Is fronting Yao as effective as it looked yesterday?

Fronting Yao last night wasn't effective or he wouldn't have taken 21 shots, most of which were pretty good looks. Judging from Yao's crappy free throw shooting against the Spurs and the way his shots were really clanging off the rim, I'd say that his touch was off and that's it. Normally, Yao woulda gone 12-21 instead of 7-21 given the looks he had.

 

i think yao rushed up all of his shots last night, i dunno why
i honestly think he could have taken the shots he wanted most of the time if he just slowed downhe'll probalby look at the tape and realize that
the big fella will be alrite

 

One reason I'd really like to see Bonzi get it together and be out there for those situations instead of Juwan. When the defense starts that fronting crap Bonzi gets the ball and just rams it down their throats. He'll be using Yao as a screen to shoot over after he forces the fronting defender into Yao and shoots over the whole mess. In fact, with Bonzi in there at the top when the defender starts to front Yao, Yao should just stand there as the pick and let Bonzi drive right by him to the rim. Bonzi's basic game in the playoffs where he had so much success was just piling his defender into the paint with face up drives or short post up drives to the basket.

The other way is to get actual efficient catch and shoot players on the floor that can bomb away at a 40% clip from 3, or to do what Lil Chuckie does and drag your defender clear down to the baseline under the basket support. They gotta go with him or he gets the feed for the layin from McGrady.

The absolute worst thing is a flat footed, slow player standing at the top of the key, whose jumper is hit and miss at a 40% clip from 2, who can't shoot the 3 ball, and has no athleticism or quickness to be effective down low, so they stand there at the top of the key, ruining the spacing on the PnR for Yao and their defender clogs up the paint area and fronts Yao on any entry pass.

Sorry guys but as long as Juwan is out there with Yao, you are going to see a heavy dose of fronting defense on Yao as defenders sag off Yao or sag off somewhere else and rotate off of Juwan. Watch it happen again tomorrow night if Juwan is in there with Yao again.

 

It only becomes effective when the Point Guards/ Playmakers are unable to pass over to Yao. We need to train at doing just that and we can become good at it.

 

I have never understood why we can't punish teams more for fronting Yao. We have good shooters at the 3 and 4 who can hit the mid range jumper. Battier and Howard are decent at this, and I think Padgett and Novak could also be used. If a team is fronting Yao, put these guys at the high post and either get these guys open shots or let them swing the ball into Yao.

 

Bonzi can also become the focal point in the post when Yao and Mac take a breather. Over the season, I believe JVG need to develop an effective secondary unit to cover when the main guys are resting.

 

Great observation! That was exactly the way we lost to Dallas in game 3 and 4 two years ago! Please Tmac, Control yourself!

 

1.but if JVG insists on pounding it into yao, then battier and howard wont recieve a pass for a open shot....but if yao doesnt get his touches then everyone will b**** that yao didnt get enough touches...JVG is a in a no-win situation...

2.the reason yao doesnt get into the high post is because jvg is so predictable and stubburn he wont change his gameplan

3.poor pg's, head is a shooting guard, and alston just plan sucks

 

I think I speak for everyone when I ask "why are you on this board?"

all the posts which I have read consists of your constant degradation of JVG and Yao

I know Amare is your lover boy....maybe you are on the wrong board

 

good point, there's a theory that because yao's in the paint area, there's no room for guard penetration, i just absolutely hate this b.s.

TD is in the paint area alot, and he played pretty well along with parker and manu. surrounding yao with 3pt shooters is a good idea, but should not be the only one.

 

Actually, if you watch the games carefully, Yao actually improved by miles in fighting for position and setting himself up for easy baskets. The passes around the perimeter is the key here. Our perimeter players need to be able to feed him at the right angles and right time.

I actually think that Yao had his way in getting position, it was just the finishing that was off. There was one sequence where he forced TD to foul him, by catching the ball around the key, and then powering himself to the basket. That's the improvement I have been seeing from Yao, and it is certainly pleasing. In the past, a bad game for Yao would of been 10-12 points or lower, now, its 20 pts.

As for Yao clogging up the paint. That is so far away from the truth. He provides screens for players that drive into the lane, which completely frees them up. Also, Yao is only on one side of the basket, the other side is virtually empty. If the man guarding Yao were to help on defense that leaves Yao virtually wide open for a dunk. If the player doesn't help, its basically a free basket. Either way, it is definitely beneficial to have Yao in the paint.

 

I agree w/ the observation Yao was tired. It's not an excuse, just the way it is. He had a very physical game against the best center duo in the NBA w/ Shaq and Zo. Then he went against the Spurs, who quietly are one of the most physical teams on defense. The Spurs were pushing on Yao like me pushing my car when it's broken down in the middle of the road.

It's a long season and I think Yao is going to have to get used to it. He's getting the same treatment that Shaq has gotten most of his career. Everyone knows how good Yao is now so he's going to be the focal point of the defense. And because of Yao's size he's going to be guarded the same way they guard Shaq: hack, push, sumo wrestling, whatever. Now it's up to the refs to call the fouls accordingly. Like I said, it's no excuse, fatigue was obvious and Yao's shots were off.

 

The ONLY reason SA is able to effectively pursue this strategy is because the perimeter defender puts intense pressue on the ballhandler and the entry pass and the weak side defender also sags to cover Yao from behind.

This combination makes an effective pass to Yao EXTREMELY difficult.

In theory, there are two ways to combat:

• Have the entry passer take it to the hoop. It seems like only Snyder, Wells and TMac are capable of this from the wing.
  Swing it quickly to the other side.

 

This is by far Yao's best season for the Lob pass, i think Hayes and Bonzi being on the court will help us win games like sanantonio more than Yao, he is playing at a pretty high level

 

Right and as a consequence, the offense bogs down because by the time the Rox guards can get the ball into Yao the shot clock is in the vacinity of 10 seconds or less. The key I believe is to make it hard for the other team to do this but that would mean that the Rockets guards would have be of enough of an offensive concern that the opposing coach would be reluctant to leave them alone. At this point in time they are not. This strategy continues to work against the Rockets because when things get tight as they did in the 3rd & 4th period of the SA game, their (Rockets) shooting percentage drops into the 30 percentile range and no one appears to be able to make their own offense like a Dwayne Wade or a Manu Ginnobli. This is where Bonzi Wells (if he ever gets in shape and decides he wants to play this season) can be a difference maker because he most definitely can get these tough points. This is also why quite a few folks here (myself included) thought that V-Span & Novack would have tilted things back in their favor especially if Novack had started bombing three's when Yao had 3 to 4 guys surrounding him in the paint.

 

He can't do any bombing unless he gets to fly on a mission. I'm watching and waiting to yell "Threefer" Novak at my TV screen. Maybe someday.

 

People front Yao frequently every game, and every game he tears them up. And he will CONTINUE to tear them up.

The Spurs game was nothing more than a bad game against a great team. This is the same Yao who lit up the Spurs last March. He had a bad night. (And he also didn't get any calls.)

 

fronting yao is very effecive, especially when it a big athletic and active guy like elson. Plus, the team defense is important. That being said, it still cant stop yao, not often will he shoot 7/21