Rockets realizing Yao's a quick learner Wednesday, Dec. 4 There's a reason Houston never viewed its alleged Getting Yao The Ball problem as a Full Blown Crisis, and that was true even before Yao Ming detonated for 27 points and 18 rebounds against Tim Duncan and David Robinson. That's because, sometimes, the Rockets are actually trying to limit Yao's touches. The Rockets don't want him taking a mere 5.2 shots per game over a five-game stretch, as just seen before Tuesday's detonation, but they also don't want the offense running through Yao yet. So if there's a problem, it's this: "We've been trying to bring him along slowly," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said with a gleeful laugh, "but he's not cooperating." The Rockets have promised themselves to be conscious of the pressure and expections Yao's carrying, and without forgetting that he hasn't a break from basketball for more than two years. Coach Rudy Tomjanovich was nonetheless all but forced to put Yao in the starting lineup before he wanted to, in his 11th NBA game, after Yao sliced through the Mavericks and same-sized Shawn Bradley for 30 points and 16 rebounds. Tomjanovich, though, feels it's too soon to be calling a Hakeem-like number of plays for Yao on a nightly basis. That's even after what Yao did to other centers in the state, Duncan and Robinson, who combined for just 32 points and 18 boards. "Rudy has been putting something new in [the offense] every day for Yao," Dawson said. "But Rudy wants to put players in comfortable positions and set them up to learn as they go. He's going to go out of his way to make sure they have as few setbacks as possible." Truth be told, the Rockets are much more concerned with the lack of consistency from their forwards than any Yao issue. Eddie Griffin, Mo Taylor and Kenny Thomas are all averaging less than nine points per game. No one has emerged as the obvious starter. That's a problem. Not Yao's shot count. Not this early. Especially not when you consider the calm Yao's showing in the post, passing out of double teams -- yes, he's already drawing doubles -- like a vet. Better yet, Yao never takes a shot he can't make. Something you can't say about lots of folks in today's NBA. "I'm not surprised at what he's doing, but I'm surprised how quick he's doing it," Dawson said. "I thought this is what we'd be seeing by the middle of January." Mind you, at this rate, who knows how many shots he'll be taking by then. Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Don't Miss: Daily Dime Archive
Very interesting. I think we've all had the feeling that Rudy wanted to protect Yao from too much pressure and protect the other egos on the team at the same time. The best way to do that is to limit his shots. Even after the Spurs game, I still wouldn't look for Yao to get 18 shots on a consistent basis. Especially after Cat gets back. For some reason I don't think the Genie is quite out of the bottle.
It is good coaching and here's another important reason why: Even good things can create problems. You can't change a whole team built around great guards into a team built around a dominant post presence in a game or two. They've gone from a one-on-one, isolating style of offense to low post, pick-and-roll with some motion in only a week or two. Bringing Yao along quickly might not be great for the team, particularly if Yao begins to wear down later in the season. Also, look around at the player on occassion. There are times when guys look really lost on the floor and out-of-sync. We've seen what it can do to the forwards. Ultimately, running the offense through Yao will have significant beneiftis, particularly because the Rockets have a point guard who the offense can be run through as well making for a diversified attack. But, at the moment, too much of a good thing can still create real problems.
Yep. Rudy knows what he's doing with Yao. You can not burn him out and neglect the rest of the team by trying to turn him into Yao the Dream Ming. Create a balanced attack in the team at its formative stages. This pre-prime-time era is so much fun... CBFC
THANK YOU. you know how few people seem to understand that concept? considering how long they've had to work with a new offense and a center this amazing, it's pretty impressive how good this team is getting. heck even last night people were complaining that steve didn't give yao the ball enough. he had 18 shots. duncan, the mvp, took 6 less so apparently tony parker is also a jealous point guard.
Yeah you can tell that Yao was tired at the end of last game. He was about to fall down after he bumped into one of the spurs while trying to establish position. Moochie also had to smack him in the ass few times to get him up the floor.
Rudy has a lot more patience than the fans here on the BBS for sure. I can understand how he worry about wearing down Ming too fast and create injury problems later in the season. The guy has been constantly playing for over two years now. IMHO, if you want to protect Ming, try limit his minutes. But when he is playing on the court, let him get more touches. Everybody knows that how efficient the offense is when runing the ball through Ming, and how that makes other team members playing better. When everybody is playing better, their confidence will grow and chemistry will be worked out. Look how Bryan Russel sucks when he moved to Wizard (Stockton is great PG) and Walt Williams start playing well in Dalls (very smart offense team).
This is why Rudy is considered one of the best coaches. He is a great manager of people and there egos. I agree Ming needs only 20-25 minutes a night.
I read a quote by Francis saying they are now in a run it through Yao mode and that this is what they are working on to adjust to quickly from the guard dominate offense of last year. You beat the Spurs with a yao first offense and it's time to switch to that offense for good...
Earlier in the SA game Yao was looking for someone to pass the rock. Finally Moochie started cutting. Later Stevie cut. This group needs to 'develop chemistry', and learn what to do and when to do it.
