Yaron Talpaz Commentator & Reporter, Sport 5 Channel, Israel Playing the wrong way Watching the Houston Rockets playing time after time really teaches you how not to play Steve Francis dribbles the ball. At least 8 seconds go by. Yao Ming kind'a walks to the top of the key to kind'a set a pick. 5 more seconds tick away. Francis passes to Cuttino Mobley who either shoots immediatley or thinks about passing inside to Yao who in the meantime is trying to get good position with his back to the basket. 5 more seconds have passed on. Someone has to force the shot. Nothing but rim. They miss again. Coach Jeff Van Gundy said after his Rockets scored 71 points in a loss to the Pacers that they are having problems against good defenses. He's right. Francis is a great player but not always a great point guard. Good teams have figured out the Rockets. Front Yao Ming, be aggressive with him, double team him, and that's it. Yao is a great passer for a big guy, but the players around him are not consistent shooters. For A scorer like Mobley it hardly makes a difference if there's a hand in his face. When he's hot, he can score on everyone. When not, like against Indiana, he'll miss everything and he's not the only Rocket who's like that. They don't move the ball well, but even when they do, they don't have players who will always capitalize. Watching Yao, it's hard not to think that he's frustrated. taking only 4 shots against the Pacers is bad for him and the team. it's not only Francis's fault. Yao sometimes struggles to get position. But even when he does, players are not moving around him. Why don't they watch the Kings a little bit? Van Gundy & Rockets management should really think about this. They don't want an unhappy Yao and that will happen if things don't improve on the offense. This team is supposed to reach the playoffs this season. If not, and the offense still struggles, they should consider major changes. He does have a point
I remember against the Lakers the Rockets getting shots off quickly in the pick and roll. This milking the clock down lets the defense set and be comfortable recognizing what play the Rockets are going to run. I do notice Yao setting picks freeing the a Rocket player who does not have the ball. This freed up player than gets passed the ball quickly for a shot. It's been moderately successfull. Yao needs to shoot more jumpers.
The part about the unhappy Yao is interesting. I think everyone knows Yao's 1st choice was not Houston but rather Golden State. What if the Rockets tank this season and the next? Eddie Griffin wanted to go back home to play basketball. His emotional state was unstable, and he wanted to have his family nearby. What about Yao? Yao is not his own man. He still feels the ties.
"In the Indiana game, we did not score very well, but he played very, very well," Rockets assistant coach Tom Thibodeau said. "He made a lot of great plays and great decisions that resulted in wide-open shots we missed. When we graded his floor game, it was probably as high as it's been all year. A different view of SF in Indiana's game??
Yeah, it's "interesting" alright. I'm sure some Israelie version of Craig Roberts really has all the inside info on Yao Ming's state of mind...
Stewardess: Would you like something to read?? Old lady: Do you have anything light?? Stewardess: How about this pamphlet: "Famous Jewish Sports Legends"???
The weird part is, the original post is taken from nba.com's new blog - the first three bloggers are doc rivers, rebecca lobo and... this Israeli commentator. Me no understand.
Why do we care what "Israeli" people think of our game play. Its not like we would care if say some argentinian reporter writes that Argentinia thinks that the rockets have a major problem
