After the recovery of the sickness,Yao's great passes come back!!!

Ya i have noticed it too. I think Yao has finally understood the role of being a leader. I think he saw how our team missed his presence while he was injured. He is hustling, going into a ref face, he is doing everything that a superstar should do. He has finally become a leader and his #s are only going to grow.

 

You know, something tells me, maybe it's ignorance, or an uneducated basketball mind, but for some reason I don't see JVG telling Yao DO NOT pass to wide open cutters under the basket for 2 easy pts when they are open.

 

The reason for some of Yao's great passes during the old days is the simple fact that Rudy is very X and Os when it comes to design pass plays. It might not seem that way, but any of Rudy's ex-players would agree that he doesn't just let you play, and that he's as direct as it gets when it comes to designing a specific play with a specific amount of time spent.

Yao's play nowadays has to do with the idea that the Rockets need to get off a good shot based on the system. Fancy passes are nice, but TOs are deadly. Remember how we used to always average about 20+ TOs a game back then? That's simply not acceptable under JVG. Yao took his time to learn the system, and once he's confortable, the better court vision will come. He just needs to relax out there and not concentrate too hard to see the court better. But don't blame EVERYTHING on JVG. He has his faults, but it's becoming a broken record.

 

You're missing the obvious. It's not Van Gundy saying don't pass or don't do this or that. He in the past has constantly berated Yao publicly on the sidelines for missing defensive assignments and not running up top and then running back low. And this has Yao playing in a frenzy and with less confidence. Now with a break from Van Dummy Yao is playing with more confidence.

Also I will give Van Gundy some credit . I think he finally realized he was killing his superstar center(albeit it took a waisted season playing too long without Yao for him to see the light). If you noticed Yao is not running to the top of the key and then running back down low on defense and he is not doing as many picks at the top of the key as before and even on Rockets free throws he is staying on the defensive end instead of having to try to get a rare offensive rebound and then run the length of the court to get back on defense.

Before on offense, if you remember Yao would run down the court, set down low waiting for an entry pass and then when he doesn't get it run back to top and set a screen and then slide back low for a pass or to try and rebound and then if there was no shot or pass he would repeat the process and then try to get the rebound and then run down court for defense. And on defense it was even worst because Yao was supposed guard the opposing center and then when the guards are trying to make their moves he has to run to the top of the key and double team and then run back down low and try to guard the paint and watch his man and then try to fight for position in the paint. SIMPLY INSANE!

All of these things contributed to Yao's stops and starts and by limiting them you limit the abuse on Yao's big toe and his body in general. The direct result is Yao is not having to chase these little guards So I give Van Gundy credit for at least acknowledging he was killing Yao and making some adjustments. (Although I have to take some points away from Van Dummy for not realizing this along time ago.. come on why would you have a 7'6' franchise center chasing guards at the top of the key... once and a while maybe if someone is shooting lights out... but not almost every play. That's just stupid coaching... you would never see Shaq doing it)... Anyway he has cut back on Yao's defensive rotation crap and what you see now is Yao is able to get better position and his rebounds are going up and Van Dummy has cut back on Yao's offensive picks and what you see is a more energetic Yao who is able to be a little more creative on offense. So let's hope Van Dummy sticks to this new handling of Yao and let's our star center blossum.

 

Sorry, Yao is still setting too many picks out there in lala land for me. The plays that Van Gundy runs are designed to rotate both big men out to set the pick. One big sets the pick, then runs back down low, the other big guy is rotating up from down to set the next pick. Van Gundy just runs them in circles down there. Funny thing is, they aren't even working that well right now. Most of our points are a direct result of ball movement and rotation, the picks are an afterthought.

Let Hayes go out there and set that durn pick and free up TMac for the shot. Then go down inside and set a pick for Yao. I want to see that play.

 

I think it's not so much on JVG changing his approach, it's more because of the different type of players we have thus JVG can re-assign some of the tasks Yao used to take. We have Rafer now, who is quick enough (though not strong enough sometimes) to follow opposing team's PG and who can distribute the balls and make better entry passes.

 

I think Rafer is playing great...........offensively. That dude is a ball handling wizard. He keeps our TOs in check. I really like what he is bringing us. Somebody needs to spend a little bit of time with him helping him square up on his shot. He's got too much arms and body twist in it. He's not planting his legs square and going up straight. And he is taking too much time getting it off. He needs to square up and let 'er fly. But handling the rock and distributing....he is one of the league's best. If only he could body up and stay with opposing points better.

 

You are failing to realize..

1) No adjustments were made, Yao was defending according to what Seattle and Milwaukee were doing and they rarely used the pick and roll out high with their center

2) When another team misses a lot of shot theres more rebounds to grab

3) Yao made two passes that were simple passes to cutters in the lane, one to Bowen, one to Mooch, there's nothing creative about them, when you see a player who is wide open, you pass him the ball

4) Seattle is the worst defensive team in the league at 107 pts allowed a game and two simple passes to wide open players were not due to fresh energy Yao got by not having to defend the pick and roll, they were due to Seattle living up to their defensive ranking and not guarding anyone.


When other teams start to use their center to pick and roll Yao will have to make an effort to step out and defend it, theres no other way around it.

 

Ummmm,

I think there was some adjustments made. Van Gundy realized that teams just totally lay off Bowen when he is in there, so when he throws the entry pass, it's pointless for him to be standing on the perimeter. So Van Gundy's got him diving to the hoop. The defender lets him go, thinking he's going to the opposite corner, Bowen stops at the rim, and lays in the pass.

 

I love how the whiners and complainers about anything JVG complain and whine that JVG is not creative enough on offense then whine and complain about how JVG makes Yao expend too much energy by moving around on offense and they would rather he just come down the court and go to his spot down low and set up. You say JVG's offense is not creative enough and yet you want Yao, who has the offesne ran through him 50% of the time, to conserve energy and simply go to his spot and post up on offense. Who's the dummy again?

 

I don't think any adjustments were made, I just think that Yao is maturing and getting more comfortable on this team and with his role. This guy still hasn't been in the league that long, and if he stays healthy and playing like he has been, this kid is going to be god darn scary a couple of seasons from now...I can only hope McGrady will still be playing at the level he's playing at now by then so we can make serious strides to win the championship.

 

Yes, this is the way it is supposed to be but there are times when Yao Ming gets lost, even though he his still on the court, for example the fourth quarter of the previous game when the playmakers were not looking for him and also he was avoiding being in position to receive the ball. so the 50% touches only apply when all the players are playing their roles and playing the team game.

 

I miss the good old days when yao was able to CONSERVE ENERGY.

I mean if Yao does not get the ball down low, why can't he just sit off to the side with his hands on his knees, why does he move around so much, let him take the play off and not be part of any play if does not get the ball, you jeffvandummy you!

I miss the good old days when the real sherriff was in town, Rudy T. Good old Rudy conserved energy for Yao by having him bring the ball inbounds after every made basket by the opposing team. Yao was able to conserve energy by sprinting down the court and setting picks for Francis so he could get the ball across mid-court and be the last man down court every possession. A pure energy conserver that man Rudy was, yep uhhuh

Creative passes galore we get from Yao back then when he is able to conserve energy and move around about as much a sh*t on a log. That one to Mooch, and that other one to mooch, they were all to mooch back then...but well if JVG would allow Yao to take plays off whenever he doesn't get the ball there would be many more so much so that his shot attempts would decrease which would of course be JVG's fault but we'll take issue with that when it happens.

Making Yao be part of a team concept on offense and not allowing him to conserve energy by taking plays off like the poor big giant sloth he is who needs special consideration. The absurdity!

 

Yetti, but the point of OMR's post is that Yao's movement on offense is unnecessary and I say it is absolutely necessary. The good positioning Yao now gets and is due to the fact that he is moving on offense when he doesn't have the ball which does not allow the defense to set up and push him away from the basket before getting the ball or even worse fronting him and not allowing him to get the ball at all. So this whole idea that Yao is playing with confidence because he is conserving energy by not going though unecessary movements is asinine. If the defense know what you are going to do they can keep you from doing that which is why Yao along with the rest of his teammates are in constant movement on offense. It's not that difficult to understand.

and the line of thinking that says Yao is wasting energy by having to guard his man when his man steps out high to set a pick, I will never understand.
you can't have a team and ask one of the team members who is the best player on the team to relax on defense and not cover his man or help on defense and not ask the rest of his teammates to do the same thing which would be a disaster. the only reasons Yao gets caught out there and lumbers a bit trying to get back is because he over-commits at times and his slow lateral movements because of his size. if anything, jvg yells at him not for not defending that play but for commiting too much, he just wants him to show enough and then get back. the idea of not having him guard the pick and roll play at all would be suicide for the rockets because the guard would come off the screen and shoot a wide open shot everytime. he has to guard that play, he has to show, he can't sit back and just let it happen. that's absurd. if it tires him, he'll have to fight through it and do the best he can.

 

Yeah, the movement is necessary, but it should be movement towards receiving the ball after coming off a pick that somebody else is setting for him, not movement from him running out to 3 point land to set a pick so the guard can dribble to the other side of the floor.

 

Come on. This is getting silly now. Shaquile Oneal sets picks. Duncan sets picks constantly. It's being blown way out of proportion. Yao is not out there setting an unecessary amount of picks to the point where it is causing him great exhaustion. This babying of Yao is is really getting sad. when he has a bad game it's everyone else fault mainly JVG and when he plays well it's in spite of JVG. You can't be serious. The thought of a star center setting a pick every now and then, and it is every now and then, has nothing to do with causing Yao to get too tired to where he can't score or rebound or be as effective as he would be if he didn't have to set picks. Yao is a big part of our offense even when he does not score, he really makes his team go, and that's what makes him so special of a player.

 

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I don't mind Yao setting the picks at the top of the key or some picks down on the paint. It's the picks where he runs out to the 3 point arc in the upper corners that drives me nuts. He does not have the opportunity to roll and get the ball back. He's too far out. It is wasted energy. Have Hayes. Howard, Swift set that pick and let Yao roam around from 17 feet on in.

 

You just don't get it Stoked. You're so blinded by your lovefor Van Gundy that you can not even acknowledge that anything he does is wrong. My 2 biggest complaints are having yao come out on these guards to help double team almost every defensive play and having yao run all over the court on offense and never even touch the ball. A typical scenario in the past would have been Yao works his butt off to get post position on the left but they don't get him the ball so they swing it around and Yao works his butt off to the left side to get post position and still noone gets him the ball. So then he rushes to the top of the key to run a pick for Wesley or someone else besides Tmac ( I accept they need to do it for Tmac at times) and then he rolls down the side and almost never gets the ball back. Yes other centers set picks but not as much as Van Dummy makes Yao. I'll even give you that Duncan does it almost as much as Yao but Yao is not Duncan. He is unlike any player in the league. He is 7'6' 300 plus lbs. It's ridiculous to have a Yao running to the 3 to double team guards and have him setting picks with the frequecy of the past. You just wear him down doing that.

Set Yao free let him concentrate on what he does best and that's being the fiercest lowpost threat out side of Shaq in the league. Clog up the middle on defense like noone else can and let other players to the sh%t work. It's just stupid wasting Yao with this work that others can do. Oh and teach your players how to get Yao the ball. Right now they are pathetic. Clyde said it last night it's an art to get your big man the ball. Rudy knew how to get Hakeem the ball and Yao is a bigger target than Hakeem with a better shot. So why can't the players get Yao the ball. That is simply the fault of the coaching nothing more or less. Hakeem said that Rudy practiced and practiced getting the ball into Him. And the reason he did it is because good things happened when Hakeem had the ball. Well good things happen when Yao has the ball. So Van Gundy needs to figure out a way to get it to him. 95% of the plays should be run through Tmac and Yao. It doesn't mean they always shoot but make they plays happen. Maybe that percentage should be raised to 100. Oh and don't minimize those passes by Yao. We haven't seen them in a while and now they are back.