Theory on why Yeo missing outside jumper Hi there. Im new here and I just love this board. Okey lets get to it. One reason why I think Yeo is missing more of his outside jumpers , other than having more talented players defending him compared to his pre NBA careeer is that he is lifting weights now and as he gets stronger he needs to readjust his touch. Ive played ball before and have a mean mid range jumper but lacked bulk to defend well at the post and when I started lifting weights and bulked up I noticed that the farther from the basket I was shooting the worse my percentages were compared to my pre lifting days. Scoring near the basked however showed no difference in my scorring %. It took awhile to readjust my shooting touch from the outside to get it in tune to my new found strength. So it will take time. Remember in one of Jordans training camp Yao was reported to have shot 16 straight 3 pts shots . So he has the range to shoot that far out which is harder Give him some time Also they need to get him to work more on the right side of the ring more .Yes his sweet spot is on the left side, but soon (if they have not yet notice that is ) opposing team will notice that and force him out of that sweet spot. Also he needs to mix it up a bit more I noticed he mostly like turning towards the baseline specially when he is on his sweet spot.
the reason he missed some shots is because he's not a freaking robot. he can't possibly go every game making everything he throws up, however he almost does. his jumper is still money.
albert57d: I agree with you. When you first start lifting weights while playing basketball it's going to affect your shot, that's guaranteed.
Still foul prone? Yao's minutes per foul has jumped from 1 foul every 2.5 minutes in the first 2 weeks to 1 foul per nearly 8.7 minutes now. I think that's reasonably fine for a ROOKIE CENTER. While he can get a bit bitter, I trhink he is clearly ahead of my expectations on wher he would on this aspect.
His only problem as far as fouls go is that he is developing a bad habit of going over the back when he is boxed out on the offensive end. He got called for two of those against Philly, and it probably should have been four.
Wink, Bingo! I tend to cringe every time Yao does this because im just waiting for the whistle. Not only that, some of us have talked before about how he blatantly wipes out his man with his off arm when trying to do that spin move. Some on this board have stated that Yao gets alot of cheap foul calls. However, for every cheap foul he gets called for, there are usually at least 2 legitimate fouls he doesnt get called for. Overall, I cant complain with the treatment he gets from the officials.
I don't think Yao's exceptionally foul prone for a rookie center, and among the lame-brain fouls our team gets Yao is far from the most egregious offender. And Codell, while Yao has had some ill-advised over the backs, he's also been whistled when he barely touches the guy, I'm not going to get into semantics here, but Gene Peterson did say last night (4th game I haven't "seen") that Yao's 7'6 and some of those calls wouldn't have been made on a veteran. Of course, we know Gene, he never mentions the ones against us that should have been called and were not. I don't want Yao picking up dumb fouls either, but I want him to be aggressive, and a 7'6 guy should be able to go straight up over guys when he's behind them and get to the ball. Fitch always said he didn't mind Dream getting over-the-back calls when he was a rookie, because he loved the agression and acknowledged he was going to get some of those balls. So I'm not arguing here, but Dream was 3 fouls in the first quarter I don't know how many times as a rookie, and he struggled the entire year and into the playoffs with foul problems. I just don't see that being the case with Yao. And regarding this thread, Yao's going to have rough games when he's 1st team all-NBA, he shoots badly in one game and excuses come from every angle. Weight-lifting dedn't seem to be affecting him in last night's game, go figure.
I notice players staying off of Yao when he's around the 19-20 ft range and I'm always wondering why won't Yao just pull the trigger and make his opponent guard him? I understand he doesn't want to be detrimental to the offense, but if KT can take shots with players in his face, I don't see why Yao who's got the softer touch can't take wide open jumpers.
That is complete BS about weight training affecting your shot. Of course when youare sore it does, or if you worked out for a few months without playing any basketball, but otherwise it's an excuse.
Did you know why Yao Ming usually plays better at home court? According to the article written by his homeland reporter. Yao's favorite food is fried eels meat and pork ribs which cooked by Yao's Mom. Here is a possible solution. Either making a reservation in the local Chinatown or bring a chef when Rockettee have a road trip.
Weight training does affect one's touch. Some players never do weights before a game, or they end up being unable to hit the rim.