#1 Nausiating Excuse This Season: JVG Not Utilizing Yao Properly

I agree with you that Yao is very inconsistent and shows very little emotion but as far as tonight he was being fronted and then doubled when he did get the ball. Besides with the way Deke played tonight he should have gotten more playing time than Yao.

 

Yao didn't get the ball even close to enough tonight. His shot attempts should have been double what they were. Some of that may be his fault, some of it may be JVG's fault for designing plays that get him the ball too late in the shot clock, some of it may be other players' faults for not trying hard enough to get him the ball. Whatever the reasons are isn't really the point though, the point is that there are problems concerning Yao's shot attempts, and they need to be addressed.

 

Hasnt everyone been saying that for the past 2 seasons now.

 

Great post. Yao struggles in this kind of game because he doesn't have the quickness, strength or agressiveness to overcome the "sandwich" defense athletic teams like Phoenix utilize - one man in front, one man behind.

This will continue to be a problem for Yao until he can find a way to secure the ball in the post with players on him. The defensive rule changes haven't helped, but he has to adjust.

Also, he needs to take that ball and, in many cases, be a black hole. The guy shoots a high percentage and is almost ALWAYS the better option than the perimeter player who feeds him the ball. On at least 4 occassions tonight, he gave up the ball after seeing a double team. At some point, he's got to say, "Screw the double team! I'm going to the basket!"

Yao not getting the ball enough has very little to do with the "system" run by JVG and a LOT to do with how defenses play Yao. Athletic teams have a way of negating his presence and the only way to stop that overplaying is for Yao to become more assertive in the post and not allow guys to slap the ball away from him.

 

Indeed, but I didn't so much support them then. The guy was too raw.

This time, I watched the few times Yao got the ball in the post, and he was making excellent moves to the hoop. He was getting to the basket at will. Yes, he missed a number of close ones, but they were in-and-out type deals on good shots. Just because he misses one or two doesn't mean you go away from him!

I was tearing my hair out the whole game at his lack of playing time and his lack of getting the ball even when he had good position. He was being guarded by a 6'10 guy for most of the game! Give him the damn ball!

 

Maybe he needs to decide to play the 1 instead so that he can dribble the ball all the way from the backcourt, make spin moves in the paint for the layup.

 

Watching the game, i feel like it isn't Yao's fault...i mean how do you expect him to do anything if he ain't getting the ball. The offense doesn't seem to run through him at all. And it's funny how the commentators compare Yao stats against Amare and how Amare had the advantage over Yao after 1st half....give me a freaking break...Yao isn't even playing much and if he did play...he didn't get the ball much at all...

I don't understand why the initial pass into the post is always a fake pass even though Yao is already post up and ready to receive the ball....why do they AlWAYS do that??? They swing the ball around instead of passing to Yao initially ...why??? WHat kind of dumb play is that?? They keep doing this even at the beginning of the season...it's like they have to fake pass to Yao and swing back to him later in order to make this thing work. C'mOONN just GIVE HIM DA BALL and let him work....there is no need to fake. It's not like Yao isn't opened.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking the whole game.

 

"guys like lebron, kg, td, shaq, kobe and other show night in and night out. "

All these guys can handle the rock. Bring the ball up the court. Yao DEPENDS on someone to get him the ball. A coaching philosphy, a decent point guard. A decent entry pass.

He has none of the above.

 

He also has no constant aggression, determination and consistency when out on the court.

He has all the talent he needs....all the tools to do it...all the things needed to shine.

He has his moments; diving on the floor for loose balls on a couple of plays; going after Amare when going up for the dunk a couple times; that one play where he was absolutely determined to score (on his first basket).

If Yao had that kind of focus all game long he would be a monster. But he only shows it in brief flashes....then becomes the guy the smaller guards slap around, shove and disrespect.

It's so damn frustrating.

 

perhaps yao struggles because we have no player (including t-mac) capable of hitting that open 3 on a consistent basis when yao draws the double team fronting defense, night in, night out.

if this team can surround yao with competent 3 point shooters, then perhaps other teams in the league won't dare and couldn't afford to double up yao all the time.

and thus make it easier and encourages the guards to pass more to yao.

you and daddy seems to blindly attribute much of the loss on yao's shoulder. while failing to see that our guards' inability to knock down open shots are the key contributors to many of our losses.

T-Mac's shooting has been way off, and he needs to drive to the hole more than jacking up the rushed jump shots. and he has not been enthusiastic in trying to setup yao lately.

 

ha, who was the guy who predicted that yao would get bashed if the rockets lost to phoenix? It's like the haters don't even a watch a game, they just see a loss and they salivate to start a ridiculous thread.

I do blame Yao for some things and yes i do think that at times that he does cost us some games. He's still too timid in his 3rd year and no doubt he still has flaws in his game. But where is the rationale for blame this particular game? Yao basically got frozen out this game.

Oh, and you know what to whoever started this thread, I'm still going to blame JVG for not utilizing Yao correctly. Hell, I'll take it a step further and say he's not using McGrady to his strengths either. T-Mac doesn't need to be jacking up shots while shooting 30% for the night. It's about time JVG introduced T-Mac and Yao to each other because to me, every night it's like they're playing for the first time together.

 

To those who claims that JVG utilizes Yao properly, please answer me this question. It's obvious we cannot dump it in on every possession, then what is Yao's role, in JVG's system, in the offensive sets that is not low post based? What is Yao's role in the possessions that is not inside out? The big dummy that fight hard for position then go out to the perimeter to set useles picks? Furthermore, what is the play that's designed for Yao to score? I don't see Yao as having a clear role in non low post possessions. JVG doesn't know how to use Yao. Plain and simple. It's pathetic to kill the outside jumper of a 7'6" gunner. It's pathetic to have a guy who can see and pass over any one on the court to just be a dummy on pick and rolls or collect points on the misses. It's pathetic to pull Yao out when he's smothering Amare because the team don't know how to involve Yao in the offense. It's pathetic for someone like Yao to average 13 shots a game. It has everything to do with coaching. The Shaqnization of Yao is plainly wrong on many levels. First, Yao is a finesse center. Second, there's no players who can shoot from the outside consistently. Third, they can't get Yao the ball.

 

The Rockets perimeter players don't seem to have a problem getting the ball to Mutombo in the post. But Mutombo spreads himself out horizontally. Yao's lack of footspeed means the target for the passer is almost entirely a vertical one. IOW, Mutombo is nearly as tall, but holds defenders off better allowing him to be a much wider horizontal target.

Please don't tell me that Yao gets doubled and Deke doesn't...I've got plenty of tape of Yao being single covered where he drops the ball if it's not a nearly perfect pass. Case in point...Barry's pass that skipped off of Yao's hands. And it's the same 3 point shooters (or worse) spreading the floor for Deke.

I'm glad we got Yao...but to paraphrase Magic Johnson..."at this level, everyone has skills. Success comes from what's between your ears". If your always the tallest player on the floor. And your always the slowest player on the floor...then you demand the ball in the low post and punish the smaller players. That's certainly what they are trying to do to you when they sprint up the floor.

And for those obsessed with shot count? It's hard to get a FGA when your on the bench in foul trouble.

Yao...we love ya, big fella. But it's time now to get a bad attitude and bring it with you every night. It's an equalizer for a lack of footspeed.

 

I agree with you post. I dont think there is any question that Yao needs to take it to the next level. It all comes down to intensity. Yao has it in spurts. Ususally when he has been embarrised.

It's what sets apart the average players from the great players. The intensity players bring to the court EVERY NIGHT. Consistancy is the key.

 

Last night I saw John Barry feed Yao without much problem.
When Yao was doubled he would pass back out to John, repost and received the ball again and got several good shot attempts. No one else on the team did the second entry pass to him. That means Johan is making an attempt to get the big guy the ball while others are not puttting that much effort into getting him involved.

Mark

 

I disagree - the problem does lie with coaching first and then Yao.

1. Yao is rarely given the ball when we run the ball up the court. Instead, we have to run through the motions of screens and picks and then give him the ball. There have been countless times I have seen that when Yao receives the ball when he posts up the first time, he gets a good shot. Unfortunately, this has not happened a lot.

2. In the last 2 years, we had a good grasp of what Yao can do, and what he needs to learn to do. This season, there is very little improvement on the learning front. We still b**** about the same points that we have been doing the last two years. Either Yao cannot be taught, or the coaching staff (read Ewing) does not know what or how to teach.

3. When Yao gets hot, we decide to take the ball away from him. There have been plenty of times when the defense has no answer for Yao (he makes 3-5 shots in a row) and then we suddenly stop passing him the ball. Here is the fault of the coach. When he sees a player hot, he should make it a priority to milk that cow until the defense adjusts. Unfortunately, our players take matters into their own hands while the coach simply watches with a scowl on his face.

-Tariq

 

tariq -

I don't know which Rockets you are watching but Yao has the lowest +/- of any player in the Rockets rotation. Mutombo is +6.0 and Yao is -5.8. They have the same teammates. Time to take off the Yao-colored glasses.