If you take out the Utah game where Yao was plagued by foul trouble, he has averaged around 40 minutes a game so far. In fact even wih the Utah outing, he is tops amongst ALL NBA Centers in MPG, and is third amongst PF & C combined. If the trend continues, it would result in a significant 6-7 minute increase from past seasons. I know he's playing on the high post a lot these days, which saves him some wear and tear but it seems to me that he still spedns a good deal of time on the low post fighting for position, etc. which epxends more energy. Will this be an issue in the postseason? Perhaps he will respond and gain more stamina, but I am very uncertain how a 40 minute per game Yao would function in the playoffs after an 82 game season. Thoughts?
He played way more time than Duncan(not just last night, but in general). Let's lengthen his career by reducing his avg playing time per game.
his minutes are way up. For now, i think this is ok because playing in the high post saves his body some wear and tear, and second because its early in the season. Moreover, I wouldn't be surprised if his minutes reduced slightly in the middle of the season, and these bonus minutes he gets now just provide extra conditioning.
He averaged 34 minutes per game the last two seasons. He is averaging 37.6 this season. I don't think 37 minutes for a center is too much. that's basically a 5-6 minute break each half. He should be fine. In his prime, Hakeem averaged around 38-40 minutes a game for a 7 year stretch.
It could be an issue if he's exhausted by March or April but bear in mind we're facing one of our toughest stretches of opponents yet while still learning how to play as a team. Since Yao came into training camp late these games are still like practices for him. Once the team has gelled, and RA has found a rotation he likes I think the minutes of all our players will be spread out more evenly, but for now especially against such tough opponents, its imperative to have Yao and McGrady log as many minutes as they can while still being productive. Early wins now are just as important as wins in April especially when it'll help determine homecourt advantage.
I don't think Yao's career is going to be super long anyways. The guy is 7'6" and weighs a ton. His body will break down sooner than most due to ageing. I say we work his @ss off and get the most out of him now so we can win a championship.
I disagree, the shelf life on giants is lengthy. He is heavy, but he will be dominant as long as he's quick to decide what to do with the ball, and he will have an NBA job until his legs give out. He is 7'6 and has touch, these things go far for careers. Now, he won't be Deke, because his legs will surely give before he's 40, and Yao started so early. I wouldn't be surprised to see 14 + seasons from Yao. Not saying he will be the dominant Yao his whole career, but he will be employed.
I agree. We're going to have a stretch of games where we'll have a decent lead against lower opponents and we won't need Tmac & Yao to log heavy minutes in the clutch.
We've had some tough games to begin the year. Once we start playing more cupcake teams and blowing them out, Yao's minutes will surely go down. I'm glad he's been able to stay out of foul trouble for the most part this season. In the playoffs, we need Yao to be able to play 40 mpg.
We also need him to be ready and able to hit big shots at the end, which he has been doing this year. An encouraging sign IMO that he's handling the big minutes and still getting it done at the end of the game.
Even though he's playing more minutes, he seems fresher at the end of games than he did last year. I think less fighting for position in the post will do that for you.
Simply standing on the court for an entire 48 minutes isn't going to fatigue a player any more than sitting on the bench for en entire 48 minutes. What I'm trying to say is that it doesn't matter how long you're in the game. It matters what you do while you're in there. Yao played about 34 minutes per game the past few years, but he was defending out to the perimeter on pick n' rolls, banging down low on every single trip down the court, and running out to the top of the key to run the pick n' roll with Tracy. This year he's playing almost 38 minutes per game, but he's doing less. He's no longer required to defend the perimeter pick n' roll, he's not banging down low on every play, and he's not running from the block to the top of the key to run pick n' rolls nearly as much. Also, he's stopping up at the high post a lot of the time, which over the course of a game probably takes a couple of football fields worth of running off his legs. Personally, he looks less winded this season than in years past, despite the increased minutes. It's all about how he's playing the game.
The system helps, but to me it just looks like he is in phenominal shape. He is not nearly as late coming up the floor, and I even see him running the break. Not that the system shouldn't get credit, I just never thought I would see Yao running like this. It is really incredible.
Non-issue most elite players (all-stars) play around 37 - 43 min. So it's not big deal anyway. And besides, once Scola improves, his minutes will probably decrease to possibly 32 -35 min.
Agree. I think his mniutes will decline as the team implements more of Adelman's offense. Right now they are still only running a small part of his offense, and as a result they are leaning heavily on Yao, especially in the low post. But I also agree that he is taking less of a pounding this year by playing high post.
The only potential issue I see is Yao running up and down the court without touching the ball! I don't know how many times I wanted to throw things at my TV when watching Yao running himself into exhaustion because teammates just don't look for him.
