cashing in on the lottery requires an unconventional approach.

Can a team with five 20-point scorers not only co-exist but effectively disrupt opposing defenses to the point that the Mavericks' inside weaknesses are minimized?

Technically, Steve Nash topped out at 17.9 points per game two years ago, but you get the picture. That's what the 2003-04 season is about. That's what the additions of Antawn Jamison and Antoine Walker are about.

And that's what Mavericks 97, Rockets 86 at American Airlines Center was all about Thursday night.

Not to overdramatize a victory over a team that missed the playoffs a year ago, but the Rockets came to Dallas at 5-1 with a four-game winning streak. And they have something the Mavs, at least of this era, will never have, which is a franchise center worthy of the No. 1 pick in the draft.

But Yao Ming is as much a work in progress as is the Mavs' rotation of new players, which is why Houston could only hang around to keep this one interesting without really challenging for the win.

"You can't have lapses against Dallas," new Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "They make you pay for lapses."

The Mavs do it with an uncommon wealth of scoring talent, accumulated to make up for their lack of muscle. It's a scheme that got the Mavericks to the Western Conference finals a year ago, and off-season trades have taken it one step further from the mainstream.

The cause of Mark Cuban and the Nelson men is a noble one. While clueless critics castigate them for a failure to construct a team more atypical of NBA standards, the Mavs' brain trust seeks to undo the unfairness of bouncing lottery balls.

That's why even with a talent the likes of Jamison coming off the bench, you have to wonder if, in spite of it all, they are fated to be something far less than NBA champions. That would be the third-best team in Texas.

San Antonio and Houston have been twice blessed. The Rockets captured a pair of championships with Hakeem Olajuwon in the pivot. The former No. 1 pick was a six-time first-team All-NBA center in the process.

Yao will start achieving that status the day after Shaquille O'Neal retires. With an eight-year age difference, that should provide the Rockets a lengthy run at additional championships.

On this occasion, the Mavs' zone defense in general and Shawn Bradley in particular challenged every Yao shot as he was held to 12 points on 5 for 12 shooting.

Still, the youthful Rockets with a re-energized Van Gundy are going to improve faster than a more veteran Mavericks team, which means the task of staying ahead of Houston won't be easier than this for years to come.

Meanwhile, the Spurs have also won a pair of NBA crowns with two No. 1 picks at the high and low post. David Robinson, more instrumental in the first title than last year's, was a three-time NBA first-teamer. Tim Duncan already has earned six straight first-team honors.

Duncan uses MVP trophies for bookends. The Mavericks in 23 years have never had an NBA first-team player.

Thus, the need for something beyond the norm.

While the criticism led by TNT's Charles Barkley focuses on the Mavs' deficiencies at the defensive end, that wasn't an issue Thursday. In fact, their opponents for the first nine games are shooting just a fraction below the league average, so it's not as if Dallas is just waving players to the basket.

Van Gundy, who was an assistant to Nelson at New York, said, "Nellie does a great job of being self-effacing about [lack of] defense. That team plays some defense."

At the other end, the Mavs forced the Rockets into mismatches. Former Mavs first-rounder Jim Jackson gave up six inches in his matchup with Nowitzki, who led Dallas with 23 points.

The Rockets couldn't figure out whether to go big or small against Walker, who, with better shooting from his teammates, would have finished with a triple-double. In 35 minutes, he had 17 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

"We have a lot of versatility and Nellie's always been the best at using that," Nash said. "He's going to continue to search for ways to exploit the opponents."

The Mavs can't do it by building a supporting cast for a Shaq, a Duncan or a Yao. Instead, they've built the supporting cast into an ensemble to showcase.

If offensive quantity is the wave of the future, the Mavs are the ones riding it.

 

I have an idea to get Yao aggressive in playing the Mavs next time: have somebody beat up his parents and then claim to be the idea of Shawn Bradley. Maybe then, Yao will stop being a Chinese "Mr. Nice Guy" on the NBA basketball court.

 

I think that is not an easy task. You are talking about 2 200+ pounders, 6'7 and 6'4 if I remember right. Both were athlets. Heck, if that happens, maybe Yao will skip games to be around his parents at hospital.

 

Maybe Yao should stop leaving with his parents. I can't imagine any guy being tough if he still comes home and says, "Mom, what's to eat?"

Yao needs what most men need to harness their craft: a muse. As Shakespeare once put it.

Anyway, every Rocky needs his Adrian to fight hard.
Yao needs a girlfriend, like a local girl.

Someone should set him up with a nice Texan girl. Then she can come to his games and Yao will have too much pride to be pushed around in front of her.

 

It's time for Yao to get himself de-virginized (i.e., marry & have kids). Then, he'll grow up & be a real man.

 

Oh Yeh, you don't know how mad I was then.

 

I can see why sometime people would be annoyed by you. No offense Tanner.