Yesterday's game is a good examle. Shaq has no outside shots, Yao is not shaq, he can play both high and low post, I bet he will make around 50% of his outside jumpers, and I think he is a better outside shooter than Cat. Yao wil be more efficient on 50:50 high/low play. That's the way he should play from now on against any team, not just for Lakers. Also more outside game will save him some energy for better inside game, and open lanes for his teammates if the opponent's center come out to guard Yao.
Hmmm better than Cat? I think your getting carried away there.. But i liked what i saw yesterday becuase instead of just going to the post he stepped back and took an outside shot. I know alot of people on the BBS have been trying to get that messages accross including me. Make the big men come out side too if they dont want to pop a shot up. Just dont use Yao's inside game use his outside game as well.
I and many more seemingly more knowledgeable posters have been saying the same thing. I even suggested playing Yao at Power Forward in offensive sets. I think JVG wants to Yao to become a traditional center which is why he is playing him down low but last night's game may be a sign of change. On a related note the more I think about Yao's skills the more I think that his ideal coach would be Don Nelson who has been known to play big men at the top of the key and as outside shooters.
I think Yao is probably making a better percentage of those jumpers than his hook shots and fadeaways. Yao expends more energy on those hook shots and fadeaways too. How much energy does it take for Yao to shoot a jumper? It can't be that much.
I know Van Gundy is a stat-monger. You'd think he would have tried going to Yao's jumper a few times in the 2nd half with the lead dwindling. Yao hit both his jumpers in the 1st half. If Yao was bricking everything from outside, I'd have a different opinion.
I am still with JVG on how to play Yao Ming in spite of last night's game. Yes, Yao can shoot those outside jumpers unguarded, but other Rocket players, excluding Cato maybe, can make the same shot when unguarded. Besides, it worked in yesterday's game because Shaq won't come out defending the PNR, most other centers will come out and Yao's shots will become guarded, do you really want your center to shoot a guarded outside jumper? I also think Yao Ming is still developing his game, shooting too many outside jumpers will make him at most a Dirk, but Yao can't drive to the basket like other big men such as Dirk or KG. Finally, Yao Ming has already had the ability to draw some fouls on the opponents' big men, playing him at the high post will negate that advantage; to me, one reason Shaq is so valuable is he can draw fouls and quickly disrupt your rotation routine. Yao may never become as powerful as Shaq, but I believe he can become a foul drawing machine like Shaq as he becomes more experienced and gets more respect from the referees, and the only way to do that is to play low post and bang.
I disagree. Yao is not Shaq, and will never be that type of player. He should be like 50% of Brad Miller, who can pass and shoot jumpers, and 50% Shaq, who can sometimes dominate at low. make either way 100% is wrong.
Playing Yao at the top of the post isn't just a matter of getting open jumpers but setting up the pick and roll which worked very well last night. Having Yao screen off quick defenders running with Francis or Mobley forces slower big men to rotate to pick them up. This allows them to drive to the hoop, shoot or pass back to Yao for a shot over a smaller opponent on a switch.
