I'm tired of excuses from Yao and JVG. Yao needs to learn to score despite the fouls. Hire some tall, heavy brutes and let them hack Yao while he tries to score. It's sort of similar to one b-ball college coach I heard of holding practice in football gear. The other idea is every now and then Yao needs to be comfortable giving out offensive fouls to send a message without guilt. There are so many giants afraid of harming people smaller than them. Shaq has been one of the few big men who welcomed some football in the paint in his heyday. Even when he dunked he raised his knees sending his defenders back with a little memory of him.
Yao is the highest scoring center in the league and you think he is having trouble scoring while being fouled? You should tell the other 29 starting centers, about your cool coaching technique. They need help with scoring.
It's not about the stats. It's about the tough points and the mental and physical strength it takes to get those points.
I think he's saying that Yao still has room for improvements, that's all. As well as he's played, he can still play better, and Yao realizes that himself. It would be a sad day for all Rockets fans if Yao thinks that he's good enough as he is.
He will always improve until he peaks and then maintains and then fights the decline that all tenured players go thru. again, the problem with the roxs is not Yao, its those around him and oh the coaching.
Yao is scoring fine. The refs need to call the foul when there is blood and a long cut on his arm from the opposing player. If Yao only got the same treatment as Dirk, he would have pretty blood-less arms like him. Even if he drops 30 points and 15 rebounds on somebody, he'll still be called for loose ball foul for barely grazing the opposing center.
it's really odd that a lot of people on this board seem to get offended by any criticism or suggestions to Yao's game. Yodels idea might be a bad idea, but I commend him for trying to suggest ideas to improve Yao's game. you can always improve, averaging 35 a game doesn't mean that you've reached your potential, you can always do more. that's what seperates Hakeem from everybody else. he always came up with something new every single season of his career. I am really impressed with Yao's hook shot this season, he has really put in some work in the offseason to hit that hook shot very consistently.
Wow since when was averaging 35 ppg nothing? 35 points per game is literally about a 1/3 (or even more) of your whole team's scoring average.
Yodels' point could be restated as that for Yao to be a game closer and start winning games with the last shot before the buzzer, he has to be able to score even when fouled. He gets fouled and pushed a lot at those critical moments and he rarely gets the call. Scoring lots of points gives him good stats, but he has to close games to make the next grade. Imagine if Yao had scored less but made the last baskets against either the Warriors or the Lakers and won the games. The positive is that he is getting the chance to make the shots. He how just has to sink them.
Yao is adding new things to his game each year. Read some of his interviews about what he did during the offseason with Tom and tennis balls.
it seems you spent lot of time nitpicking Yao's performance from many of your posts. instead, it might be better to spend some time thinking about why he didnt have high shooting percentage. here's a hint: he played 41min and 48min back-to-back, fighting opponents' big men inside the paint. here's another one: opponents' big men have been fouling him without getting called.
What I am most confused about is that it's called "And 1" training? He is making his shots while getting fouled and the opponent is not called for the foul. He can't get the "And 1" free throw by training for it. That's strictly based on the refs. He make several shots each game and gets pushed and not get the 3-point play. I guarantee he will make 500 more shots while getting fouled, and still not get the additional free throw.
If he makes 500 more shots than we're better off. Hakeem used to get hacked on his shots, but only got free throws when the refs felt like calling it.
