Yao spent 80-90% of the quarter around the free throw line. There was nothing to force. I agree with OP. When the shots are not falling for the Rockets what then? A lot of say dont complain but do you actually think we will make 60% of our shots again? Having these type of games are ok ever once and a while but this happens every game. This is why Rockets have problems. There are gonna be nights when the shots are not falling, when that happens it should not be a guaranteed lose like it has been this year.
I guess they will try to front Yao from beginning using Joel Jon said that made better opportunity for off-boards, but I think other players should try hard to drive it to the basket so that those boards are within Yao's reach... they may also try to front Yao using LaMarcus, who is athletic, but that will sacrifice his energy for offense (hopefully) No magic bullet except for others making shots and make the opponents pay.
precisely.. and exactly as I was suggesting in the game thread prior to the 3rd.. even fewer were listening then.. some of these fans just don't understand concepts like.. diversifying.. strategy.. unpredictability.. you have to anticipate the other team's adjustments.. before they execute them.. and get comfortable.. especially when it's such an expected adjustment.. that tends to debilitate your offense.. when permitted..
noone "forgets" to pass to yao. he's 7'6, chinese, and the face of the franchise. kind of hard to miss. defenses just play him better
As the Rockets have demonstrated in the Mavs game, they aren't very good at execution when Yao's completely taken out of the play. Watching AB and Ron construct a brickhouse was painful. However the team seems to have proved me wrong today and I hope they prove me wrong for the rest of the playoffs.
Its easy to say this when their shots are falling but what happens when they are not? The only person to actually penetrate in the lane was Brooks. Wafer did it once maybe. Battier did it once. Artest tried a few times but failed. So if they were not hitting those outside jumpers, which does happen, we would look the same way as we did against the Mavs.
Yeah, I think this issue was kind of blinded because everyone was playing well on offense and defense. That point where we were up by 19 or so, then Yao went out because of foul trouble, it was hard for us to score. Yao didn't get the ball much in the beginning of the 3rd, I think we need to keep going back to him. I think AB and Ron sometimes get into dribbling too much and forget about the game plan. We have to stick to the game plan if we want to win this series.
ya feeding yao was a big problem tonight. HE DIDN'T MISS A ****ING SHOT TONIGHT. WOW PEOPLE GET OVER THE FACT THAT AS MUCH AS YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT BASKETBALL IS NOT TRUE!!! DON'T MAKE IT HARDER THAN WHAT IT IS.
The offense was stagnate for a while. Did you forget AB dribbled, dribbled, then thew up prayers for several possesioins in 3rd quarter? Just glad it wasn't for too long, the momentum didn't shift like the Dallas game.
You don't know why because you can't forsee the danger. On a good shooting day like this, Rockets can win even without Yao. But if outside shots are not falling, which happens quite often, not looking for Yao is suicide. It's not a good time to go away from Yao since this is playoff.
have to agree. Hard to imagine any sane Rockets fan would expect Rockets to win a playoff game with Yao scoring 2 points. What kind of fan would hate the No.1 star on the team, and never change?
I agree with the op. And this isn't beating a dead horse. The problem is two folded: One. Yao is not getting fronted in the beginning of 3rd and players didn't get Yao the ball - Yao was feeded one time and almost resulted in a turnover. Designed by Aldeman or team lacks discipline? In this game every shot was falling and it seemed that it didn't matter, but really? How many times the shot clock ran out with Brooks dribbling and dribbling? At least twice in the third quarter. In a close game this would've been deadly for us. Two. When Yao does get fronted, they need to find a way to get Yao involved. If we don't address this, we won't go very far.
the only way to keep them from fronting Yao is if our guards keep geeting to the rim and making things happen, if they front and brooks is on he will pass both of their slow asses and get the easy two. But if our guys dont take it to the rack then were going to have a hell of a time.
wow, did you watch the 3rd quarter? just because yao doesn't score doesn't mean he's useless on offense. his presence often gets everyone else open shots which is the reason why he didn't score but we increased our lead from halftime to the last second he was in the game. Yao didn't take a shot in the second half because other players were taking them and making them, not because they COULDN'T get him the ball.
If we had shot 45% from the field, we are still winning that game because of our defense. But the thing is... with the exception of the end of the 3rd/4th when you had guys just jacking shots up because the game was basically over, we were taking open shots. They weren't getting their hands in our faces, and for the most part we were taking it to the rim.
i totally agree with ur opinions ... pass the ball to yao NOT means he has to shoot every time. I perfer the " Inside-Out". It will be more easily to beat Portland.!!!!
