http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3069492 No more escaping to bench for Yao Rockets center to stay in game with foul trouble By MEGAN MANFULL Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy has decided he is done worrying about Yao Ming's foul troubles. Ever since the All-Star break, Yao has racked up fouls early and often. Van Gundy has monitored the situation closely, trying to sit Yao longer and keep him from fouling out. This weekend, Van Gundy will change his approach. He no longer plans to sit Yao if he gets in foul trouble. He hopes the change will spark Yao and the entire team, which has lost four of its last five games. "I'm going to keep him on the floor," Van Gundy said. "He's going to have to foul out. I've never believed in it that much anyway, 'Two fouls, come sit on the bench.' I'm going to play him his normal minutes, and if he has fouls, he has fouls. Because it's not working the other way. "He's got to bring an energy. He has been, frankly, very lethargic in his play since the All-Star break, and we're not going to beat the quality of teams we've been facing rebounding the way we have or with him not being at the top of his game." In the Rockets' first game back from the break, Yao fouled out but left with 30 points and nine rebounds against Seattle. He hasn't fouled out of the last four games, but his numbers have dropped dramatically. He averaged only 14.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in the games against San Antonio, Utah, Chicago and Washington. "We need to have him on the floor more," Van Gundy said. "I might well just have to play him through his stretches where he's struggling more, too. Right before the All-Star break for three or four weeks, he was on it pretty well even though his rebounding was down. Now his rebounding is really down, and his minutes are down and everything is down." Yao has admitted a number of times he must become consistent. He is still shooting a high percentage, but he has not been a threat on the boards lately. "We let them get into the paint too easy, particularly like against Washington (on Wednesday)," Yao said. "We can't let that happen again." Rebounding has never been Yao's strength, though. His biggest asset to the Rockets is his scoring, but that hasn't even been evident lately. He had only 11 points in 29 minutes against Washington. In 34 minutes against Utah, Yao scored 12. Part of the problem, however, is that he isn't getting that many attempts. Yao is averaging 12.5 field-goal attempts per game this season. He averaged nine in the last three games. Foul trouble has played a part in that and so has the addition of point guard Mike James, who has a shooter's mentality. James has been critical to the offense, however, hitting 53.8 percent of his field goals since joining the Rockets three games ago. Van Gundy would still like James and the rest of the guards to seek Yao out more, though. "We're not doing a good job exploiting what he's best at," Van Gundy said. "His best trait is that he can score. He shoots 55 percent. He shoots 59 percent in the fourth quarter. "If you see a 7-foot-6 Chinese guy in the paint with a guy on his back, throw him the ball. It's usually pretty good what he does."
Hmmmmmmmm, I also wonder if the increased minutes on the floor with Yao will also be accompanied by some minutes at the 4 by one Mr. Mutombo? I bet it starts happening a little bit now towards the end of the season and again in the playoffs against teams like San Antonio if we make it that far.
Excellent job by JVG! Light a fire under their asses, exactly what this team needs Although he directed this quote towards Yao, I think this "lethargic" comment is really applicable to the team at large, in that they haven't shown a consistent level of energy throughout each game.
I think this is a good thing. Not only is Van Gundy allowing Yao to play out of his slump, he's also daring the refs to foul him out. I'm sure after several games, referees will start officiating him better. You can't foul out the most important piece of the NBA's Chinese market outreach 5 games in a row.
Maybe it will force the refs to call a few more fouls the other way. As far as conspiracies go, it won't be good for the league if Yao fouls out of every game in the 3rd. Force the refs to be the bad guys.
This could be good. Maybe it'll keep Yao from worrying about his fouls, so he can concentrate on being aggressive. .....until the fifth foul that is......
Good idea. Basically no matter what is MJ shooting % and how many points he scored, we still need yao to win. We need to stay on the floor, get the ball and score, rebounding etc. We not gonna to win ball games against quality teams with Mike James jackin more shots than yao n t-mac. Hope this will light fire under yao's a$$
yeap, this is definitely a good thing. i'm glad JVG sees it this way..cos i often get pissed when Yao takes himself out of the game. at least now, he can keep being aggressive and we'll see the refs give him a break now and then.
LINK: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3069492 (So it won't be locked, think you forgot ) SUMMARY: Sura practices Point guard Bob Sura was cleared to join half of Friday's practice for the first time since being sidelined with back pain last month. He was able to shoot and participated in non-contact drills. "I feel OK," Sura said. "(Today) I may take part in some of the contact stuff." The first game for which Sura is eligible to come off the injured list is against Phoenix on Friday. Home not so sweet Despite a difficult trip ahead, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy hardly found solace in playing Dallas at Toyota Center on Sunday. The Mavericks have a higher winning percentage on the road than at home. The Rockets have played well on the road but struggled at home. They have 12 losses at Toyota Center, the most among the top nine teams in the Western Conference. "At home, I don't know, we just haven't been nearly as inspired," Van Gundy said. "I don't know if it's late-arriving crowds, late-arriving players. Again, more excuses. "But we can be ready every night, and we haven't been at home."
I think it will work. He can learn how to play out of his own frustration and play it all out since the refs are not giving him any breaks anyway.
great point. you know what if he does foul out early for a few games in a row thats when those who have the power to change things will take notice. so its a win win strategy.
Sometimes Yao commit fouls because he is tired. Wouldn't leaving Yao on the floor make that problem worse?
When Yao gets 2 fouls in the first five minutes of the game it's not because he's tired. This doesn't mean that JVG will leave him out there if he isn't productive. It just means that JVG will continue playing Yao according to his normal rotation regardless of whether he's in foul trouble or not.
I think part of this is daring the referees to foul Yao out. Time to put the pressure on them to stop calling the ticky tacky fouls. DD
