How do you attack the basket when you get all those bum calls on a regular basis. Yao has skills, but also limitations. If he can fall so easily, what makes you think he could still go up strong while being hacked. Did you ever try to maintain your balance while falling and holding to a ball ? You either landed like a timber or let go the basketball. I like Yao, but not with blind faith. Just read my sig.
Yao needs to be willing to fall. Let him go up strong get hacked and then fall. That is the kind of thing that will inspire his team and make him a leader. He will also get to the fall line. I want Yao leaving it all on the floor. Let him put his body on the line. Also the more he works on his game, balance and quickness his falls will be less.
You still don't get it. As far as falling, don't worry about Yao. I'm sure that's one category he leads so far for 7-footers in NBA. My points was Yao has a tendency to fall because of his size, proportions, and slow reflexes. Tall people with relatively short arms and legs tend to fall much easier. That's why it's "NATURALLY' very difficult for Yao to go up strong and maintain his "BALANCE" while being "HACKED". It's very easy to lose control of the ball when you are losing your balance. Instinctually, one would try to use the arms to maintain his balance. THAT'S A VERY SIMPLE FACT OF BODY MECHANICS. I never said Yao shouldn't try to go up strong to the basket. I simply said it's harder for Yao to do it successful on a regular basis, especially when he got hacked repeatedly and didn't get the call. You the one who said how the refs make the calls is negligible. All Yao needs to do just be "aggressive" and go up strong to the basket. And my sarcastic responses were to have Yao jump 2 feet off the ground, run a 100 m sprint in 10 sec., etc. Yao has limitations just like everybody else, just in case you don't know. Please read my sig and give it a thought. Isn't it ironic Yao loses most of the opening tips, while many of you think its easy for him to grab 20 rebounds with a bunch of block shots each game. If he cant do it under no pressure, what makes you think it would be easier for him while he got boxed out, or even sandwiched between defenders inside the paint in the game.
I understand Yao has limitations. But that doesn't mean he can't regularly go strong to the basket, most of the hacks against him, and his TO's happen when he brings the ball too low. If he keeps it up high, the hacks would either be impossible, or more visible. We cut down on TO's and Yao's taking it strong to the basket isn't hampered by the hacks near as often. I trust that Yao will grow in his skill level, and learn to play while adapting to his size and body type. I understand the conerns there, and that it will need some improvement. But the main I am seeing is the same mistakes over and over again, Yao not being aggressive. That is mental, a matter of attitude, and desire. That is the most important weakness in his game, but not the only one. Once that gets worked out, then adjustments to his balance, speed, etc. can be worked on.
I am really curious why Van Gundy and Ewing haven't pointed it out to Yao. Yao is known to be very coachable.
I don't know. It could be that it is just a habit that is hard to break. I think it didn't matter when playing in China most of the time. He may have developed the habit. It is also kind of natural if someone is lifting off from 2 feet to bring the arms down, to help in the upward momentum of a jump. You would think that the coaches would have drilled that habit out of him by now.
Believe or not, Yao lost more balls when it's high above his head than getting stripped from below. Don't believe me? Just watch tonight game. Need I say many in this BBS have been complaining Yao not able to grab all those rebounds so close to him. Yao got more balls poked out of his hands as soon as he got a hold of them in each game than the fingers you have in your hands. Yao is tall but not unreachable. I always laugh when people complain Yao shouldn't bring the ball down. Everybody, and I mean everbody, almost always NEED to bring the ball down either to shoot or go up strong to the basket. You can't "GO UP" strong if the ball isn't already "DOWN" Shaq brings the ball down for most of his dunks, Hakeem did, so was everybody. The key to avoid being stripped is "awareness" and a quick up and down power move. That is pure strength and athleticism. Yao might be 7'6", but he ain't no any athletic freak of nature. It doesn't matter how hard Yao will try to improve physically. He'll still be a 7' 6" with a relatively narrow shoulder, short arms and legs, and slow in reacting. ONE CAN'T CREATE ATHLETICISM. It's totally up to Yao to learn to play smart and be assertive, not just "aggressive" ending in committing all these stupid fouls, especially when the refs haven't been on his side. Just as important, it's the job of the coach to maximize his players' strengths, rather exposing their weaknesses. Guess whom I might be pointing my finger at.
Yao loses rebounds when they his hands are high. That has to do with boxing out, strong hands, desire, aggressiveness towards the ball, and lack of jumping ability. But Yao does not turn the ball over more when his hands are high. The spurt where we were coming back and Yao lost the ball while trying that spin move is a perfect example. If Yao had kept his hands high during the spin, he wouldn't have had the TO. I have to disagree with you about everybody bringing the ball down. Of course nobody keeps their hands up 100% of the time. I'm talking about when making a move in traffic. Hakeem also agrees with me. He talks about different centers in the league and how some of them are 'little' big men because they are big centers, but they don't always have their arms up, and other centers are 'big' big men, because they are always playing with everything up high. I agree the coach isn't utilizing his players the best, and Yao will never be the most athletic center in the game. He does need to keep his hands up in traffic, and have the desire to grab the rebounds, passes, and to dominate each and every game.
Which spin move you're talking about. The one he was clearly slapped in the forearm with no call , or the one closer to his wrist. Before you could spin, you need to "DRIBBLE", unless you're making a catch and quick turnaround fadeaway, which by the way is not an easy shot to make, and you also won't get much lift from it. Yao's shot could easily be blocked if he tries that on a regular basis. And you can't just dribble in the air, nor "spinning and spinning" to the basket without dribbling, you know? As good as Hakeem, it's still common for him to have some dribbles with those dreamy spin moves he has. I must confess I didn't get a chance to watch the whole game tonight because of a late night tennis game myself. From a quick review of the game on my tape, I could still see Yao got more rebounds poked away even he had his man boxed out than having his ball stripped away "cleanly" because he brought the ball down "too low". Finally, whenever you're making a move toward the basket in traffic, unless you're 5 feet away, you bet you still need to dribble to get there. It's alway easy to commit turnovers whenever you try to make your move in traffic, just ask SF.
Ignorant? Look at the record... 6-10. The only people ignorant are the ones that still think the Rockets have a good team.
The one in the third quarter. Again, the fouls would get called if he had the ball up high. The slaps would be on his shoulder, and nowhere near the ball. That in turn would lead to less people fouling him at all. Yao was bringing the ball from down low to up high as he made the move, and turned it over. You can be closer than five feet and make a sprin move to creat space to get a shot off near the basket. Yao Ming is a post up player and a lot of his catches do come near the basket. As for the dribble, that shouldn't be a problem. Dribbling with your back to the defender creates space, after dribbling Yao should keep the ball up high for any move he was going to make. On a catch in the post Yao may not need to dribble at all. Do you include a rolleyes in every post you make?
I feel like wasting my times and talking to a wall here. Don't even feel like to counter-punch every points you just made. More often than not, Yao has his ball stripped when he was backing down his defender on his back. It was the help defense of the point guard either from the blind side or the opposite elbow that did most of the stripping. By the way, it's not "a rolleyes", I almost always like to use a pair. Bye.
Yes he turns it over then too. But I think the best thing to do is solve one problem at a time. The one that seems the easiest to solve is not keeping the ball up high. It may take some pracitice over and over to break the habit but it can be done. The difference between that and losing a rebound is that the kind of TO I am talking about usually comes when he would be shooting. That is a shot we don't get, and a shot they do get. The other thing is aggressiveness. If Yao wants the ball and goes for them like he wants them on rebounds Yao can get more. Often Yao is flat footed. I don't mean he needs to jump super high, but he should be moving toward the ball. From the Detroit game another good exampe is in the 4th quarter where Yao was inside and should have had position. He thought the ball was going to come to him and was standing waiting for it. McD from the Pistons aggressively went after the ball and beat Yao to it. That wouldn't have happened if Yao had gone after the ball. That is the kind of aggressiveness and fire we need from him.
