Wow, you fail here. Bynum may not be a great passer but Gasol is one of the best passing big men this league has seen in a long time. He fits perfectly in the triangle offense because of his terrific passing skills.
it was an entertaining game. spain wasn't playing well but pulling it out in the 4th quarter punctuates why they're world champs. they mentally toughed it while china made a lot of mistakes. china's inexperience is a factor among several (yao's injury etc) that the team is going to have to find ways over if they want to advance
nod that's what i thought game is five if you don't have the swing or at least a qualified pg how we make some play aginst spain
Excellent find. I'd say in 18 matchups that Yao has actually outplayed Pau. Yao is coming off a foot fracture and months of relative inactivity. Give him time. Don't judge him by one game where he is playing on a team that is far less talented than Spain.
So is Argentina. Scola is unstoppable out there against Australia. On the other hand I feel China should make it their duty to get Yao 20 shots a game if they are going have him play.
It is very sad that their guards are that pathetic. Looking at the game their guards don't even look like they want to dribble they look like they just want to shoot threes all day.
You guys all saying the sky is falling are nuts. My opinion of course. Yao is coming back from injury and at most 70% back, hasn't played much if at all and just had played a big game against Team USA. He is doing everything he can but sometimes, the body is not willing. Besides, with international play, Yao is going to look weak. Remember that JVG said Yao is the best play in the NBA when inside 8 feet of the basket? That's because he is dominate down low. But when you have the key the way it's setup in Olyimpic play and with no defensive 3 seconds, Yao will not be as effective. Also, with no good inlet pass, he's not going to be effective. Add that to a faster Gasol playing him and that just makes it very hard on him. So they lost to Spain. They were supposed to. They got to OT so it's still a moral victory. Sure there are no medals for moral victories but did ANYONE expect china to medal once Yao broke his leg? Yes, he's back but not "back". China needs a fully healthy Yao and Yi playing his mind out just to get out of pool play.
Considering this has been an issue for pretty much every team Yao has ever been on, I have my doubts that it's the "only problem".
However, I do believe the Chinese team can beat Germany, Angola, and maybe Greece to get in quarter final if they keep on playing like this. We have to hope Yao won't get any injuiry during all these games, becasue from the couple of games they've played, he played his heart out, and fell down pretty hard several times. every time he goes down, you have to hold onto your breath. I'm proud of Yao, and thankful that we have him as a Houston Rockets, he's a true professional.... He's what nba needs.. he's what Rafael & Artest needs..
Yao still gets his 20 or 30 points per game even with that problem of feeding him the ball. And it is those other players fault. He's 7'6 they should always be able to get him the ball some how. This game vs spain i didnt see it but id like to see yao get at least 20 points at some point before the season. He should get that even if he's only playing like 30 minutes.
Very disappointing chokejob by CNT but no one expected them to lead Spain by 14 going into the 4th quarter anyways. There is a definite homecrowd advantage for China. Yao and the rest of the team should be able to capitalize on this with wins against Greece, Germany, and Angola, and possibly win a game in the playoffs. It would be similar to how South Korea ended up finishing 4th? in the 2002 FIFA World Cup because it was hosted in South Korea.
You know I was going to say this but people don't want to accept that when Yao is 100% healthy he still has issues when it comes to having a mentality of confidence in terms of wanting it and confidently knowing he is going to get it. Like before the season start we never hear any quotes from Yao or Tracy saying "We have the team that can go all the way and win it all and that's what we are going to do!" We will hear this saying, "Every year we get excited I'm not going get a excited I'm just gonna play" or "IF we do this right or do that right we have a chance to special things but it depends on what we wanna do this year." IMO that's not a championship attitude and it's not the confidence you need to win in the playoffs. That's just my opinion... I hope this changes because if T-Mac comes out with true confidence and determination ( I know Ron is ready) then that is going to put Yao in the position to think likewise. I'm not talking about this fake, (It's on me quote crap) I'm talking about a real professional type confidence and determination with positive thinking which puts you in a positive position with the talent and maturity we have on this team. Courage, confidence and truly wanting to rise in success in the big crucial moments. We need that bottom line.
I didn't watch the game against Spain. But when people say it should be easy to get Yao the ball because of his height, I shake my head. Get him the ball where? If you give Yao the ball outside 10 feet from the basket, he's not going to get a quality shot. And Yao has difficulty retaining his balance and position near the basket when other quicker players can push on him and get around him. Getting him the ball in good scoring position in his comfort zone isn't as easy as people make it out to be.
Add to the fact that under international rules, great post players are crippled by the wider lane and the shorter three-point line, which causes them to play further out AND closer to help defenders.
T-Mac would get burned alive if he publicly proclaimed that the Rockets would win a championship, regardless of his intentions.
IMO that would be good. Everybody wouldn't have respect for him but I would. If he proclaimed it with confidence and then played that way as well, I could care less about what everyone else thinks about him. I would go out and buy a T-Mac jersey and be his biggest fan... and that's even if they got eliminated again in the playoffs. I know it's just me and I'm one person but I would love to see Tracy do this and for some reason with him being excited about Ron coming I think he will do this but just don't know what level he will do this on. He might proclaim it like I said or he might just come out and say, "If we don't win it all this year I will be very dissappointed, I feel we have the team now to get it done." If he does this then afterwards come out and gives it his all I'm satisfied hands down.
I disagree, these are nba players running the most simple part of the offense. Yao can make any shot inside the 3 point line, so unless a kobe bryant or shane battier is guarding you just lob it up there and he more often than not can grab it turn around and shoot. So a simple way to stop half of the turn overs stop bounce passing him the ball next to the basket.
