If you don't think saying Yao a liability on Defense is baseless, then you are truely blind. Let's see some fact: http://www.82games.com/0809/08HOU16.HTM#onoff Opponents eFG for the seaon is 46.8% when Yao is on the court, 51.1% when Yao off court, they attempted 13 FTs per 48 minutes when Yao is on court, 18 FTs when he's off the court. Is that your definition of defensive liability? You are simple blind. Because your blindness, you never noticed how many shots Yao altered under the basket, how many times opponents Pg ran under the basket then ran away, how many times opponents chose to take a jump shot instead of attack the rim. Nobody on Rockets is perfect on D, Battier can't really defend strong guys, Artest can't really defend quick guys, Yao has trouble against jump shooters who can drive. But overall Yao's defensive impact is huge for Rox,
Um....... Yao is a liability ONLY in the fact that he is ineffective when the other big man is hanging out 18 feet plus from the basket and has the ability to drive past him. Or on pick n roll. But, the only team who can consistently attack the Rockets in this manner is the Jazz. Other teams have bigs who can shoot, but arent as effective at making this their only attack, maximizing Yao's weakness. And ya know what, the only team we dont match up well with is the Jazz. Coincidence?? Ask Denver how ineffective Yao is in post defense. I think they are still banging their heads against the (Great) wall trying to get a foul call while Yao is straight up n down.
A lot of you complain about him not being able to seal of his man BUT you need to remember half the offensive fouls he gets are from him trying to get into position. When he does put an effort it backfires. Yao is a lot stronger than most of the people that guard him, so when he uses his some force the opponent will fall back causing a foul on Yao. Using force is the only way Yao can contain his position because he is definitely not quick enough to stay in front of his man.
You and this girl have been dating for four or five years. She's got a great sense of humor, not high maintenacne, fun to hang out with and on a scale of 1 - 10, when your honest with your self, shes about a 7.5. Sounds like you got it made! Sure, she loves the color pink way to much and cries a little more than you wish she would but you can put up with all these things because of all the positives. Your hanging out with your boys and drop the bomb that your probably going to dump her and end the relationship. Because their your friends and are jealous of how well you got it made they ask in shock why?!? Your reply, "Because, Eva Mendes (or insert your "it" girl here) is out there and she's a ten, my girl is only a 7.5" Your boys reply, "Yeah, but there is no chance your ever going to get Eva Mendes and you and your girl could get married, have a life together and could be so happy for the next 50 years!" "I don't care" you reply, "If I don't have Eva, I'll never be happy." This is your post Verti89. Sure, Yao has his faults and could improve in several different areas. Sure I would love Lebron over Yao Ming as my team's star player but is that even really a reality? Instead of complaing about what LA or ORL fans have, how about you accept (and be freaking excited about) the fact that: 1. The Rockets are in the top 4 of the Western Conference. 2. The Rockets have a chance to compete with the best teams in the conference night in and night out. 3. The Rockets have a cornerstone center that gets you 19.7 pts, 9.6 reb and 1.9 blks a game. 4. The Rockets have done all of this with she-mac going down and a pg change in the middle of the season. Your right, your not married to Eva Mendes and for that I'm sorry but neither is 98% of the other teams in the league so I'm not sure if its really worth complaining about. C'mon man, You got it pretty darn good!
yea but if for the price of your one GF you could have 2 gfs that put out more...what would you do???
have not been here for just a day and many funny and interesting threads popped up. as to this one, i stopped reading when i heard the op's say "I think we can all agree that Yao is a weak link on defense". ok, i will keep skimming the thread...
the dude asked you to back up your "80%" claim, and you said "you won't understand" (arrogance to say the least, a trait that usually is associated with idiocy) and "we agree to disagree" (mr. dodger?). what a great post.
Yao did not play good as expected last night but he does not deserve such a thread. If you wish you won the Lake's game with Artest's performance yesterday, then keep your dreaming and bedwetting. C'mon, without Yao, Rox is at the most old Magic. Now w/o T-mac, what is Rox? Yao has some problems defending good shooting PFs. Rick can fix it, its his job. But without Yao's defense, what kind defense is Rox going to have? This is not hate. It is laugh.
Indeed Yao still has a lot to improve (which I have mentioned in the "Duncan" thread and I am not going to repeat here). Simultaneously, the coaching team has to better manage his PT. But with Yao's presence, Rox players had 28 3pt. shots last game and at least half of those were open shots. If they could only made 5 of 28 (17.85%), not to mention missed 3 point shot attempts mostly resulted in defensive rebounds and fast breaks, the team is bound to lose. Other than Yao's 4 TOs, Rox had a total of 23 TOs last game. So 5 out of 28 3pt. shots and 23 TOs as a team, Rox had to be very very lucky to secure a win yesterday. Yao is at least one of the best 5 centers in the NBA. Don't underestimate his "commercial" value in the current economic depression situation. I don't think Rox owner would be unwise (from commercial viewpoint) to trade Yao for another center. So I think the option of "Trading Yao" is a non-starter from the Rox management point of view. As a Rox and Yao's fan, I just hope Yao would improve and help Rox to secure another championship during his service period.
This is right on. The only thing is the fact that Yao just can't get anywhere close to the jumpshooting big man. That's why it's really bad when the big man is on. But as a strong-side defender on the block and as a deterent for drives down low, Yao is very effective.
Yao is a franchise player? R u kidding me? He made less shot even than Von, see how much ironmen we have on LA.
some observation on Yao: 1. why his rebs look bad? statistically, not so bad. his season average is almost 10, that's not a bad number at all. but it sure LOOKS bad. he can't get long rebs. he tips the ball out instead of grab it, mostly. he can only get the balls heading for him, not jump up and reach for loose rebs. the reason is his built and stamina. we know, to be good at rebs, a player should be A: with quick judgement and reaction. B. with good body and arm length C. jumping and hustling. being 300 lbs and 7'6, Yao is good for B, impossible for A, reluctant for C. Yao's stamina is his biggest liability, he and his coach must arrange his minutes and intensity with ultra presicion and prudence. he can't afford to play many 40min+ games, also can't afford to jump and hustle for every rebs. that's why he keeps tipping the ball to teammates, instead of a full jump-grab. so that's a trade-off. we are enjoying the 7'6 dominance and shooting touch, have to trade off for some rebs. 2. why he dribbles, waiting for the double team? it's not like the Yao in 2005, 2006,2007. in those seasons, he barely dribbled. he caught the ball, then shoot. now every game, we saw him dribbling, waiting for the double team, pass out, too many times! it looks painful and dangerous. this is exactly the PRINCETON experiment. adelman wants him to be the low-post oganizer, the double-team magnet, the open-shot producer, rather than finisher. and that's why his shots per game drops drastically, and why the rox live and die by 3-pts shot percentage now. last game vs LAL is a perfect model of this experiment. Yao did a lot of dribble and wait, with 3 TOs, 2 Boxed-in, but still produced 15+ open 3 shots. we ended up shooting 3 below 20%, so we die. can't say the Yao part of princeton experiment already failed, but it is not very successful, so far. Yao would fit into this perfectly in his rookie and 2nd year, when he is slimmer, quicker, very good at mid-range, much poorer at low-post forcing. JVG made him the way he is now. and now he is reducing his weight for adelman's system. I can't say which way is better, but this shift-back takes a lot of work, and time.
Then trade Yao..... I've never heard of a team's fans bashing their best player all the time after a lose to elite team.......
