Adelman's distribution of Yao's minutes

I don't have a problem with Adelman using Yao. It's all about the game situation. When your team is not playing well and in jeapardy of losing...i am all in favor of putting Yao in even if he's a little tired. So it all depends on the game situation..not every game is going to be the same. It's not like Rick Adelman is going to play Yao like this every game.

 

Yao is so hardwoking that he will not tank his game in regular season. Coach should down his minutes if he really want to do something in playoffs. Hope this will happen as season prolongs.

 

Both coaches made mistakes in not cutting down Yao's mins by playing Deke. Mutombo is in phenomenal shape and has proven that he can give you a solid 10-15 mpg the past two seasons when Yao went down. Plus, even at his age, he's still one of the best shot blockers and rebounders at his position in the NBA.

 

I agree. I thought Scola had a sub-par game, for him. He's still trying to find himself, offensively.

 

Well, he should be well rested for the game tonight against the Mav's. That hopefully a plus.

 

When I think about it, I think the absence of Brooks had an impact on it.

Without McGrady and Artest, the Rockets didn't have a guy who can get penetration. That means to score the Rockets would have to rely on a post game. Scola and Landry aren't players you can run an efficient post up offense through. So, that put extra burden on Yao.

 

I was confused too. Scola played so well in the first 3Q he deserved to be on court. But I like the Aston, TMAC, RON, Landry, and Yao lineup too. Soo many option to score.

 

All I'm saying is if adelman had a reliable backup for yao without cutting the arms of the offense off, he would do it. That's why last yr before the streak I brought up pj brown. This year,I'm bringing up Booth or Hunter. Will either of those guys avg a double double? No, but both are long and can at least provide yao with 14-17 mins of rest. They have guys like francis and head who basically have no position of use on this team. Its obvious when yao goes out, the door to the basket opens up. Hell, i'll take calvin booth. At least he's long, has a huge wingspan, is a pretty good spot up shooter from 15 ft and is a good lockerroom guy. Not to mention he makes vet min. Dorsey should go to the d-league for now. Something should be done.

 

i think it had more to do with Gasol, Marc is really wide and hard to move, you put anyone else on the roster on him and Gasol will easily get rebounding position. Adelman probably thought it was best to have Yao out there taking up space to make it difficult on Gasol, but he still managed 12 boards. He played 36 mins, so almost matches Yao's minutes.

 

our offensive efficiency went through the roof the first 13 games yao was out last yr.

we can play without yao. but adelman's hands have to be forced to do so.

 

I agree we can play without yao but that wasn't the case in the season opener. Our second unit (small ball) got demolished by Memphis' youth and athleticism. Adelman probably didn't intend to play Yao that many minute but had no choice to win the game. Not just Yao, but both Artest and Mcgrady had to play extended minutes to bring out a win. Our second unit just isn't the same without Brooks.

Also, people keep arguing that our offense efficiency was better without Yao last season. However, we also end up losing points in paint against every opponent. Tmac's shooting % also dropped after Yao left the season.

 

3, 2, 1... to the first fire Adelman post.

 

Which is exactly what I've been talking about. It's the same exact thing that happened last year against Atlanta, another team with size, youth and athleticism. Small ball is only going to take you so far.

The game tonight was way too close to sit Yao. If the team maybe ran the freaking offense a little better there would have been more of a cushion and Yao might have been able to get some rest.

 

are you saying we were that bad to start last yr that yao had to average 37 minutes a game?

this is not just a game situation type of thing. adelman LIKES TO PLAY YAO BIG MINUTES. even if we had deke, adelman probably still would play yao 38 minutes tonight. he never used deke last yr until yao went out.

the first quarter into the 2nd, we had a big lead. yet yao still started the 2nd quarter.

so again, it's not a game situation type of thing.

 

There's probably more than one reason for playing Yao at any given time. When Memphis came back Adelman had no choice but to throw Yao back into it. The Rockets were getting killed on the boards with Hayes and Landry playing at the same time. There's just not enough size there.

But also the Rockets looked like crap tonight. It's plausible to me that Adelman was trying to get Yao, T-Mac and Artest some playing time to see if they couldn't get some chemistry going. Given that the first quarter looked okay why ont see if the big three can get some momentum/chemistry rolling? And if they build up a big enough cushion then the second unit could have played major minutes. That wasn't the way things turned out of course.

 

Its fairly common knowledge that Adelman doesn't empty out the bench too much, which means he relies on starters. I'm thinking Adelman simply didnt want to blow opening night at home to the Grizzlies, and will get the minutes under control...

As much as people talk about not having a legitimate backup point, its kinda obvious lack of front court height and size outside of Yao can hurt on some nights.

(Calling out Dale & Antonio Davis, Kevin Willis, any tall guy that's started an NBA game past '97...)

 

I have absolutely no idea what you are arguing about. Guys said we needed big minutes from Yao last night because we were not doing well offensively without him in the game. But then you kept saying we did well enough last season without Yao. Is part of the score of last night's game determined by how we did last season?