Yao seems to have an extremely hard time with players like Boozer and Jefferson, who can face up and shoot over him from a further range. Contrast this with players like Dwight Howard, who have no range, and Yao has gotten his way with Howard in the last few matchups. Tonight, Al Jefferson was just a repeat of Boozer in the 2006 playoffs. I didn't see Yao doing anything exceptionally poor against Jefferson tonight - he had his hand in Jefferson's face on many of Jefferson's shots. Like Boozer though, Jefferson just shot right over Yao and made it look so easy. The only thing I can think of is that Yao needs to get his hand even closer to the shooter's face. Unfortunately, he doesn't really have agile hands so he might end up poking the shooter in the eye, LOL. The other thing is, perhaps Yao could time his jump better, to intercept the shot. Hope the Rockets staff work on this with Yao because we could possibly face Utah again in the playoffs.
Yao's best defense is his offense. He needs to get guys like that in foul trouble and just flat out dominate offensively...
Yao also forgot Kevin Garnett who seemed to destroy the Rockets anytime we matchup. But I'm fine with Jefferson's, Boozer's as long as Yao scores points that can harm the other team also. Plus Boozer is injured badly and I don't know if we will matchup in the playoffs.
I thought Yao usually guards Perkins when we match up with Boston. But Garnett's range extends to the 3 point line so yeah, I don't think that would be a good matchup for Yao either.
Yao scored 30pts on 18 shots as opposed to 36 on 30 shots from Al. Al Jefferson hit some hard shots today and most guys can't guard Yao once he gets it in the paint. I'm not too worried, Jazz won't make the playoffs.
just bad match up. you can teach technique all you want, you can't teach foot speed. Yao is yao, he can't really move any faster at this stage. the key is just pray we don't see boozer again in the playoff.
Yao is what Yao is. Only thing he could do is take it strong on the offensive end and get the other guy in foul trouble.
Jefferson is a problem for any team not just Yao and the Rox. You have to defense him like teams defense the Rox, double teams and fronts to deny him the ball. Also switch Landry, Scola and Hayes to guard Jefferson and have Yao guard the PF.
Jefferson is a beast. The more I've seen of him as a T-Wolve the less I think of how lopsided that Celtics trade was. The Wolves are still the Wolves but they really got a great player in Jefferson in return. It wasn't complete highway robbery.
Yeah Yao doesn't guard KG. Scola, Landry, and Hayes are the ones guarding KG. Like you said Yao is usually on Perkins.
I think because of his size, there is no way Yao will be quick enough to play a big that can shoot with range. Yao is a highly skilled basketball player, but no where near an elite athlete. DOn't get me wrong, he is terrific for his size, but athletically he isn't in the same league with those guys. They have a serious quickness advantage. Yao just needs to punish them at the other end to even the match up out. That's where his size is his major advantage.
Well, it is alway hard to guard someone 1 on 1 who is faster and shoot well with range. We have to double team or let our PF guard him. Also, like someone already said, beat him on the other end. Currently Yao is a mis-match 1 on 1 literally for anyone in this league.
