I noticed something when Yao plays in the nba vs china. In asia I noticed he plays off the block quite a bit as well. He makes cuts to the baskets and uses backcuts to free himself to get the ball. Here in the states I notice that JVG primarly wants to position him on the block to create. I think Yao has a guard mentality and gets complacent and lazy just posting up on the block. That's where he loses some of his aggressiveness. Could you imagine a 7'6" foot center cutting to the basket. Granted it wouldn't be a fast cut but with a back pick or screen Yao would get the ball easily at the basket to finish. Versatility is his game like Tim Duncan's. I think we should steal some plays from SA's playbook.
when's the last time Shaq avg. those #s (30+/15+30) in a season? so Yao's suppose to get that kind of #s everynight, otherwise it's his fault?
I find it amusing that you want to call hm out for not knowing anything about bball....yet you don't know what sealing your man off means... and think that a zone defense should have been called as illegal. IF he was more experienced with people fronting him, he might understand how to position himself to get the lob or even be physical enough to block his man off to prevent his defender from getting around to where he needs to recieve the pass. I do agree that his teammates need work on passing when the defense is working to prevent it...but to insinuate that there was nothing that Yao could do to combat it just shows that you dont know as much as you think you do.
What did you think I mean about sealing off your man? You need to go read the other thread about fronting and passing the ball into the post before u sound off ... Codell and now you, think sealing off the defender is some majic the post man can pull and problem is solved ... You are also mistaken big time if you think the Rockets had many chances to throw the lob. BTW, a little tip about zone defense: Section VIII-Defensive Three-Second Rule a. The count starts when the offensive team is in control of the ball in the front-court. b. Any defensive player, who is positioned in the 16-foot lane or the area extending 4 feet past the lane endline, must be actively guarding an opponent within three seconds. Actively guarding means being within arms length of an offensive player and in a guarding position. c. Any defensive player may play any offensive player. The defenders may double-team any player. d. The defensive three-second count is suspended when: (1) there is a field goal attempt, (2) there is a loss of team control, (3) the defender is actively guarding an opponent or (4) the defender completely clears the 16-foot lane. e. If the defender is guarding the player with the ball, he may be located in the 16-foot lane. This defender is not required to be in an actively guarding/arms dis-tance position. If another defender actively guards the player with the ball, the original defender must actively guard an opponent or exit the 16-foot lane. Once the offensive player passes the ball, the defender must actively guard an opponent or exit the 16-foot lane. PENALTY: A technical foul shall be assessed. The offensive team retains pos-session at the free throw line extended. The shot clock shall remain the same as when play was interrupted or reset to 14 seconds, whichever is greater.
People are only blaming Yao out of frustration. The problem really is that Yao should have stepped up his game to make up for his team mates. Sure he did great and did his share but thats just it. Rocks could have won this game even with the turnovers and all if Yao made his presense felt.
I think a lot of this is a backlash. We have heard so much that since Steve was the team's leader that he has to take responisbility for the teams' losses and lack of playoff appearances. Now that Yao is the leader, the blame falls squarely on him to make the team successfull. He has to do something. His teammates are just in supporting roles. Yao has to make it happen. That is the definition of a superstar team leader. If he can't do it, he shouldn't be the leader.
This is a far cry from your postings in the YM-centric site, where you had openly declared that you want to be his girl friend. This is a damn good site, and my wish is that you do not revert to your transgressions that had caused your banishment from the YM-centric site. ---in one sitting, 1.5 hrs, using a spoofed ID spamming the site w 96 annoying / unintelligble messages. ---using 7+ spoofed IDs--some taking on a female personality, some male---making sexually innuendos to humuliate posters who hold a different opinion. his / her (TannerSearle78) spoofed IDs included: BeijingBoy2003 Ex-NBA Coach MollyWood (Tanner's pretty sister, as much a fake as him/her) likemindeddude tetsujiin caojiiong caojiong` caojiong_ "she-male" is a very appropo term to describe peeps with gender identify crisis like you
NOT YAO OR ANYONE IN PARTICULARS FAULT......... 20 something turnovers......... Guards who can't handle a press.......bringing the ball slowly up the court like we have a 45 second shot clock.......that was the problem...... By the time we got in our half court set it was 12 seconds left and 5 chickens with there head cut off trying to make a foolish rushed play........thats it plain and simple
Cuttino Mobley is THE WORST PLAYER I have ever seen play for the Houston Rockets. But Moochie is ranked high up there too. He says all the right stuff during interviews but goes out night after night after night after season doing the same stupid things. It is sooooooo frustrating to watch a Rockets game as long as he is still on the roster. He doesn't care about anybody but himself. He doesn't care if Yao gets the ball. He is only concerned about getting his. If Jeff Van Gundy stays true to his reputation, Mobley will be gone by the trading deadline. He must see and know what most of us know. CUTTINO IS A SELFISH BALLHOG. And what is worse is that he isn't even good. At least ballhogs like Rashard Lewis and others are actually good. Listen up people, as long as we have Cuttino Mobley on this team, WE WILL NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!! (Deep breath) That felt good to get that off my chest.
Before you blame Yao, this needs to happen: On every play that Yao has position, he has to get the ball. If he doesn't, then you're worrying about a secondary problem with him not always being unable to get that position in the first place. Did all of us see Mobley (in particular), Jackson, and Francis pass Yao up when he had position in the post? Yes. Until they learn that if Yao's open, he gets it (because he's, quite frankly, better than they are)... worrying about Yao's problems is foolish.
Yo Yao, It's all about getting the ball in your hands, do whatever it takes to get it dude. Feel free to knock players down, bust some teeth or even stomp a 5-foot guy. GET REALLY MAD...don't just grimace when you get poked, POKE THE MF back!! I know you're a goodwill ambassador for China in the NBA and it's no secret that the NBA needs role models like you, but the peace thing stays off the court Yao. On the court, it's a war!! I don't blame you for the loss man but I sure think that you could've done a whole lot more to open up passing and driving lanes for your teammates. Peace.
That's a very good point. There were more than a few times when Yao didn't get the ball even though he had long-enough position to receive an entry pass. Nevertheless, he still managed to score 19 points. I think Yao definitely needs to toughen up his donkey, but it's not prudent to put too much of the blame on him. After all, the Yao-cannot-maintain-his-position argument is too easy an excuse to justify not passing him the ball. Yao is a special player, and he makes things look easy, almost a little too easy at times. I think we're taking him and all the adjustments and progress that he has already made for granted if we're saying that if he doesn't put up 30/15, that the blame lies with him.
I live in LA, so I have a lot of chances watching the Lakers. I've been very curious in how they feed Shaq the ball. Every team in the league know Shaq is a thread. They all device special schemes to defend him. Yet, they don't seem to have particular trouble getting him the ball--that is, apart from Kobe's ball hogging habit . Shaq's strength in securing position helps a lot, of course. But contrary to many people's implication in this thread, Shaq doesn't give his teammates a very wide "window" either. The fact is, no matter how strong you are, you can only hold your inside position open for so long. Then the opponent will do one of these things: (1) push you out; or (2) go around to your front to deny the pass, or (3) send double team; or (4) any combinations of these. In observing Shaq and the Lakers, I have concluded that entry passing to the dominant center isn't as simple as "just throw it to the big guy and how can you miss he's a 7 footer". This is especially true in the era of legalized zone. The defense can send double team BEFORE the pass was made. I notice that they often pass to Shaq in MOVEMENT. Shaq is not stationed on one spot. He often catches the ball either while flashing across the lane from the weak side or while moving from the high post to the low. In other words, he is a moving target. Not only that, the ball was often delivered when the passer is also moving, or shortly after he catches the ball himself. So timing is VERY important. The passer cannot just throw it in there. Even if Shaq gets the ball that way, he probably is not in the most comfortable position to score. The ball has to be deliver to where Shaq can catch and MOVE at the same time and thereby sealing off the defender (with his enormous body) before the double team comes. That kind of passing almost always results in dunks or point blank shots. It requires a lot of coordination on the coach's part to design the entry pass. It also requires the center to be strong enough to get position. It also requires the passer to be VERY skillful in delivering the ball at the right time to the right place. Kinda like the passing game in football. My hunch is that JVG is working on the coordination. Yao is doing his part most of the time. What is lacking is the passing skill of the passers.
Easy: Don't often do this... but thanks for that post. It's always nice to get insight... I learned something today
One more thing: Since the center is a moving target, the passers have to be aware of where the center is and where he is moving to AT ALL TIME. So whenever you get the ball, you should immediately know when is the best time to make the pass.
heres the deal: if you can't figure out a way to execute a lob pass to a 7'6 guy then you're in the wrong profession. retire, come be a professional bbs poster at clutchfans.net, do something, but get your ass off the court and let someone take your place who can make a lob pass to a guy who is 7'6.
Lots of good posts in this thread. Yao did a lot to help us win the game. I think the dominating reason why we lost is the that no one else could really score. If the bench had shot 40%, we probably would have won. We played pretty decently overall, with the exceptions however being pretty major. We didn't take care of the ball, and we couldn't shoot from outside. No team is going to win in this league if they can't shoot a wide open shot (not that all of our outside shots were wide open). One of the reasons the Kings are so good is that in any lineup, 4 of the 5 guys on the floor can shoot the basketball. Our role players can't shoot! Not moochie, boki, jackson, or mo. This currents Rockets team is not nearly as good as the sports writers are predicting for the simple reason that outside of Steve and Yao, no else can score. Every great team has role players who can hit open shots. Pike really needs to deliver or else we're going to really struggle.
How about it was the teams fault...Yao and everyone sucked azz so that is why we lost...Its still too early to be blaming anyone...Let's wait until at least April...
