You don't think the coaches are showing him what to do and how to combat that?? Maybe Yao is just having trouble executing what is tought to him.
And just what are they teaching him about getting fronted? Seems to me that is more of an adjustment to the offense to force the other team to pay for playing out of position. Open your mouth JVG, let us know.... or is he on his own? What's he supposed to do? Leap frog the guy and get in front of him!
RR, To insinuate the coaches, which include a HOF center, are not teaching him or do not know how to combat fronts with positioning is just naive. You are blaming the coaches and not the player. I cant believe that two different coaching staffs dont know or are not teaching Yao how to get around fronts. A coach can teach a player how to properly shoot a 15 foot jump shot, but that doesnt mean that player is going to be a good 15 foot jump shooter. A coach can teach a player how to dribble, but that doesnt mean the player is going to be a good dribbler. Its all about execution.
It's not so much that Yao himself needs to 'get free' per se, I mean the guy is 7'6" for crying out loud. He has a shorter man in front of him, and, at least before the double-team comes from the weak side under the basket, nothing between him and the hoop but air. The problem lies at least as much with the person who is tasked with making that admittedly difficult entry pass. When the defense fronts, Yao looks to me to be in the right spots most of the time, but the passer hesitates, or is inaccurate with the entry lob. Maybe when Horry retires, the Rockets can hire him to teach our players how and when to properly make that pass. The one time last game that Yao got the pass in the right spot and before the double-team, he immediately dropped the ball in the hole.
Thanks Nero... that would be execution and adjustment by the other players as directed to by the "coaches" HOF or not. To a night in night out problem. How does Yao get "unfronted"? Gollllleeee... I would expect a 5'3" non player coach to show me how to get "unfronted". Ewing, teach, see "What is Pewing doing anyway"? Why is being fronted so bad anyway if the scheme takes advantage of a 7'6" guy with his defender on the wrong side of the basket? Seems like it would be wiser to take the short route rather than trying to run around the other side and get your defender bewteen you and the basket....
simple...you either make a lob pass over the top (that is if there are no help defenders), as Braggs and Francis have done OR (and this is the one that's always there but we never seem to run) you swing the ball from the wing to the top of of the key at the same time Yao seals his man and dump it down. You do that a couple times and I guarantee the fronting stops. However, this requires crisp, purposefull passing by multiple players on the same possession...which may be too much to ask for with these guys.
Or at least, a little instruction from the coach on how to implement and execute that fundamental "play".
From the quote - it looks like JVG is saying Yao has to figure it out on his own. I hope that is not the case.
RR, Has JVG ever played man to man and zone defense on an NBA court?? Of course not. That doesnt mean he cant teach those that are capable how to. Him being 5'3'' has nothing to do with whether or not he can teach techniques to a much taller person. He wouldnt be an NBA coach if he couldnt. Not to mention Ewing. Art, IMO, that JVG quote does not mean hes leaving it up to Yao to fend for himself. I think he meant that its up to Yao to execute the techniques that are tought to him. Also, the lob isnt an the answer to every time he is fronted. The answer is what JVG talked about, Yao dealing with the fronting (i.e. sealing off his man, positioning, etc.). Some will come in here and say that preventing a front isnt possible, which is pure BS. It is possible and Yao himself has used positioning to do so, just not consistent enough to eliminate the front as a problem. Calvin Murphy talks about this several times a game. The last few games, JJ has thrown Yao some nice lead/lob passes to the baseline, and Yao was too slow to go get them. In the SA, there was a play were JJ was visibly upset with Yao for not going and getting that lob/lead pass. It was a good pass. THat tells you that the lob isnt always going to work, especially with a zone defender guarding against it (this almost always happens when Cato is in the game since hes not an outside threat).
I guess your right, I'm length challenged and haven't had trouble teaching several positions either.... Just how do you "unfront though"? Backdoor....
Seriously, Yao sometimes seals his man off and calls for the lob. The pass, however, isn't made. Francis made a good one in the last game. They need to do that everytime the weak side help isn't there to keep the defense honest.
I think they need to run some offensive sets where Yao is brought to the high post so he can't be fronted. He can knock down the 17 footer, he is a great passer for wings slashing to the hole, and he will demand a double-team leaving so many back door cuts that defenses will have to adjust. Posting up on the block is good once in a while, but defenses aren't having to adjust quite as much because he is just standing still. It's easy to front someone who is never leaving the block, and that is what Yao is stuck doing in this offense.
In my basketball playing experience (pickup games) a defending player can always decide to front a post up player. At which point a lob is necessary, however if there is weakside help then the lob is too dangerous. This is the case when Cato is in the game. Basically when Cato is in, his defender can cheat on the weakside because Cato is not an offensive threat. Now with the cheating defender. A lob pass is much more difficult and dangerous. A possible solution would be to play MO with Ming which would occupy the cheating defender and open up the Lob if the defender is fronting. And Ming needs to catch and dunk.
He needs to make himself BIg...Too many times, he is being coutreous with his elbows...I say stick them out, and give yourself room...spread the legs a little more, to create better foot positioning as you make a move to the basket...Normally, this shortens you up, and makes it difficult to pass out, but he can overcome this since he is so tall...
Yao just needs to learn that as soon as the ball leaves the passers hands, he should rotate a LITTLE bit, and give the guy fronting him a slight bump. This very small bump which the referees would ignore, if you've ever played basketball, you're know that ittakes away your readiness and balance to jump. You kinda just try to jump and stumble forward AFTER that.
I made a thread about this the other day. I think the simple solution is for Yao to stop trying to set a pick for the wing man to get open. That guy should and can get open by himself.
The best way to attack the defense when being fronted is the lob pass. In order to get it to work, Yao must pin the fronting defender down and wait for the pass to go over the defender. What I have seen so far this year with this kind of situation is that the guards tend to wait too long to initiate the lob pass and that allows the weak side help to rotate over. With more practice, we should be able to perfect the lob pass and make the defense think twice before fronting Yao.
remember the play we talked about in the SA game? It would be a crystal clear example of a play instituted to take the front away...
