Do you think the coaching staff a will instruct the team to get yao more involved in the offence tommorow ? More importantly will his teamates heed to such instruction (if such was given ) to look to him more ? On defence I think shaq would ask that no double team be given as he would want Yao one on one and I hope that Houston gives Yao the chance to defend shaq one on one ? Yao better double or 3ple that energy tonic his dad broght him from China. hell need every bit of it tommorow.
If you try to single cover either of these guys, you will be in for a long night. No one single covers Shaq unless they are suicidal. The Lakers will also have to bring help against Ming when he gets position inside(Tho the refs will likely let Shaq mug him). Shaq, contrary to Laker fans belief, is not superman. His defense also seems to have fallen off quite a bit. That brings back fond memories of when the Spurs were trying to do some single coverage with DRob on Hakeem. We were never foolish enough to try to single him once he got deep into the post.
I actually don't want to see Shaq on Yao one-on-one. Yao will be more effective playing his game, which is a team game, than getting into one-on-one matches with the league's biggest big man. I want to see Yao hold himself well against Shaq, but as with every game, my desires are prioritized as follows: 1) no major injuries to our players 2) the WIN. End of story. 3) good basketball (including good team play) 4) strong performances by individual players (in this case, Yao) I think our defense will be critical in this game. Hopefully Yao's presense will have a serious impact on the Laker's offense. Team defense will be key. On the other end, I hope Yao can get his one-on-one. Especially if he's guarded by Horry, as one columnist I've read suggested.
The key to beating the Lakers is exposing their weakness at the 1. Francis needs to penetrete/create...which should be easy against Fisher.
That would be sweet. Actually...this is all pointless. A double team is not the same as it use to be, as you don't have to commit anymore. Sometimes I forget about the zone.
