It looks like Yao is turning it up a notch, he has been aggressive this whole first half now against the Clippers. This could be "the game"....right before the playoffs Great work Yao, make them sweat
very very aggressive on the boards... too bad he picked up quick fouls, otherwise hed have 12 rbs and a few blocks already!!!! i mean they friggin had aaron williams on him hahaha
So, the criteria for judging a slump is 2 back-to-back games, but the criteria for judging brilliance is a first half? Jeez people, patience is good.
no, I'm just saying he hasn't been aggressive the past 5-10 games, of course he had the brace and just came of an injury, but still he looked like he wanted to do more this time! he was running well and going after the ball very aggressive
no but you have to admit, if youre watching this game, and have watched the last 12, you can see that yao is getting in MUCH better position for rebounds. unfortunately, once he got winded, he stopped getting in those positions on the offensive end. but still aggressive on defensive boards.
he played a solid game tonight, big step back to full strength. wish he could hold the ball more firmly though, sometimes he keeps being knocked and loses ball.
Its called playing minimum D. There were some encouraging signs, but not to be picky, but there are still some areas of his game that I worry about. The block by Brand on the fade away was one of them... I mean, if you have brand one on one in that position, you should just power yourself in... why bother shooting a fadeaway???? The first foul he had was one of those really stupid over the back fouls that he has always committed since the day he entered the league. Yao just needs to play smarter. The rebounding figures are also slightly inflated IMO. The clippers really didn't go after any of the rebounds tonight. So to sum it up, there were pluses and minuses, lets just hope he can do away with the minuses. Speaking of which, I thought T-mac had a pretty good game tonight despite not shooting too well.
Because he's 7'6 and Brand's only 6'8. The chance of Brand blocking him is maybe 1 out of 10. I'd take that shot too.
If he didn't shoot the fadeaway, he would have been called for a 3 second violation. The Rockets need to do a better job of getting it to him faster when he flashes into the paint. Yao needs to play smarter? He stayed on the court for 7 MINUTES when he had 3 fouls. Not only that, he managed to slice a 10 point clipper lead into 4, when the Rockets seemed about to get blown out, he put them right back in it. Yao had 3 crucial rebounds on the 3 missed shots/FT's by the Clippers near the end of the game. Totals inflated or not, I am fine with it because he got those 3 rebounds. The put-back slam on Brand was pretty darn good too. Sure there were plusses and minuses. I hesitate to call you a Tracy-only fan, but you sure look like one. McGrady shot 12/30, including 2 for his last 10, got JACKED by Quinton Ross one-on-one, was forced into an embarassing airball by Quinton Ross, missed an open shot that could have sealed the game with 25 seconds left, and also made some silly passes that resulted in turnovers. If you're not willing to give Yao the benefit of the doubt, then be prepared for others to critique your boy the same way. McGrady didn't have a great game either, but you're willing to give McGrady the benefit of the doubt despite all the crappy things he did.
I remember Brand blocking that fadeaway before, actually. Yao doesn't really fade that much with the shot, and his release is so slow that it's definitely blockable. All those media people who call it an "unblockable" shot don't know what they're talking about. I've seen that shot get blocked several times. Brand has a ridiculous wing span. He's only 6'8, but he has the length of a legit 7-footer. I'm a big Elton Brand fan. If there's one player in the league who's game I'd compare to Hakeem, it would be him.
You are wrong! Brand has long arms and quickness, and often got a piece of the ball if Yao went shy against him and took a fade away J. Pull out the games Rockets against Clippers, you can count more than 10 blocks Brand blocked on Yao. I hate Yao doing that. He's sometimes so dumb repeating the same mistakes.
No, I'm not a T-mac-only fan, in fact if I was a fan of any player, if would be Yao. I watch Yao's game very closely. Its not that I don't give Yao the benefit of doubt, its that I have been watching him make the same mistakes over and over again. I'm not expecting him to back to full shape, but there are certainly a lot of mistakes that he made that could be avoided by just being careful - the play at the end, Yao could of easily be whistled for the foul instead, the screen play on the inbounds towards the end that left Brand wide open for the 5 ft jumper, a few of those fouls. Just that I'm not complacent, does not mean I'm a hater. You pointed out those 3 rebounds... well, if we played against the spurs or any other elite team, those 3 "weaker rebounds" would of very easily been offensive boards. They were just not convincing rebounds, and so happened to fall his way. I think if I was one, my wording would be different. As the previous poster said, that he would go with the same play of trying to shoot over brand every time due to the height advantage... well, frankly, he has been trying to do the same move over and over again, and that is why it was so predictable. I don't think he would of been called 3 seconds, if Yao actually, just made a one dribble move deeper into the paint for one of his hook shots, or for him to draw the foul on Brand. You're right, T-mac did make a couple of bonehead plays, but his play got Battier the corner 3 towards the end, and it was his penetration that got Yao the putback dunk. Overall, I would say T-mac played a pretty decent game despite his percentages, that one air ball, and losing the ball on two separate occasions -he was more willing to drive into the paint to make plays than he usually does... that is a marked improvement on a relative basis. Perhaps I should of made that much clear. B/c I am a fan of Yao, my expectations for him are abnormally high. I enjoy the fact that Yao padded his stats just as much as the next person, but the fact is, Yao still has much more room to improve upon. He should be carrying out his second quarter surge throughout the game, not just in one quarter. I will not defend T-mac if he plays like crap. Its the first time in my limited posts that I have even commented on his game. If I think Yao played well, I would be indifferent to Yao getting 18/7/3 or 25/14/3. TBH, stats sometimes are very misleading. For example, if chuck gets 10/10, that is clearly equivalent in statistical terms to Jerome James, slightly subpar to the Caveman, but better than Reggie Evans. But we all know the stats that got them their inflated contracts are not even indicative of what their true abilities are when they are counted upon to impact a game. I think the real point I want to get across, is that we should stay grounded, until he can actually sustain his aggression and physical mobility for a few games, and not be inclined to be so elated by his performances and make the same mistake that we did we he had his 37 point outburst against the Magic.
Your post is very funny and the part that I quoted above is the funniest segment. Weaker rebounds and convincing rebounds. I hear rebounds can be emotional too. So how many happy rebounds and sad rebounds have Yao got tonight?
