Adelman post game: "Yao has got to demand the ball."

In short, Yao needs to be in his "You can't f#$%^& stop me," and "See you back in Houston" mode always.

 

I also found this funny. It's the knee jerk reaction after every game. Tonight everyone complains Yao doesn't get it enough, the next night everyone says we shouldn't force it, that he SHOULDN'T get it in the final minute.

We need to stick w/ Yao, even if his shot is off or he's turning it over, not quit on it after 3 tries. You let superstars shoot themselves into a game if they're missing early. I don't know why we don't give Yao the same respect around here if he's supposed to be our top guy.

And it's a shame that Yao is taking so few shots a game. At a random glance, most teams have a top shooter averaging at least 17 a game. Many all-star caliber players are averaging near 20 attempts. It's on Yao and it's on the team to match that.

 

adelman is right on. i am gald he went out and said what he said in the press conf. hope that will have an effect on yao.

right now, after 7 years, yao clearly doesn't have anybody to defer to any more. if for the remainder of this season yao can't step up and demand the ball all the time and be the leader of this team, then he probably never will.

of course he has to seal his defender and establish his post position better, but that's besides the point. he needs to acquire a swagger, a mentality that will set him apart from a very good center what he is now to a truly great one.

for that particular play at the end the regulation, i see it as fault of all three - battier, brooks and yao. battier should cut and clear space at the corner, or brooks could pass the ball to battier and let him throw the entry pass to yao; but ideally, if yao had the true leader mentality, he should direct battier to cut or do something to make that entry pass happen.

it's a fine balance b/w playing team ball and carrying the load with your own shoulders. but yao should definitely lean towards the latter a bit more.

 

Consensus here;

1. Whether it's on Adelman or Yao, Yao needs to shoot more.
2. Yao needs to take more responsibility to be the ultimate goto guy. Not just good days. On an off day, Yao needs to shoot himself into rhythm. He can't hang his head and give up.
3. Yao needs to be more vocal and demanding on the court.

 

good post.

however last night was a little different situation. the pistons for whatever reason chose to give yao single coverage. that's when we need to feed yao all the time (aka force feed). i know he's just off of a terrible flu, but still. we might not have needed 2 ot to beat detroit if he was just a tad more aggressive.

otoh, i do agree that we still need to look for yao even if he turns the ball over a few times or misses his shots a few times. if ron is allowed to shoot himself back into the game after 0-11, there is no reason why yao can't.

 

yao needs to be more agressive i agree but the coach is the coach he is the leader. if the player won't pass the ball to yao, weather he asks for it or not, the player must sit. adelman is trying to excuse himself here. like he is a spectator.

call time out. stree vocal leadership to yao. get is reluctant players ass. sit if doesn't conform.

simple. you are the coach.

and you should be fired if you cannot control the situation as there are many others out there who can. it isn't like adelman is the only coach for this team. it is not that hard for any coach of this level.

but to bash yao after the game he had. that is just bs

 

Man, that drove me nuts when that happened. Yao had been destroying Detroit the last several possessions, then I see Yao trying to call the play the next time down. I'm thinking to myself "sweet, Yao's asking them to feed him"... then he goes out for a pick and Artest jacks up a shot. That was a definite "WTF YAO" type of moment.

These types of things aren't Rick's fault.

 

Because "Ron is tough" so long as he's aggressive some people will be happy. But Yao is known for his high efficiency so missing shots are unacceptable and deserves the bench

 

because yao is probably one of the only players that could take it as a grain of salt. tell that to tracy, he'd go crying and declare that he's out for the season. tell that to ron, he'd punch rick in the face.

 

Did anyone read the Blinebury blog linked on the last page?

You can hate Fran, but you have to give credit for getting those quotes from Yao after last night.

Damn, Yao simply must change his thinking.

 

Yao demanding the ball = aggressive.
Coach demanding the ball for Yao= passive.

The huge difference is like we have an aggressive Yao or a passive Yao.

 

you either are a leader or you're not, you dont just decide to step up and become one.......yao obviously is not a born leader, end of story......he's a great follower....

 

don't take this the wrong way, but if Yao's teammates were fellow chinese countrymen I bet he'd be more vocal on getting the ball

 

and this will not change for us...

 

his attitude is not going to change. and that's why he'll never take that next step.

a great player NEVER gets down on himself. that's why you see stars taking 18-20 shots even if they have a bad game. when yao has a bad game and STILL DEMANDS the ball, that's when we know his level of aggressiveness has increased.

but again, it's not going to change. it's been 7 years. if yao can play like last night for 80% of the time, then that's still great.

 

he said the same things after that dallas game last yr when the guards were taking a lot of shots and yao took like 7-8 shots or something like that. but it never happened.

and it's been 7 years in the NBA. how hard is it to get rid of that "culture" difference? he cusses, uses the F word (we've seen that multiple times on national TV), stares down at his opponents at times when he dunks on them... and yet he can't do this? c'mon yao.

 

dude, how the hell do you rack up 10K posts in a little over a year?

 

I agree. That he's afraid to direct his teammates on the court is childish in a way. They're all adults and it's part of the game. There is some culture clash in that he thinks he'll make his teammates look bad if he's giving them orders. I think he needs to understand that everyone, the coach, the team, and the fans want him to lead. He's still missing the point. He didn't seem to mind getting directions from Stevie in his rookie year, but now he needs to get rid of that rookie mentality.

 

you must be kidding

 

my life revolves around the rockets