As much as it pains me to my very soul to admit, have to second this. Out of the three candidates I think Rafer made the strongest case for the starting job. Steve looked really lost out there at times admittedly MJ did have his moments but didn't appear anywhere near as good as Rafer pushing the ball in transition. I am beginning to think that perhaps rafer may well excel in this system given the fact that he'll typically be the fourth or fifth option offensively on the floor at any given time and will be called upon primarily to run the break and distribute (both of which he does better than either james or steve imho).
Magic Ming...LOL. Well, this kind of optimism actually makes me worry. I hope Adelman will not station Yao at the high post because he can be decent in distributing the ball. Yao should stay primarily under the basket where he is the most lethal.
Yao has so many facets to his game that have yet to be fully explored. I thought his passing was excellent today....hitting a cutting Bonzi and Rafer. His outside shot was also very good. I was worried when I first heard that Yao might play some high post...but it just looks like Adelman is making it hard to key in on where Yao is going to set up in the post. I hope Adelman continues to use Yao in the low post the majority of the time....but Yao actually looks really good in this offense. It seems like Yao was pretty fresh throughout the game. Running up and down the court was just fine for him. It might have been more tiring for him to have to battle for position every time when defenders knew where he was going to camp out. Now, it's not as obvious. In regards to Stevie, man, it didn't look like he lost any spring at all in his hops. He looked like he launched from a trampoline on that putback.
Yao doesnt have that agility factor that we seen in the guards of the league. So to call him Magic Ming is quite a stretch to the imagination.
I dont understand why people are suprised at how good rafer can be in a open court system. he is a great ball handler, great passer and has pretty good court vision. put him in a system where all those qualities are needed, rafer was allways gonna thrive. i've been saying it from day 1. Let rafer start for the 1st 6 minutes of each quarter and james the 2nd 6. that gives them both 24 minutes a game give and take.
I too am worried Yao might be used too much at the high post... but im sure they will use him low post alot... too if they do have Yao playing and running alot more in a higher tempo game... then lets hope they use him for like 28 to 32 minutes a game... at least for the regular season... or else were looking at 7"6 giant who will be injured...
Yao Ming is a far better shooter and passer than Patrick Ewing. This makes no sense, who is displaying negativity towards a coach who has not had a chance to see if his system fits? DD
i think luther had about half of those. i have seen changes in every player except for luther. he is still the same old rookie
I'd say Ewing's was much better. The man was the best jump shooting center in the past 20 years or so. The problem with Nelson and the Knicks was that the stalwarts (Patrick, Oak, Starks) never bought into the system and ran him out of town. The team was winning at the time too. Anyway Almu's post was mostly facetious. I think everyone believes that Yao's going to have a chance to thrive and open up his game, but Blinebury's hyperbole is pretty over the top.
I'm surprised at people who are surprised that YAO is actually a complete basketball player, may be Van Grumpy did more damage to your BB intelligence !
To whoever said Ewing wasn't good jump shooter.... He was about the best it has been and possibly one of the greatest of all time as far centers. Ewing was pretty good, and I don't think he could outshoot Olajuwon and maybe Rik Smits on a good day. With that being said, he was also powerful low-post player.
I think this is another piece to making Yao top-flight player....along with lowering TOs, rebounding, and winning in crucial situation.
