Its a foregone conclusion we are going to be a bit small this year. Probably won't kill us, just because we are a good rebounding/ defensive team. We have defenders who can generally cut off their man, or move well to defend the open space (Chuck) I think Yao Ming is underrated on the defensive end. I don't think he is a great defender, but his size and frame definetly possess an intimidation factor. Yao was never getting 4 blocks a game, but there was a certain amount of funneling players into him going on. As Yao became better about avoiding fouls (the last couple years) I felt more comfortable with that kind of defensive strategy. I really hope we are not too small. Ariza is probably going to be a better defender than Artest (for this team) and so we should be able to force jumpshots. Even with his injuries the last few years, I give Yao a lot of credit for the defensive team we have been. Whether via size, stats or leadership. I really think we are going to miss Yao on the defensive end more than anyone thinks. No matter how good Ariza, Battier and Hayes can be, there will be teams that go right at and over us.
Yao have trouble in space and you expect that, but he's actually a pretty good defender. The thing that bothers me about Yao is that he plays small on defense. When i say small, he carries his hands and arms low. Also, he gets caught in no mans land when he's in space. He should watch some Mark eaton videos and deke and really watch how they make themselves bigger. Back to the defense minus yao, the year zo missed with the kidney problems, the heat were still a top 5 defense. The guy replacing zo that year was brian grant who was a good rebounder, but wasnt a shot blocker. The rockets can still have a good defensive team, but the fact that theyre really small at the 4/5 concerns me.
Yao's an underrated defender? I don't know what to say about that. He can intimidate certain players with his size and it is harder for players to try to shoot over him. But now, players are just blowing right past him or jump into him to draw a foul. If you set a pick and roll and Yao have to come out high to guard a much quicker player, we're in trouble. Remember with Carlos Boozer? He was scoring on Yao relentlessly. Boozer looked like a superstar the way he was scoring at will against Yao Ming. I understand where you're coming from but Yao can only be so effective on the defensive end.
You know, if we had Deke of even 2 years ago, I'd be okay with our defense. But the dropoff from Yao to Hayes/Anderson/Scola is just too much. ZERO inside presence on defense. Hayes can take a charge, but refs aren't going to call more than a couple of them a game even if he gets in position ten times. Points in the paint next season is going to look brutal for us.
But they wont have as much trouble playing teams that involve their centers in pick and rolls, or defending teams with smaller, quicker, big men that have range. There's a give and take at work here.
Our team is smaller, but with guys like Hayes, Landry, Anderson, along with guys like Battier, Scola, Ariza for help.. I like our chances. We should still be a good defensive team w/o Yao.
Well Yao is one of the best, If not the best 1 on 1 post defender in the game. He does also do a lot of helping with just his size alone and it deters penetration this way.
The Rockets might be small at the post, but they are long at the 2 and 3 and really, really quick at the 1. Should TMac come back, I could see him playing a little 1 with Ariza and Battier, on the wings, which would make the Rockets very long on the perimeter.
Are you serious? Yao might be the best one on one defender of Shaq but that's about it. This isn't 1994. There are almost no big, back to the basket players left in the league. Everyone faces you up at 16 feet and goes in from there. There will nights when Yao will be missed defensively but let's not forget how many times last season so many of us were screaming for Adelman to put Yao on the bench and please bring in Chuck Hayes to stop the bleeding that was Yao getting blown by and dunked on by smaller, quicker big men.
I pretty much agree. Yao is great against big, traditional centers. There are only a handful of those in the NBA now. I keep hearing about how Yao is good on defense because he clogs the paint, and I'm sure that's true to an extent, but I don't think anyone in the NBA is afraid of going right at Yao. Frankly, I think our defense will not suffer much, if at all. It's Yao's offense that we're REALLY going to miss.
Hey guys, first post on CF.NET BBS! Yao is a defensive anchor, a man of his size is most suited for a 1-3-1 zone where he can patrol the paint. Unfortunately he gets exposed by quicker long range shooting PF/C's, or athletic freaks that can jump from the free throw line. His timing on blocks is noticeably better than his first few campaigns however his lateral movement is slow and clunky. That being said Yao is still one of the best defenders in the game at his position just due to this ability to alter shots and deny a clean look to the basket. Also I love his dirty stache, its a shame he doesnt rock the dirty more often.
He's the best at defending traditional centers, but he's pretty good at defending Tim Duncan too. Dwight Howard has never done anything to even score on Yao, even though that's not saying anything, because I saw Dwight push Gasol like a rag-doll and he still couldn't score in the Finals.
