Very good point. If we want to trade Yao for any team for their starting centre, all teams including Faker (not because Yao is currently better than Shaq right now; but because of their age difference and upside) will go for it.
I didn't read the whole thread - bad Rocket's hangover - but it appears too many here are really living in la-la-land. Yao's going to see some radical defensive schemes this year. That Steve and Cat looked like deer memorized by headlights should be of no surprise. It will happen agian too. But you can't blame Yao for anything yet. Regardless of what happens this year Yao doesn't get the keys to the kingdom until the end of the year. Then you can blame him for the sun coming up too early for a decade or so. Thought balloon Van Gundy: "I'm buying an oversized bed for the basement with every conceivable gameboy whacha call it **it and I get a real ***ha ****in' padlock and **ck world peace." Thought baloon Yao: "Social-r****dant moron, people who live at relative sea-level don't have basements. When you get rid of Colin, I'll have your boss hire bodyguards for me to keep lunatics like yourself away from me. I know everybody expects me to go Shaquillian any minute, but I may have to go Magic first on your dumbass and kick you 675 miles Northeast."
I respectfully disagree. Every player on this team can and will be blamed for mistakes that contribute to losses. How long is Yao exempt from criticism, especially when he is becoming the focal point of the offense??
You hit the nail on the head. In the second half there was one time in particular I remember Cat trying to lob the ball in over the front defense on Yao, and guess what? It was a TO. Yao needs to seal his man off. I'm not going to say this was all Yao's fault. Jimmy Jackson was horrible last night. Boki was horrible, and Moochie despite being in better shape was a guy who played poorly but was in good shape. The whole team lost this game not one guy. It was not Francis who lost it. It was not Yao who lost it. It was not Cat who lost it. It was a combination fo all these guys, and their teammates.
If you are talking about the pass from Cat that I think you are then Yao was moving towards the basket and Cat was throwing the other way and the ball went out of bounds at the baseline. Not Yao Mings fault. The one thing that absolutely noone can deny is that when Yao Ming touched the ball last night positive things happened the vast majority of the time. We can not say that about Cat, Steve or anyone else last night.
Exactly! As the offense moves toward him, he gets more of the responsibility. Now, of course this is a "TEAM problem" just as much as a "Yao problem." So, the guards (knowing how) getting Yao the ball, is just as important as Yao finding a way to get open (knowing how). That's why I'm not concerned right now with the guard play or shooting (still learning the system). We know that's an issue (enter Pike). But if the "system is not working" then of course the guards will go into a panic mode and start turning the ball over and missing easy shots: our main weapon (Yao) has been neutralized. You'd freak out too! Pike will help us in the shooting department. But if Yao is going to be a main part of our offense, then we have to get that fixed first! We need Yao to become "unstoppable." But if he can't get the entry pass, then he'll never be able to prove it. So, we have to find away to get him the ball when opponents "deny him." Else he becomes neutralized.
Really? It was positive when Yao knocked the entry pass into the front row? (resulting in a TO charged to the passing player) or dropped the ball underneath the basket? Take off the Yao colored glasses. He is not there yet, and he made obvious mistakes this game just like everyone else. It is not traitorous to think this.
Yes, it was a bunch of reasons. But we need to get the "entry pass" problem fixed first. That's not blaming Yao. It's addressing it. Well, said. Yao is essentially automatic when he gets the ball deep in the post. He's an excellent shooter, when he *gets* the ball. The guards know this. But I don't think that the guards were purposely trying to avoid passing the ball to Yao (selfishness it was not). They just didn't know how to get it to him since Yao's entry window is soooooooooo small. I mean, given how Yao can't jump very high and with a defender draped over him, most every entry pass to Yao in those circumstances would result in a turnover. It's understandable why the guards didn't pass it to him while he was being fronted.
I seriously hope you guys are just joking. Yao was the only bright spot in the last game. He is the reason that we even came close. Besides Yao, nobody can hit an open shot.
Yes really! The facts are that Yao Ming shot 7 for 11 while grabbing 10 boards, blocking 3 shots and only turning the ball over twice. The equalls the vast majority of the time. Stop denying the facts.
Did you even watch the game? So you're saying its positive when Yao slaps the ball into the front row off of a bounce pass or blows a lob pass by half jumping sideways, or goes underneath and instead of dunking it does the Robot and flails around and then looks at the official? "this equalls the vast majority of the time" Really? Well then you can justify this statement by providing a quantification of all of the times when Yao got the ball vs. all the times when he got shoved around by a guy 50 pounds lighter or let his man hook around him to deny the entry pass. Stop denying that Yao is actually human and makes mistakes.
I do agree that when Yao got the ball, more times than not positive things happened. That's why I think he needs to be in a position to get the ball more. I wasn't trying to blame Yao for the TO when Cat was throwing to him. I was pointing out an example of how bad things happen when Yao gets fronted, and we try to force the ball into him. We need to work on Yao not being denied the ball. But if Yao is denied the ball, we shouldn't try and force it inside to him. Hopefully the Yao-above-the-team fans will see that. Yao can learn to repost, re-establish, shield off, and reduce the amount of times he's denied the ball. I'm saying this because I WANT Yao to have the ball, not because I'm against Yao.
I watched and Yao didn't make nearly as many mistakes as guys like Cat, Mobes and Stevie. No one is going to ever play the perfect game and it seems you've got some rose colored glasses of your own. I hate to see you and the rest of the bashers when Yao has a bad game because he did not have a bad game, yet somehow he's become the focus of the criticism.
Sam, It's all about proportionality. The strides he's made from year 1 to year 2 far exceeds most of our expectations. He's clearly made adjustments to the league and to his approach. He is much quicker in his decision-making, he's learned to take the ball to the hole much quicker, and he no longer settles for that weak fadeaway jump shot. Compare that with our guard play which has not improved. Last night's problems getting the ball upcourt is not new. How many times last year did we struggle when pressed? Remember last year and those 10 second violations? How many 2 for 1 opportunities have we lost with 37 seconds left because our guards cant get it past half court. The guards are not good passers. Their passing skills are terrible. Terrible. Did Yao play a perfect game? No. However, when disecting this game, it's hard to blame the player shooting 63% when the rest of the team could barely make 30% of their ill advised shots. There is no excuse for blowing 3 on 1 fast breaks and lobbing passes over teammates heads. These are not 2nd year players, they are supposed "veterans". What type of veterans continually make the same mistakes? Not good ones.
They shot 2-15 from the ****ing 3pt line... WTF? I blame the ****ing shooters. Yes Yao should have gotten more aganist an inferior team with inferior defenders. Yes he needs to get stronger. Yes he needs to realize that the NBA is a joke to him and he can dominate whenever he pleased. However, the fact is that it's his 2nd year in this freakin country and he has 2 streetballzers with attitude on his team. He did his work, not enough work, but he did his part as a sophmoore from a different country, while the guys that have been here since coming out of their mama shot 2 for 15 from the arc and made 20++ turnovers. Stfu plz >< It's one game, frustrating, but it's just one game. We got 80 games ahead of us and 2 solid guys coming back from injury. The future is alot brighter for us than it is for Memphis, or Cavs, or Sonics with Lewis' 50 pt game.
from Codell: Well, Codell I don't agree with singling out an individual in a team game in general. But you 'can and will' say whatever you want without much effect on this forum. What's up with you? You normally don't sound like such a Nazi. The numbers of people around here with any real knowledge are dwindling by the day. Don't tell me the guys I respect are going to go "Van Gundy" after every loss. I'll puke. Bad loss, no doubt, but do yourself a favor a don't kick the **it out of yourself for every mistake you make: it's immature and counter-productive.
Declan, Please re-read my response that you just referenced. "Every player on this team can and will be blamed for mistakes that contribute to losses." How I am signling an individual out??? I just said that all players on the team have to be held accountable for their mistakes. I really don't appreciate the Nazi comment either. I responded to you with respect and you respond with that???
