Yao Ming: I can adapt & make changes required by Adelman

Why should he be versatile and creative, if he can't be stopped in the low post? He was approaching that level, and the knee injury set him back. Instead of trying to make him less dominant, we should have him take Hakeem's advice: perfect your post moves and proceed to dominate the game in the low post. Creativity and versatility are overrated. We don't need Yao to be versatile and throw flashy passes. We need him to dominate. The jury is out as to whether he can consistently do that, but I think he can if he continues improving his post moves and keeps bulking up.

Personally, I didn't like the Adelman hire at all. I knew JVG was gone because he lost game 7, but his idea for using Yao was correct. If Adelman makes Yao play in the high post and he ends up like Miller/Divac, then he should be fired.

I agree that longevity is starting to become an issue, but at this point I don't think he needs to change his game to compensate.

 

I don't understand. They keep calling it Princeton offense. But apparently Adelman doesn't run it?

 

CORRECTION to above statement , it should be

"Versitility is good. You need to mix it up in your offense. This will keep the defense guessing and you force opposing DEFENSE to work harder in order wear them out quicker"

 

The more insider we got the better.. thanks to you both as well as many others for all the info you guys have provided. My work day would be a bore without it.

 

They are overrated unless you're a Kobe or Shaq. Otherwise, as our stars have demonstrated by a lack of advancing in the playoffs, you need to be more creative by using the team around you. You don't quite understand the value of Mike James, Stevie, Aaron, or even Bonzi do you? We can't have other people contribute their strengths with Yao clogging the lane all day. I would rather they rotate with spacing so that our slashers can put the defense off balance, then Yao can mop up a bit afterwards. But you'd rather play the JVG offense and sit in the post on the grindstone while the other players predictably sit there and hoist up 3s. Look at the results of the last 4 years and tell me you'd like to do that again.

 

Let me ask you this question: who are the best scorers on this team?

Undoubtedly the answer is Yao and McGrady.

Therefore, the objective of the coach must be to put his main scorers in a position where they can score efficiently. Adelman promises to do this with McGrady, and I hope he does. But he promises to move Yao out to the high post, which will make it harder for him to score, and will make him less efficient, since he will take more jumpers (lower percentage) and shoot less free throws (which he shoots at about 87%). The most effective position for Yao to score is in the low post. He is one of the two best low post players today, according to Shaq.

A coach doesn't rearrange his offense to give lesser players touches at the expense of players who are far and away superior. McGrady deserves lots of touches, and he gets them. SF and James will be given plenty of chances to score, but to redesign the offense around them at Yao's expense is folly, which is what moving Yao to the high post would do. Brooks is an unproven rookie, he is bench fodder right now. Bonzi is a ****** who needs to get himself back in shape before he can contribute at all.

 

You don't like the Adelaman hire? Who'd have guessed when you bring up JVG and compare Yao to Miller/Divac?

Yao's longevity has been a BS argument ever since Yao came here. It's been "win now" every year. JVG's tenure here was marked by putting players around Yao that demanded that he play the way JVG demanded.

History will record Yao did well and the team didn't. Get over it.

Adelman comes in with the concept that Yao needs to absorb less punishment because he's one of the greatest offensive forces in the world and seems almost by design to fade in the 4th qtr. People here have complained about JVG's stubborness in dealing with that for years.

Adelman also has publically said that the load on T-Mac lessened his effectiveness (ball-handler, playmaker & scorer).

Jeez, how did Adelman even get through the 1st interview with Les/Morey?

Wait until you see our offense and defense before you start wretching. I suspect it will take time for Yao, but he's said in these articles the style of play he prefers many times.

Yao's earned the right to do that already. JVG fans must really hate that.

 

He won't end up like Miller/Divac. He'll end up like Hakeem who had a dazzling array of shots close in and a really good midrange jumper.

 

why does every post have to be critical of jvg to prop up adelman. adelman is very good. i think jvg was too. yao was 80% in the playoffs and at full strength would have played better. but now its time to move on and quit the bashing. we have been fortunate to have had 3 really good coaches...rudy, jvg and now coach a

 

I can't speak for everyone, but....

I think JVG was a good coach......but not on the same level as Adelman and Rudy.

I think he was holding the organization back....and thus....

I am VERY happy coach Grumpy is gone.

DD

 

I agree. I do worry about our defense but the stagnation and lack of creativity on the offensive end last year was painful. Especially the stuborness in not utilizing some of the other players off of the bench when our bench was sucking so bad.

I loved JVG but I admit I was ready for a change. I'm very thankful that we didn't end up with someone like Larry Brown which would have challenged my lifelong Rocket's loyalties.

 

ok just wondering...

 

So am I a YOF, or am I a JVGoF? You accused me of both.

Vince Carter prefers letting the game come to him, rather than forcing the action. This is what prevents him from becoming a great player. He has all of Jordan's physical tools, but none of his mentality. If we let players play like they want to, then it is entirely possible they won't fulfill their full potential. I know Yao likes to play on the perimeter, but he should be dissuaded from doing so, because that makes him a lesser player. I want Yao to be the greatest player that he can be; only so can the Rockets win a championship. Having him play like Brad Miller runs exactly counter to that.

We have one of the two best post players in the NBA, and the other one has won 4 rings. Post scoring is at a premium in today's NBA. Why should we not fully exploit Yao's post scoring, giving shots instead to chuckers like SF and James who will hog the ball even if they aren't supposed to?

McGrady will always get his fair share of the touches, and then some. In JVG's offense he could do whatever the hell he wanted (just like in Orlando), and the result was not entirely good. Hopefully Adelman will find a way to get him to score more efficiently. He was an efficient scorer in Orlando based on sheer physical ability, and we saw last year how that started to fail him.

 

Smiting, I am not in disagreement with you that Yao should be used as a powerful offensive force in the low post. However, we know full well Yao is not naturally built like Shaq, which enables him to take relentless pounding from opponents undauntedly year in and year out, but on the other hand has much greater shooting range than Shaq ever does. As dominant as Yao was before his leg injury, he had not yet solved the problems of quicker, more athletic opposing PFs/centers who were willing to go out to play physical against him. Also, inability to deal with aggressive fronting is another issue. JVG's credit in developing Yao is not to be denied, but his stubbornness and lack of resourcefulness have already reached the tipping point of being more detrimental than beneficial to Yao's game and, shall I also say, the Rockets' future. Is it a mere coincidence that Yao was finally able to work with Hakeem? I think not. All hails to JVG's departure. We have more players that can and will contribute. Yao will have more freedom and room to unleash his full repertoire, and have more impact on the team, which goes beyond the nominal 25-10 stat line.

 

First of all Adelman will not move Yao away from the low post. No coach with a functional brain would ever do that. What he would do is to design a few plays that let Yao be a contributing factor when he's in the high post, other than set a screen for TMac.

We all know that the closer you are to the rim, the higher percentage shot you are going to get. Another obvious fact is you will shoot much better when you are facing less defense. If you let Yao play only in the lost post, he will become an easy target to double team. He will have a hard time to establish a good position as his opponent will always know what he is trying to do.

Mix up a few high post play for Yao will give him more options. More valid options in offense lead to high efficiency. Defender will always have to play a guess game and he will pay dearly when he guessed wrong. When Yao has the ball in the high post, he would have a wide open passing line to the rim due to his height, he can definitely shoot a high percentage around the free throw line when left open, he can even back down people and convert a jump hook. If you give him freedom to operate he has enough skill to make it work.

Yao's efficiency is not as important as the whole team's efficiency anyways. We didn't have any other legit low post threat in the past. We do now. When Yao is in the high post, it can create room and give Scola/Bonzi chance to get a good position.

All in all I believe Yao will still spend his majority play time under/around the rim. He will not be used exactly as BMiller or Divac as the other two doesn't have a strong low-post game. But that doesn't mean pulling Yao up to high post OCCASIONALLY is bad, not at all.

 

Are you purposely playing the devil's advocate here? There will not be a change in how many TOUCHES Yao and Mac get, only the amount of punishment they take in facilitating a play or a bucket. For crying out loud, nobody here is saying that Mac and Yao won't even touch the basketball in Adelman's system. They will still be the focal points of our offense, except this offense utilizes 3 times as many pieces as JVG did.

You need to forcibly remove the JVG lenses you're wearing and see the team in a new light. Yao moving to the high post does not diminish his shot %, and you know why?? Because doing so draws attention away from backdoor cutters and/or pick/rolls that result in 90-100% FG percentages from his teammates! The ultimate result is that the TEAM wins, regardless of whether you prefer to see Yao operating in the low post and taking the endless beatings.

 

new moves for yao is good. even if out on the perimeter. i just don't want to see yao be a turnover machine. those games where he is just kills me. it always just seemed like he had no idea it was going to happen. no recovery to anything the defense threw at him.

 

Very strong post!

I'll add that Yao's points and rebounds per game may go down because the offense will be more diverse and will open up more scoring opportunities for all players, not just Yao and Tracy. Plus, we now have better scorers around them. Hopefully Yao can get more rest during games so he can impose his will on defenses during 4th quarter crunch time instead of being tired. JVG never quite figured that out.

 

For whatever reason I thought Yao was still 23. I guess I'm living in a past.


brb I gotta go get my acid washed jeans out of the dryer.