ClutchCity.net Game Thread: Rockets @ Heat 12/16/2002

Early in the game grant did a good job of not allowing Ming get position. But in the seconf half there are times when Ming did get position but the Rockets player refuse to throw him the ball.
May be they do not trust him yet but I agree that they do not pass the ball much to Ming. How do you explained Cato got 5 shots in 12 minutes and ming got 6 in 41 minutes. They seem to set up Cato more than they do with Ming. But as long as Cato finish well then I don't have any problem with that. I don't expect the ball to go to Ming every play but at least utilize him when he is shooting well. Another thing is I wish Steve would pass the ball to Ming when he drove to the basket (like he did one time during OT and Yao end up with a dunk.) There are numerous time this season when the Rockets players drive to the basket and draw the defense to them. Instead of passing to Yao who is open for an easy slam, they usually tried to force the shot or throw out to a guy who stand 22 feet from the basket instead of a guy who stand 2 feet from the basket. The few times that they decide to pass to Yao, he usually end up with an easy basket. He had soft hand and able to finish so I do not know why they don't look for him more often in those situation. I am happy with the win tonight but they almost blow another one after getting a double digit lead in the fourth. They could win much easier if they just play more team ball (like they did against the 76ers and win by 25 points.) Hopefully, our coaching staff can point this out to them and even more important make them do it (pass, pass,and move the ball around)
I don't mean to criticize them but sometime you need constructive criticism to improve. But again the win tonight is sweet no matter how it looks.

 

i get the sense that there are many people, including you, basketball, who think the guards simply "pass" on Yao (no pun intended. Is that true? b/c i must not be seeing it.

Give me an example.

 

Name one center who can PLANT in the low post and STAY THERE everytime. Not even Shaq. What's up with this board. People just tryting to find excuse for not feeding the ball to Ming. 6 shots with 3 off the offensensive rebounds, there is no EXCUSE.

 

this game wouldn't have been close if brian grant wasn't allowed to completely abuse yao. i'm not talking about outplayed, but simply tackling him every time down. grant actually fouled out mid-way through the second-quarter but the refs didn't catch up until overtime. now this is the first time i've b****ed this year about refs.

anyways, my main point is how can anyone watch the game and say that yao only took six shots because the guards were selfish or didn't want to get him the ball? he touched the ball numerous times but was just pushed too far out or double-teamed. 90% of the time steve or whoever just couldn't get him the ball because of the heat defense.

 

there is no way that you watched the game tonight.

 

oneday Yao will feel some bore in the court by running and work hard on the Reb without a touch to the ball, he might lose aggrissuve. maybe sometimes he won't bother to set up any possition since the ball won't go to him. He is the one who plays team ball

 

forgot you can't edit. calvin mentioned on a couple occasions that yao just needs to learn the angles and how to move around to receive the ball in a better position. it's not a knock on yao because he will probably learn this by tomorrow's practice at his rate, but it is absolute bullsh$% to pin everything on the guards.

 

agree... miami was really physical on yao, and double team him many times, do they think he is shaq or what?? just be easy on this ROOKIE!! IMO yao was mad, i rarely see him gets angry and he certainly was today( for 2 times he showed the mad face tonight : )

btw, rudy t realized this and change the strategy in the 2nd half and yao played screen for the guards and went for the offensive rbs(8 off rb, only 4 def rb, strange: ) also i like the blocks yao got today and those were crucial

 

Fronting does not work...all you have to do is get a snap pass to the top of the key, and Yao can trap his man on his hip and get a wide open shot in the middle of the lane.

DaDakota

 

Exactly! You are right. This is why we are not supposed to let Yao Ming play. We should just let Cato play more. We can not get Yao the ball because of the heat defense, but heat won't defense Cato, so Cato could get the ball. Next time when we are against heat, we should let yao sit on the bench and Cato play more minutes.

 

Did anyone notive which play Francis celebrated most today?? Yes, the one where he "spanked" the air after he dribbled down the shot clock while all of his teammates were standing waiting for ball movement. The fact that that was his favorite play of the game shows me he still knows jack didley about this game. How old is he?? I can take that from a HS kid, but not even Lebron is that much of an ignorant. DAMN, pass the ball to some teammates, especially YAO. Yes, Francis is a great talent, but he has no B-Ball IQ whatsoever. We need to move him to the 2 and get a damn point guard who looks to pass. Rudy T...grow some balls please and get your team in check!

 

There are too many occasions to list here. But let me give you an example from a third party (in this case it came from our commentators Bill and Calvin). On one play near the end of regulation,Steve got foul and miss the two free throws. Even before Steve missed those free throws Bill said Yao was wide open (obviously he think the ball should be pass to Yao). The fact that our guards doesn't look to Yao as much lately for whatever reasons (unfamiliarity, lack of trust, he is a rookie, turnovers lately ,etc.). I don't care if Yao touch the ball one time or a hundred times. All I care is for the Rockets to play well and win. Just like Rice today ( he is 6 for 8 )so obviously he got the hot hand then they should go to him. Very simple. The reason I would like Yao to get the ball more is because he is 7'6" with a good touch. His shooting percentage are high and you tend to got foul more when you shoot from five feet then from 20 feet. So even if you don't make the shot you still go to the line and shoot. And when the ball go to him, it create mismatch and other team have to double team him. This create open shot for other players. This is call smart and team basketball. I am not a Steve haters. I know he got a load of talents and he is probalbly the best guard that we have since I have follow the Rockets (which is around 1977). I always pull for him to do well because I am foremost a Rockets fan. I do remember the day when we wish that we can have a good guard to go with our Center (Malone , Olajuwon). And now it look like we finally have both so we need to utilize both of their talents. Peace.

 

Look feishen, the point is NOT THAT A CENTER NEEDS TO HOLD DOWN THE POST EVERYTIME, BUT RATHER, YOU NEED TO, AT LEAST, ESTABLISH POSITION IF YOU WANT TO GET A FEED. I am NOT blaming Yao. Fact is, the Heat had Brian Grant plastered all over him. Establishing position tonite was NOT EASY. Even Butler collapsed on him from time to time. That kind of adjusted defense is the Ultimate Compliment. You ought to get off your defensive high horse and start realizing that some of us are posting this stuff NOT B/C WE are making excuses, but rather, trying to see things objectively.

Should Yao get more touches? Sure. But right now his POST PLAY IS SIMPLY NOT WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE....... YET. Over time, I imagine this will change. Moreover, with defenses now zeroing in on him, he's GOT To BE ABLE TO stand strong in the post. Else, play the high post. Either way, this is where I think Yao has LIMITED EXPERIENCE given THE LESS-PHYSICAL NATURE of international basketball. This is NOT a jab at Yao. This is a growing process for Yao.

So feishen, do me a favor and get over your nationalistic pride and stop making enemies where there are no enemies to be found.



madSAGE

 

Apparently Riley told Grant to be physical with Yao from the beginning. On Yao's second touch, Grant just wrapped him up!

 

basketball... thx for the reply... unlike SOME POSTERS, i'm glad that you post civil and intelligible messages.

theSAGE

 

i don't understand how any of that has to do with my post. but i do know that you've already stated you didn't watch the game so there's no point in even arguing with you. you have no idea what you're talking about because it's impossible to critique with just a stat sheet.

 

Ahhh...some basketball sense...

If they are fronting Yao and you can't get it to him...swing the ball to the top of the key. If there are two guys guarding Yao at that point, swing it to the other end of the floor. Now, either take a wide open 3 or get a defender to come out to you make Yao open in the block. Personally, I would love to see the wide open 3 because we know Rice or Cat can make it often. What I hate is just jacking up the 3 when the lob isn't there.

Make the defense move Rockets!!!

 

i forgot to give my props to eddie griffin. he's been rather quietly playing good basketball for the last 5 or 6 games. he still can't hold his own on man to man defense yet but he eats up people in the zone coming from the weakside. he hustles his ass off so it's weird to see all these comments about lack of fire and laziness. he gets after it, he just has no expression.

 

Actually derrock, I would have recommended that Yao simply "drift" to the hoop as the recipient of a lob or "alley-opp.". Call it a modified back-door pass, b/c that's essentially what becomes available if a defender overplays or, or in the most extreme case, fronts you. Moveover, Yao is 7'5", how hard can it be to get the ball to him with a leading lob?



theSAGE

 

Yeah...but I had to cover my bases if they suggested a person behind Yao...which didn't happen quite that often today. Aahhhh...the 7'5" argument...that should be enough. On all these fronting defense arguments, there should only be one reply:

7'5"