Well, the problem of having Yao to guard Okur, is that Okur, being a high post centre, and one of those rare centres that can shoot a high percentage of 3-pointers, will be able to draw out Yao Ming to the 3-point line, and expose alot of room and space down in the post for the shorter and quicker Utah Jazz guards and Carlos Boozer to penetrate and score. And as a consequence, Yao Ming will be even more exhausted having to run up and down for defending Okur, and guarding the interior. It is a mis-match between Big Yao and Carlos Boozer.....but comparing the pros and the cons, to have Big Yao being the last bastion in defense, rebounding, shot-blocking and guarding the basket is currently the best JVG can do.
I think it's obvious at this point that you didn't watch the game yet. You keep referring back to box score and R2K's list... Oh well that's fine but here is the 10 straight plays I am talking about. 9) top of key (extended right) jumper - hit, Yao does contest just not quick enough to stop it 2nd Half 1) right post jumper - hit , Yaos hand in face (good D imo, just good shot) 2) right post jumper - miss, Battier contested on help D 3) middle of paint hook - miss, chuck contested on transition D, Yao pickup Okur as he enters picture 4) right side paint jumper from pnr - miss, chuck rotates on help to contest(attempts to draw charge) 5) right high post hook - hit, CB takes three steps towards basket puts shot up off glass with Yao right in front of him, just a good make 6) dives left from top of key, receives pass from Harpring, puts up hook off glass - hit, yao unable to stay with speed of the dive, but still contested it. 7) right side baseline - airball, uncontested as Yao was on the block stopping deron drive 8) right top of key, drive left for the slam, Yao unable to stay with him, Battier unable to help in time 9) right post, fade jumper from the middle of paint - hit, Yao unable to stay with him, no help D 10) left post - Chuck blocks 11) right elbow(catch and shoot from Giri) - hit, finds the hole in the defense as Yao was shading off him to cover a possible move by Giri 12) right to left fade just below ft line - fouled by Yao (one ft made) 13) Harpring to Boozer alleyoop, Yao sealed off by Deron, Jho was slow to rotate to help on the backdoor cut Notice Boozer missed all his shots when Yao was not in front of him. It almost looked like Yao was helping Boozer. Yes, it was that ugly and even Visagial who went to the game said so. The fans that were screaming at Yao, it was that bad and you can't tell that from the box score. Yao did outplayed Boozer on the first game, there were plenty of threads about that. A lot of people were so impressed with Yao's D they thought Boozer was BSing in his post interview about "I just gotta make my shots" (I thought so too ). I didn't ignore what Juwan did this game, I didn't say anything about it because this thread is about Yao's D on Boozer. Juwan had a good game but like I said he sucked for 4 games in a row, while Boozer had just 1 bad game.
I don't know. I don't like Boozer being unstoppable against our team. But we do have to shut down the paint, because the Jazz offense is too methodical and will find holes that allow them to score inside if we don't have a dominant big man in there. I think we keep going with what we have, but at times we may want to use that smaller line-up with both Howard and Hayes in the game and Yao on the bench a little more. Hayes does a terrific job on Boozer. There are other options that would allow Yao to be in with Hayes and Howard but that would expose a weakness at SF. It is very difficult. I think maybe trying to double Boozer from time to time, and having everyone be alert when Boozer is involved in the PnR would be our best bet.
Being the defensive wizard that JVG is, I am sure he thought of all the ideas and think this is the best way to play defense against the Jazz.
For your information, I recorded the game and watched it twice since last night. I refered to R2K's list for you because you sounded like you did not watch the game. Now it looks like you might have watched the game but you do not know the game's terminology very well. You said post moves but you didn't mean post moves. BTW, you gave me that list and which play(s) are you complaing about now? Do you know what happened else where on each of the play? Was it Yao's fault completely or was it because he dropped off to help cut off other players? So there were some dudes who yelled at Yao and I am supposed to believe that they knew what was going on? Like I said, Boozer played a good game, Yao played a so-so game but to claim Boozer dominated Yao was ridiculous if you knew anything about BB, there were many other factors involved.
Carlos Boozer 07 regular season FG%: 56.1% 07 playoff FG%: 48.1% I'd say we did a pretty good defense job on Boozer so far.
Boozer dominated Yao? Yao had 15 RBs, and Boozer had 7, you only looked at the points, nothing else. Yao is a slow center, of couse he can not guard a quick PF, so does Boozer, but Utah used the center to guard Yao, the Rox had no choice. The most important thing is the Rox is winning.
Stay tuned to this Thursday when Yao will dominate Boozer. Yao is being double and triple team sometimes compare to Boozer one on one with Yao. Yao will have the last laugh.
The biggest issue, IMHO, is that Yao plays too honestly - he doesn't realize that on home court, in a closely contested, and very physical game, the refs think twice before they blow the whisle. So when Okur, or whoever, bumps him out of his shots he could have just done the same to Boozer. Sure he might get called a couple times more but in no way they'll foul him out, not in Houston, not even in SLC. That's where Yao should learn from Shaq - Shaq regularly runs defenders over but get called far less. Another point - I think JVG's decision to swarm DWill is a good one. When Boozer had his points Jazz lost. When Dwill went off they blew the rox out. Dwill picks apart Rox defense so Yao should definitely help on Dwill and let Boozer get his points. And JVG made the right sub end of game to put Hayes on Boozer when they needed a stop.
This is a good point which I didn't see other people noted elsewhere. JVG changed the defense on Dwill. On the PnR in the past, Yao used to show a little to slow Dwill but quickly drop off and pick up Boozer. This past game, Yao stayed and doubled Dwill. We had another man, sometimes Hayes or Howard but sometimes Battier and TMac pick up Boozer. Yao only dropped off from Dwill after he shot, passed off or if Rafer caught up with him. BTW, give Rafer some credit this game. He stayed with Dwill a lot better.
You must be new to basketball. There were 4 plays in a row where Boozer beat Yao 1-on-1, and he was subsequently replaced by Hayes. Great coaching move. The same kind of thing happens nearly every game, certainly every series in the playoffs. It's all about finding mismatches and forcing the opposing team to adapt. Watch more basketball. Learn about the game.
Trying to reel this in, let's address the points. "Boozer Dominated Yao".. I think the stats show that is somewhat of an embellishment, if not blatant exaggeration. Both players averages in the regular season, and their averages post season show that last night, neither player was "Dominant" over each other, forget that it's a team game. "Yao should guard Okur" Voodoo Pope is right. You just CAN'T allow that. One or two posessions? Maybe. But it is not a long term strategy that will present results. While it might fix one problem, it will create others. I think anyone upset by the defensive effort of the team will really be mad when they see Yao guarding the three point line, and watching Boozer AND Okur going off, only to see the rest of the team have a field day in the paint to boot. The rockets have been a great defensive team all year, I don't think that second guessing JVG's plan makes much sense even if you dislike JVG. So far, what I see is... when we execute on both ends... we are the better team no matter what the Jazz do. When we don't... they are better. Translation.. play our best as a team and we win. What a concept. Yao didn't have his best game ever. Of course there are great reasons for this, not all of them (if any) on Yao. Yes, we want him to play better, and KNOW that he can. But he'll need better help if you want to win AND control Boozer's numbers with more authority. It's a tough matchup for him, and they are playing better help defense than we are, in regards to guarding the big man. I do wish Yao would remember to hold the ball up higher while making room in the post for a move. They all know he holds it too low, and have stated that they know exactly what he'll do. If he does it right, I don't think it will matter that they know... he will be the dominant one. Go Rockets!
What's wrong with you guys? If you've ever watched the Jeopardy, you'll understand what the win means. Yao will shine when against Warrior. Do not eat your crow.
Maybe we should trade Yao for someone slse? I believe we can get back one or two elite players. Some fans here really don't deserve Yao. Yao was guarding the best player of the opponent and was defensed by an allstar center and usually someone else ready to help. But he still managed to find the other ways to contribute: the glass and several crucial plays at the last 4 or 5 mins. As Sloan said in the postgame press, the price to have another player to help on Yao is to open up more space for 3p shots and we were lucky that our perimeter players did show up tonight. Also don't forget Yao just got back from injury, which obviously forbids him from doing several scoring actions and creates trouble to his lateral movements (we all know lateral movements are important for defense play). Yao didn't play good defense but he was definitely not "dominated" by Boozer. Yao did his job and his presence is still the foundation of our win.
