Taking Yao out for defensive purpose at the end of the games

really dangerous when they shorten it to 3 points, 99-102.

 

i saw some are talking about put on DEKE to defend and put on Yao to offense, but I think it seriously hurts the continuity and do nothing good. So forget DEKE, the best player must play at the end of the game.

 

Hayes did overpursue and gave up that drive to stuckey...but give credit where credit is due, that was a pretty spectacular move by Stuckey to split the trap then finish through Scola.

The idea with Hayes is to prevent the wide open 3's/jumpers that opposing teams get because of Yao's inability to pursue up out of the paint. Hayes' defensive quickness also allows a switch if our other guy gets really hung up on the screen.

I know it didn't work this time, but honestly i'd rather have an opposing guard try to split a trap with an awkward off-hand dribble through a guy who is a charge taking expert and then have to make a double-clutch-partially blocked-layup over Scola then have a wide open 18 foot jumper.

 

It's the correct play, but Chuck happened to make a mistake by allowing Stuckey to get by him on the pick and roll. If the other team is putting jump shooters on the floor at all 5 positions, it makes sense to sub Yao out for a guy who can guard away from the basket.

 

I like the idea of bringing Chuck in but that leaves the rim extremely vulnerable. I think they should leave Yao in (or put Deke in) simply for protecting the rim. Maybe sub Chuck in for Scola. They were getting a lot of easy layups with Yao "out for defensive purposes"

 

They ran a high and pick with what would have been Yao's man. Yao is, perhaps, our worst pick and roll defender. The Pistons will get a wide open, uncontested jump shot most of the time if Yao is forced to defend it for either Stuckey or McDyess. And if someone else comes over to help, that could give the Pistons a 3-pointer for taking the lead.

There's a risk either way. But I don't think its 50/50. With Chuck in the game, the Rockets are less likely to give up an uncontested shot at the end of the game, and less likely to give up a 3-pointer. I think that should be the priority, defensively.

 

I don't really think that those two hits by stuckey were "easy lay ups"...in fact they were both pretty spectacular finishes.

More importantly, the reason the rim isn't vulnerable when Yao is in is because his lack of lateral quickness means he stays very close to it, which gives teams open threes/jumpers. Time and time again we see a team's entire offensive strategy as a series of P+R's involving Yao.

We got beat a couple of times, but that doesn't mean it was the wrong move--stuckey made a couple of very athletic finishes and i think Rick made the correct percentage play. This is particularly true given that, at that point of the game one of their bigs (Mcdyess) is a knock-down shooter to 18 or 20 feet, and the other (herrman) is a three point specialist. If Yao was in, the paint might have been protected, but we would surrender open, easy jump shots to either the ball handler or the screener

The defense always loses in basketball...you can't pitch a shutout. Good offense will always eventually find ways to score. I'd still rather a player have to (barely)split a trap and make a hugely difficult finish then take an open 18 footer.

 

Spot on.

 

if yao's available why would they use deke.

 

Don't you remember the Pacers game? Troy Murphy just killed us.
And any pick and roll, (Utah game) the big man or the guard will have an open jumper.

Hayes does a pretty good job on not letting them have the open jumper; it was up to the other players to rotate. Scola was a second late, but if he gotten there earlier, he could have took a charge.

Either way, Stuckey made a difficult lay up. Most elite players would have gotten free throws, but Stuckey made it happen regardless.

 

That's a tough problem ... it would be nice if we had access to all of the Rockets data. Also, if Adelman chose to keep Yao in the game instead of subbing him out, that might be because the defensive matchup was a little more favorable for him.

Based on data at basketballvalue, here are the games I found for which in the last 2 minutes or overtimes the Rockets have a lead of less than or equal to 3 points, they or the opposing team are making a substitution, and after that substitution Chuck is on the floor while Yao is not:

Hayes in, Yao out
4 games:
11/6/08: @POR, final possession in regulation ... Rockets get the stop (Artest steals it from Roy)
1/19/09: DEN, final defensive possession ... Rockets get the stop (on closer review of PBP, Martin actually drew a foul on Barry but missed two free throws)
1/25/09: @DET, final defensive possession .. Rockets get the stop (down three, missed two 3-pointers ... no Yao in that game)
3/9/09: DEN, Rockets get the stop ... Billups misses layup when Denver is down two (Yao and Scola had fouled out)

That's all I could find, actually. Strange, because I thought there were more games where Chuck subbed in for Yao on a last possession ... perhaps I made a mistake somewhere.

 

against a perimeter oriented team that sucks yao out of the paint and is shooting jumpshots at a high clip.....i agree sub hayes.......to stop 3's and jumpers

but last night we got a heavy dose of a drive the lane split the defense offense from the pistons in which at that point your priority as a coach should be to close off the lane.......they werent hittin there jumpers last night, thank goodness, outside of affalo.....

stucky and that bynum kid are penetrators and finishers around the rim exclusively........they cant shoot........and they were doing the same play over and over and over again......lane dive plays to the bucket.....so in that instance u gotta keep yao or a deke in to guard the lane....

bottomline it makes sense when we have perimeter guys wearing us out from the field.......but makes zero sense when u have guys like stuckey and bynum driving exclusively as there main play....I mean who didnt know the guards were driving...they had been doing it all night...

also yao changed about 4 shots in the lane in the last overtime when adelman finally left him in to seal the game.....they were not suckin yao out of the lane like boozer does...they were attackin the basket

 

they only do this when Yao is in foul trouble. He had 4 fouls and going into OT you don't want him to pick up ticky-tack foul.

 

Yao can not guard a three-point shooter, we would lose the game if someone hits a three. It was a right way to take Yao out of the game.

 

Durvsa, you nailed it right on point....

Chuck usually does a half-way decent job against the p/r.... Yao is horrible and I do mean horrible against the p/r.

 

Um, they hit a forced 3 pointer with a player RIGHT in the face of the shooter, and then got another point off a bogus block call. Then hit another 3 pointer. Yao on or off the floor doesnt alter any of that.


Its the right move when you are playing a PNR team using the 5 to set the pick. Yao will either give up a wide open J because he wont be able to show over the top of the pick, or a slam dunk to the rolling 5 because Yao did try to show over the pick. Hayes messed up by overplaying the trap. Not to mention the ball handler had to make a pretty difficult play to get the ball in there.


Some of you folks seem to think they would let us have 6 defenders out there.

 

There are definitely more. Many times Yao was subbed before end of first half for the same reason. We gave up quite a few lay-ups there. and it's been pointed out more than once why Yao wasn't on the floor after some kind of lay-ups happened.

I understand the problem with pick'n roll. Still, I'd rather have the screener shoots a 20 foot jumper than the guard gets a layup.

About Yao giving up open 3s, last thing I could remember was Yao put a hand in a red hot Nash's face, made him shoot higher arch and missed a three pointer.

 

I don't know about this. It was Yao who put a hand in Steve Nash's face when he was hitting every 3s defending by other players.

 

too bad, there is only one Nash in NBA.