I really believe that the AB and Yao pick and roll play could be a huge weapon for us. It leaves Yao open from the high post with either a small defender or wide open to create a pass inside to scola, a high post shot for yao, or an easy layup for AB. I think this pick and roll could create some matchup problems for any team and that's why I think RA went to it at the end of the game. Yao should start practicing on that shot behind the freethrow line make it work perfect.
The first thing that falls on my mind is Yao's first 3pt this season against the Bobcats. It was pick and pop but it was really sweet. And I like how Brooks is using his speed to set picks, he's doing that even better than Rafer Alston.
Brooks/Yao pick and roll should be our go to play in crunch time if Yao is fronted. Brooks has the speed to get to the rim and if he's doubled then Yao is wide open for a jump shot or a pass to a cutting player, like Scola. Of course Yao in the post is still our first option, but good teams take that away from us at the end of games.
My beef is, Rafer never really saw Yao and dropped it off to him on his way to the basket. Sometimes AB takes it to the hole when Yao is standing right there clean and clear, it bugs me. AB is damn good at going under the screen tho, and I agree with you that he seems more effective than Rafer ever was...
I would really like to see AB stop and pop in the 18-20 ft range. He also needs to work on his floaters, but I agree this is a great play to run during crunch time. I think AB has good potential as a pick-n-roll player.
yup, if Yao can nail that jump shot at a consistent clip, Yao becomes a multi-dimensional threat on offense. It shouldn't be too hard considering he already shoots 87% from the FT line. Anytime a team tries to front him in the future, we can switch to the pick and pop offense. Utilize Yao's jump shot and passing.
yes more pick and rolls, give up on trying to beat the fronting defence, it's not going to work after all these seasons. So sick of watching poor shots at the end of the shot clock because the majority of the seconds is wasted trying to get Yao the ball.
When McGrady was healthy the McGrady/Yao PnR was almost the entire offense. Haven't seen it used the same devastating way since like 05. Glad to see it coming back in a lesser form.
Since Yao has been a Rockets, the most "dangerous" he's ever been was when a prime T-mac and Yao were running the pick and roll. Since then, T-mac was neutralized by doubling him hard (which was due to his loss of athleticism), and Rafer/Ron were never reliable scoring/passing threats off the dribble. Brooks and Lowry both have the court vision and finishing ability to succeed with the Yao pick and roll. Also, they're both fast enough, and good enough ball handlers, to where a hard double team should be no problem to get around (and downright exploitable... like it was today when Yao found Scola wide open twice).
i thought this was going to be about how bad those two are at defending the pick and roll! if yao is fronted he needs to come out and get into a PnR. however, AB may not have the decision making ability (or passing ability) to get this done. also, i'm not sure yao rolling to the basket is a good idea. he's a target for flops and once he gets rolling down the lane with his eyes on the ball rather than on the tiny people in front of him, it's flop city. so now we go to the idea of the pick and pop. this keeps the lane open for AB or lowry to get to the rim (yao popping brings the other big away from the basket). yao can hit a mid range jumper, but not all too consistently. i think if yao is shooting from 15-18ft at the end of a close game, the defense won. remember the tmac/yao PnR? we need a go-to player on the wing who demands a double team off of the pick. otherwise it's just not going to work.
And it was extremely effective. In 2005, they were missing a reliable outside threat (since filled by Battier), and a reliable scoring PF (since filled by Scola). Unfortunately, T-mac's athleticism was shot after that season (first with his back), and then Yao was never consistently in the lineup enough. It definitely throws a huge wrinkle as long as Yao is able to set the pick cleanly, and you have a PG running it. I cringe whenever I see Artest run it because of his terrible dribbling ability and poor court vision.
We're just now using what JVG had been using since he got here? I remember under him, that's all we did.
except that usually the defense wins going away with our typical final minute plays. yao shooting an open 17 footer is probably much better (and less turnover prone) than anything else we do. which includes the Chicken Head Cut Off play, ron artest chucking up a bad shot or yao being fronted while nothing happens. the yao/brooks PnR gives us our best shot at something to exploit. either brooks is open, or he has a driving lane, or yao has an open jumper, or the defense is trying to recover and may have left someone open. obviously it would be better if brooks was even better because relying on a 2nd year 22nd pick when you have yao and artest is less than ideal, but it is what it is.
They ran a lot of pick-and-ROLLS under JVG that didn't really do much except for the 2 times they did it against Dallas. Yao runs the pick-and-pop better because of his speed but we didn't see much of that under JVG because he wanted Yao to ONLY play in the paint. It's time to utilize Yao's jumpshot.
Agreed. Teams know very well what the Rockets will run in crunch time (force feed Yao) but that isn't going to work the same way you would force feed a D-Wade or Kobe because Yao is a slow center. Sometimes it works depending on match ups but sometimes it doesn't. It's like trying to beat paper using rock when you have scissors but you're too stubborn to use it.
A PnR with Brooks and Yao would be great once they learn it. Brooks is a pretty good offensive player but he is light years behind guys like Parker in PnR and assists.
I think a better way to run the PnR is AB with Scola or Landry. Both those guys have shown us they can hit that 18ft jumper, and they're much more mobile when it comes to rolling to the basket (I've seen Scola countless times rolling thru the lane to get an easy lay in this year). With Yao, it gets more iffy. Of course Yao in the post is the first option but if they front him I'd rather see Scolandry runnin the PnR. Another thing I think the team should run more in crunch time is posting up Ron, since that one Utah game shows how dangerous he is there.
Scola runs the pnr/pnp very well and I don't mind seeing that. But one advantage of Yao setting the screens is that he pulls out the opposing team's center and forces them to switch to our PGs.
That is true, but it won't be as effective if the opposing C is mobile (like Howard or Camby). Then again, with Brooks lightnin' speed it would counteract that some. I guess that is one advantage of the Yao pnr, since it pulls the opponents shot blocker out of the paint.
