I seriously think if you look at the success of his hook shot this season, it is at 25% or maybe even less. Mo's success at the hook shot is at a similar percentage. The same goes for Juwan with his hook shot. I never said the entire team doesn't look like trash on offense. I think teamwide afflictions like this are only curable with a coaching change aka Harry Spilman.
Yao has to deal with 3 defenders on every play because Juwanna Mann Howard and Mo "Blount" Talyor can't hit 10 foot jumpers or grab backside rebounds on offense. When a team plays Yao one on one (like the Kings did) he torches them - so do NOT blame him for that. He is primarliy an oiffensive weapon - and he offers helpside on defense. OUr power forward play now requires him to be the primary post defender, the rebounder AND the first or second options scoring! For crying out loud - Yao HAD to guard Dirk and Duncan because our 6'9" "power" forwards can't play D
This article is absolutely right. Any Rocket fan can see that the PF position is lacking, and it's no secret that this is the reason why Yao is being exposed this year. I never thought I'd say it, but we needed Kelvin Cato. He is everything Yao isn't...he's aggressive, blocks shots, can move on his feet better...he's the blue collar guy that complements Yao's finesse player style. It's been 3 years, and Yao is still just as soft as he was when he first came into the league, and it will be difficult to change that.
Yao is not the one who has to deal with the double and triple teams, its Tmac that faces them each night. Even TMac admitted that he didn't expect to get doubled because he thought most teams would want to stop Yao inside. As far Yao being an offensive weapon only then why can't he average more than 18pts a game if the whole offense is built for him?
<> lower shooting%. It's possible to run a slow, low-scoring offense fairly efficiently. The Spurs do it. Pat Riley's Knicks and Heat used to do it. The Rockets are NOT doing it.
Let's see...Yao could always hit the open shot, MoT could always hit the open shot, Howard was always been a decent shooter, Steve also had a consistent mid-range jumper. All gone in a flash. Look at the stats guy. JVG has decreased ppg and FG% for almost all of his offensive players. These guys didn't suddenly stop practicing shooting. Houston/Spree/Francis/Mobley/MoT/Howard/TMac, I mean these are some serious names that put up serious numbers, its not a coincidence that the same thing is happening to these "new" players that happened to his "old" players.
Comfortable in JVG's system? What about Orlando's system? or Denver's system? Or Washington's system? Primary Player in the post? IE. Takes all the shots in the post? IE. Couldn't play with Webber in DC cause Webber was the better post player? Couldn't play in Denver cause Nene was better? Couldn't play in Houston cause Yao is a better post player? People just watch the games. Stats and analysis are not necessary when you can clearly see how bad a player is on the court. NBA League pass will open your eyes.
yes, Tmac is ALSO getting double and triple teamed... and the PFs and other players on the court are to blame for that as well. Teams are saying - look Rockets, we are going to push on Yao and blanket Tmac, and DARE Howard, Lue, Ward, Sura, Gaines, Boki, JJ, and Barrett to beat us (and so far, there has been a limited response from the rest of the team) Yao has scored 19 or better in 10 of the games, but his average is down becasue he was in foul trouble in some games earlier in the season (I don't count his performance against the Mavs, since he was on pace to score 30, but sat in the 4th since it turned into a rout)
I think Yao is not 100%, but it no excuse for the crap PF play. Yao had plenty of games where he didn't do much with Steve/Cuttino/Cato and we still won.
Willis, I agree with you. Look at the Lakers (I hate them), teams are forcing Brian Cook, Chris Mihm, Tierre Brown, Chucky Atkins and (recently) Jumaine Jones to beat them by doubling Kobe. Guess what? Those dudes stepped up.
Amen! Opposing teams are simply doubling Yao with their PGs because they have no fear of our PGs hurting them when left open. Their primary focus is to double/front/surround Yao and force the ball out of his hands where JJ and the others cannot make them pay for pursuing this strategy by hitting their shots. What about T-Mac? Opposing teams are doubling him as well to get the ball out of his hands again forcing the others to score. Rebounding? From where? Taylor? Hah! Howard? Yeah, right! No rebounding means no fast breaks which translates into few easy baskets. Sac played Yao straight up because they are Sac and he scorched them. Nobody else can be expected to be so accomodating so until they rest of the team decides to show up and play night in, night out, opposing teams will continue to do what they're doing against the Rockets because it's WORKING.
in the Dallas game I saw Howard and Mo T each take two wide open, 8 foot - jump shots and they front rim-ed all of them... ...that is just sad
Care to list the record of the teams these players were on before and after JVG? I didn't think so, so I'll do it for you. Allan Houston: 46 wins in Detroit, 57 wins in New York Latrell Sprewell: 19 wins in Golden State, 27 wins in New York Steve Francis/Cuttino Mobley: First joint playoff birth under JVG. Most wins in either's career. The Latrell Sprewell win numbers look funny...that's because he scored those 21 points/game on a 19-63 Golden State team. The following year, the Knicks went 27-23 (strike year) and went to the finals. Every example of a player you used that JVG "killed" led to a better team record. Side note- Ewing averaged 22-11 for the Knicks in Allan Houston's first year en route to 57 wins. And, Houston put up 19 a game in the playoffs that first year. I'm not a fan of JVG right now, but the fact of the matter right now is he's had more NBA success than anybody on this team. JVG's taken a team to the NBA Finals as a head coach- other than Tyronn Lue winning a couple rings with the Lakers as a backup PG, and Charlie Ward making it there as part of a JVG team, no one else has been there. Considering we have the oldest team in the NBA apparently, that says a lot.
If you are 6-9 or 6-10 in the NBA, how are you short arming wide open jumpers? Cant we dig up the CBA or Europe for some shooters? Why is Mo Taylor stinking? I know Juwan can't shoot, but come on Mo!
I have to agree with Charvo somewhat. Whatever %age Yao is shooting on his open set shots, it is WAY down from his first 2 years. The hook shot might be a bit down, but I would attribute that part to double teams and all.. but open set shots are just that..wide open. What happeneD? For that matter, when was the last time you saw him make an especially great pass? He doesn't really look enough anymore.. remember the over-the-head drops to Mooch, the sweep pass to Steve, the improvisation, the vision.. I feel like Bill Walton. But where'd it all go? Don't say JVG alone. Yao plays the game himself--he can let his instincts take over sometimes.
Yes, every single one of them. Majority of Yao's points comes from hook shots and jumpers. Do you agree? Do you not see Yao take about 7 turn around jumpers a game? Is a turn around jumper not a jump shot? Did you not see Mo get layups and have them blocked? Do you not see Yao have to go through 2, 2.5, 3 people on 80% of his shots? What happens when Yao passes out? What happens when we try to get the ball to Yao but can't, since there's 2 people guarding him? You obviously watch the games. Answer those questions, and try to do it without saying Yao is 7'6 or Yao is soft. Amed, where have you been bro? I decided to not reply to you regarding basketball anymore. I am still convinced you work for clutch just to keep us passionate.
I do not think this is just Mo and Juwan. Yao is not only short-arming wide open jumpers, he is airballing them. TMac is not making shots like he was in his prior years, and he has only been with this team for a couple of months. At least Mo and Yao have been with JVG for over a season. This is a teamwide affliction. I remember last season when Steve shot a whole bunch of airballs on his jumpers and missed very easy layups. I was thinking it was all on Steve missing these easy shots. Steve just got sick of JVG first. Everyone else is getting sick later.
The german word for thank you is: danke schön. I don't deny that JVG's style means decreased numbers in ppg and FG%. His system has other advantages though. But the problem is players not making open shots. That is a big problem right now and JVG can't be blamed for that. Professional players have to hit their open shots, because that's why they are professionals. And on a team coached by JVG it is even more important because otherwise the whole inside-out system won't work. The Rockets need 3 players: 1. A rebounder and defender at the 4, who can hit open jumpers (P.J. Brown). 2. Another perimeter shooter for the 2 and 3 (someone like Matt Harpring). 3. A point guard who can push the ball a little and hit his open shots with consistency (a younger Charlie Ward). That's basically all we need to be a really good team under head coach JVG.
