Chronic: Misconceptions, Part I: "Yao needs to get tougher'

I think Yao's skills make him more able to move around against traditional slower footed bigs but don't mean much against smaller guys. Plus holding the ball lower might not be a factor against a Shaq as he's not going to swat down at it or poke up at it but a small guy is looking for that very thing.

 

I firmly believe Yao was slowed against the Jazz by his injury. We will never know how much. It really pains me he wasn't able to (or didn't) give his best in the playoff series. It was a real disappointment we didn't see the new and improved Yao that showed up late in the 05 season (and that started off this season) combined with the ol' T-Mac from 2005. I'm thinking now that may never happen in the playoffs but there is always hope.

In terms of toughness, keep in mind one thing: Non-game workouts are a completely different issue from on-court effort. Between games and before games, Yao seems as dedicated as maybe anyone in NBA history. I applaud him for that exemplary discipline not shared by most NBA players. However, it's clear Yao's effort DURING GAMES varies quite a bit. Some of it is fatigue, which will be a career-long issue with him. Sometimes though you can see he gets discouraged and doesn't try as hard because defenses get physical with him.

Mental toughness during games is something Yao needs to improve on. He needs to take the same attitude to games that he has when he punishes himself during workouts. It's ridiculous to say he's "soft as tissue" but Yao is definitely no better than average.

 

The only Jazz frontcourt player that outperformed Yao was Boozer...who, conveniently, did not have to guard Yao like Yao had to guard him.

There are few centers in the history of the game who wouldn't have gotten abused defensively the way Boozer was playing, because, as a natural PF, Boozer has the speed advantage. Hakeem would have faired a lot better, and maybe Robinson, too, but you can be damned sure Shaq, Ewing, etc. would have all also gotten abused by a Carlos Boozer hitting 60%+ of his FT line jumpers....you just have to play up on that, letting him, as a quicker player, and a strong finisher, blow by most centers.

Yao is one of the smartest basketball plaeyrs I've ever seen, and he knows what his problem is....and it isn't toughness.

It's speed. He said it almost immediately after the game 7 loss. He needs to get faster, not tougher.

Yao might get a couple more dunks if he gets "tougher", but he'll foul out a lot sooner, because that 1 offensive foul a game will turn into 3. The NBA rewards flopping, and you can't get mad at the opponent for doing it. BUT, if you use even the tiniest bit of speed to make a move AROUND your opponent, and then they try an flop, it is a defensive foul everytime.

Misconception = Yao needs to get tougher
TRUTH = Yao needs to get faster

 

Dream might not have totally contained Boozer but I get the feeling he would've scored a lot more against Okur.

 

where did I compare the two except to say they both "talk" You dont need to be a genius to see that Yao is a level below Duncan and Shaq right now.

 

According to this logic, Okur must be tougher than Shaq.

 

yeah okay i have to admit that yao could have picked it up a bit more during the play offs but when your team has no offense outside of tracy and battier who else can really score?

you guys must really be on something to blame yao for being soft. when you have to take a beating like yao does night in and night out on the offensive end and then having to guard someone alot quicker than you, im sure everyone gets tired.

let's take a quick look at our top 4 offensive options during the play offs..

mins FG% 3P% REBS AST PTS
Tracy McGrady 40.0 .394 .250 5.90 7.3 25.3

Yao Ming 37.1 .440 .000 10.30 .9 25.1

Rafer Alston 44.1 .338 .320 6.90 5.0 10.9

Shane Battier 38.9 .451 .442 2.60 2.1 10.3

given that we rely so heavily on yao and tracy, we really have no offensive threat. we have battier but hes a glue guy who takes charges. where was he when we needed him the most? if i remember correctly Hayes was the man who stepped up and take that charge that allowed us to win game 5. ugh just looking at rafer's FGs are killing me, the guy takes so many three's you wonder why he doesn't make more

i'm just tired of ROCKET fans bashing yao for not stepping up during the series, i mean yes he's a franchise player and he SHOULD step but come on our depth was non existent in that series. maybe if we played our rookies or bench more we wouldn't be sitting here complaining again about how yao is soft like a pillow or soft like charmin. you guys do remember he was out for a good 10-15 games right? you can't expect someone who was playing at an MVP level to gain that level back within less than 20 some odd games.

im just really disappointed at the lack of confidence our own fans have in our team..

 

fadeaways vs hook or straight up jump shots? guess which one Yao went to more often than not in the Jazz series?

 

While Okur isn't David Robinson or Shaquille O'Neal on defense, he isn't horrible.

And we know that Hakeem was a 26 ppg, 11 rpg, 3 apg, 3 bpg performer in the post-season. OTOH, I wonder what Hakeem's first round playoff averages look like? IN 88, where the Rockets lost in the first round, he averaged 38 ppg, 17 rpg...but there are other years where they lost in teh first round where he wasn't as good...like 1991 (19/12)....so,

He would have done better, no doubt, but that's because he was a much better player than Yao is.

I guess the point somewhat is, NO, Yao did not get abused in the playoffs. Yes, he played below himself, but the silver lining is he still went 25/10.

And, again, his main problem remains SPEED and QUICKNESS, not toughness or mental ability.

he has other secondary issues to improve on, and I guess you can throw toughness in there, but it would still rank way behind some other secondary issue to work with, like his tendency to start bringing the ball back down on the inside (something he had reduced considerably), his need to improve his roll on pick-and-rolls, etc.

 

Without question, Yao is mentally strong. But physically, he is still not enough. He gets pushed around when he's tired. He doesn't attemtpt to dunk the ball every single chance when he's exhausted and he fails to go all out to get the rebounds after fatigue has kicked in. Blame it on his mammoth frame. Blame it on his injuries if you want. So I'd seriously consider to trade him for Dirk or KG (ideally plus draft picks) if the deal is on the table because Yao's problem is his mammoth frame and you just can't correct it. That said, Yao is a warrior. I beg his mind is thousand times tougher than the internet keyboard warriors on this board who diss our players when hiding behind their PCs.

 

I think the reason Yao plays better against more traditional centers is because he can use his strength and weight against them better without worrying about them flopping. Part of the problem is that even at this day in age refs take Yao out of the game when tweener center/PF position players flop when he bangs with them. In the Utah series I think Yao playing bad was a case of the following factors:

1. Not being at preinjury physical performance levels (ie speed & stamina)
2. Being timid in the paint because he was afraid of getting called for offensive fouls
3. Okur did a really good job of flopping and telegraphing the moves Yao went to after he could not go to his low block power moves.

All the factors mentioned above = Yao seeming soft/not tough enough. Next season I am positive that Yao will make sure to crap on Okur as many times as possible and then people will say "see that is the aggresiveness he was lacking last year"

 

Yeah the Rockets are in better shape after they failed to get out of the 1st round yet again.

 

Yao is tough. He plays through pain and will even play hurt. He busts his ass to get better.

Yao is soft. He does not intimidate other players and keep them out of the lane. He is attacked more than any star center that i can think of. I know part of it has to do with his lack of speed or a vertical, but part of it also has to do with him never laying folks on their ass or putting a chop to them when they attack him or try to rip him. How often do you see folks try to steal the ball from Mutombo?

And he still doesn't dunk enough....

 

Yao is soft.

We need Yao to dominate in the paint. IT's nice that he has range, but he needs to make his living under the basket. He needs to force double teams, and create space for our perimeter shooters.

The inside outside doesn't work, when Yao is being defended one on one by much smaller(height, and weight) players. Yao needed to abuse Okur so badly, that Utah would have had to switch boozer on him, or at least make boozer come on the double team.

We can keep making excuses for Yao. Soon, we'll be just like those losers in Dallas who continue to make excuses for their 7 footer who will never win a title.

 

How was Yao soft when he was playing his best before he got injured?

It is just him. He shows toughness in other ways.

Cut him some slack.

Good thread!