http://www.nyunews.com/sports/columnists/8549.html Hey everyone, Check this article out... I thought it was pretty accurate, and fair. He criticizes Yao without bashing him, and he points out Yao's strengths as well. Yao stuck in a junior-year slump by Steven Higashide Columnist Yao Ming has been anointed the Next Great Center by everyone from Chad Ford to Bill Walton. But in his third year, he seems to have regressed. Compared to last season, Yao's numbers are down almost across the board. His field-goal percentage, rebounds, blocks and assists per game are all lower than last year, while his fouls and turnovers per game have gone up. What's wrong? Could it be fatigue? After all, Yao played for the Chinese national team during the Olympics and carried the team through the qualifying round the summer before, meaning that he's played basketball practically nonstop since he entered the NBA. Or is it, as so many have said, that Yao and Tracy McGrady simply aren't meshing? Well, those may be contributing factors, but Houston's problems - and Yao's problems - are even simpler. The trade that brought over McGrady has decimated Houston's core; the Rockets gave up Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato to get McGrady and the ineffective Juwan Howard. Last season, Francis and Mobley carried the backcourt; each played more than 40 minutes a game, and besides McGrady, no guards have been able to fill that space. Coach Jeff Van Gundy has tried Tyronn Lue, Charlie Ward, Andre Barrett and Bobby Sura at the point, with middling results. The player Yao misses most, however, is not Mobley or Francis, but Cato. Last season, Cato routinely defended the opposing team's best post player, allowing Yao to stay out of foul trouble, stay fresh on offense and patrol the lane. Cato has been replaced at the power forward slot by Maurice Taylor and Juwan Howard, who have essentially the same skills. Both can score in the low post, but neither can intimidate - Howard and Taylor have combined to block just eight shots in 18 games. Cato, meanwhile, is blocking two and a half shots a game for Orlando, which was leading its division at press time. But the onus isn't on Houston's front office, which took a chance on gaining a potential Hall of Famer. Management has plenty of time to grab a tough power forward here and a competent point guard there. No, it's Yao who needs to push himself. As an NBA freshman he was a curiosity but obviously talented. As a sophomore he came into his own. Now he must decide how high he wants his career to go, and how badly he wants to improve. It isn't hard to see where improvement is needed. Yao is just not comfortable playing inside. In the low post, he doesn't get his moves off quickly enough; under the basket he fumbles the ball as if he's Kurt Warner. Something's got to change. Rockets assistant coach and former Knick Patrick Ewing might have been a good center, but he isn't the right teacher for Yao. When Ewing's professional career began, he opted to use the jump shot as his primary weapon, at the expense of his rebounding and defensive talents. Yao is already pursuing this strategy, and it's a dangerous one. Relying on jump shots might have helped Ewing become an offensive presence, but if Yao goes down this path he'll be nothing more than a clone of Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Yao Ming can be so much more than that - and if the Rockets want to use Yao like Big Z, how about running some pick-and-rolls? The Rockets need to hire someone like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, because Yao has the size, the tools and the smarts to become a virtuosic post player. But does he have the will? Some players have the tools to dominate but not the desire to lead or the selfishness to attack. Rasheed Wallace could shoot the three, work the post, run the floor and pass the ball, but he couldn't handle the stress of being a leader in Portland, and it showed both on and off the court. There are some promising signs. During the Summer Olympics, Yao was as passionate as Kevin Garnett, ripping into the Chinese national team for its lax defense and ordering his teammates to listen to the coach. "Think about those old players staying at home watching TV," he said, disgusted after a blowout loss to Spain. "Think about how they feel about this game." One week later, Yao was almost in tears after China defeated Serbia-Montenegro, which had won the gold medal at the 2002 World Championships. Yao has shown the kind of leadership that defines great players. It's up to him to bring that leadership stateside. • Steven Higashide is a columnist for Washington Square News. E-mail him at shigashide@nyunews.com
I believe that both of these statements are true. We need someone like Kareem who can show Yao how to maximize his height and skills.
hmmmm, good article!!! We all remember the losing streak when Cato went out with an injury last year. We lost like 4 or 5 in a row. Yao needs to step up, we need to get a power forward, and we needs some new coaches...Problems fixed.
I remembered that stretch when Cato was out. Although Cato has a fat contract, he was under-appreciated by the fans. As for your signature, when TMac said we got people who can score, we don't need just any scorer, we need someone for the 3 pointer.
An insightful analysis. Why can't the Rockets see these things? And if they do, why don't they fix them?
I disagree on his point about the jumpshots. That shot is a part of Yao's game, and I don't have any problem with him taking them. The problem is, his shot has disappeared. The biggest impact Ewing and JVG have had on Yao's game is in the loss of creativity. We never see any of nifty moves that Yao had in his rookie year. I still remember Yao faking both J. Oneal and Brad Miller out of their shoes during his rookie year.
A good rebounder will help, but at the same time, Yao is big enough and strong enough to be swiping down his own boards. He just needs to learn how. With Mo, you could say undersized and at least justify it. But Yao has the size. He just needs to learn how to get to the ball and snatch it. He's capable of getting 13 boards a game (especially if he stops deferring on the free throw misses). He's proven that. And I don't think resting on Defense is a good idea. I would argue that being active on defense can fire up your offense. While I understand resting for offense, I'd rather have the player get the adrenalin rush that comes from good defense.
Yeah i agree. If Yao can hit that mid-range jumper then that opens up other parts of his game. However, this season he has not been able to hit that shot (hopefully he can regain his outside shot once the elbow pad comes off). As far as Ewing....FIRE HIM. Like the article said we need someone else to come in and coach Yao. however, unless Van Grumpy gets fired as well i dont see Ewing leaving.
Hey, out of curiosity, why can't we bring Cato back to us? What's stopping us from doing that? Does anyone know? Salary cap?Weisbrod? Any thoughts?
