http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3125858 Offense has to run through Yao Rockets have more shot options when 7-6 center gets basketball By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle PHOENIX - The Suns meant no offense, but they might as well have. That's the way it is with dares. They come with the assumption that the side doing the daring assumes the side getting dared can't or won't come through. So the Suns double-teamed Yao Ming, surrounding him when passes went in his direction. They sent help to cut off Tracy McGrady. And they dared the rest of the Rockets to beat them Sunday at Toyota Center. The Rockets had the sort of open shots every offense is designed to find but had awful aim and lost 91-78, leaving a bad taste not just from a bad defeat but from being shown up. But in a way, that puts the Rockets in a conundrum they will always face with the 7-6 Yao at center. They have to shoot with confidence, especially when open, but also have to keep him involved. He has to pass out of double teams but cannot abandon his looks. Yao makes 55 percent of his shots, third best in the league, and has made 77.9 percent of his free throws, a better percentage than the more accurate field-goal shooters, Shaquille O'Neal and Amare Stoudemire. The Rockets want him to have his touches and to shoot. They want the players around him to shoot. They certainly want Tracy McGrady to shoot. Balance is crucial The trick is knowing what they want most and how and when to get it. For the Rockets, especially against the Suns tonight, the challenge ?or dare ?is to strike the right balance. "(Last Sunday's strategy was) a good plan by them, solid coaching, very good execution," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "If you're a pro and someone leaves you open, you have to be ready to shoot it, and you have to make it. "That said, we've got to ride (Yao) more. We made the point almost daily about searching him out more. He's by far our most efficient offensive player. The one thing that bogs him down ?bogs us down ?is the turnover. That being said, we have to play through some of those. And we got to get him the ball more. Any game. Any game. Look at the numbers and they tell you: He's our most efficient offensive player." It's no Desert Swarm Few teams face the Suns concerned with their defense. The Suns are by far the league's most prolific offensive team, averaging 110.6 points per game, 7.5 points per game more than Sacramento at No. 2. The Rockets will have the same concerns about getting back defensively, dealing with Steve Nash on pick-and-roll penetration and closing out on the outside shooters Nash finds so reliably. But Sunday, the Suns held the Rockets to 34 percent shooting by, of all things, letting them shoot. Yao had one of the most dominant games of his career last month in Phoenix, getting 27 points, 22 rebounds and five blocks. Sunday, he was effective with 19 points and 12 rebounds but could not carry the Rockets through their poor shooting. "I think I'm finding a way to play better," Yao said. "Like (Thursday in L.A.), I played aggressively in the fourth quarter and we were in a good situation. I can make a teammate open or give them open shots on the outside. If I can keep doing that, I think we will be better. If you look, Tracy can do that every night. I always go up and down, up and down. But at least right now, I'm feeling good." It can be a difficult balance. The Rockets have found Yao to be more effective at getting low-post position when he moves while the ball moves around the perimeter. But that takes time. He can be turnover prone (he had four against Phoenix) when teams double-team. "And the Suns," he said, "don't come right at me. They come from behind." Most of all, the Rockets cannot pass up open shots to get a covered Yao touches. But that returns them to tough choices. The Suns allow open shots to keep Yao covered. The Rockets need to take the open shots and find Yao. The Rockets might have seen how it can work Thursday against the disinterested Lakers. Lakers game a model The Rockets made 48.9 percent of their shots and 47.6 percent of their 3-pointers but still got the ball in Yao's hands. He took only 12 shots, making seven (to go with 7-of-9 shooting from the foul line). But he got his touches, helping spark the Rockets' half-court offense after McGrady's fast start. "You don't want to take away the shooter's aggressiveness, but at the same time with somebody of Yao's effectiveness, that ball should be in his hands more," Van Gundy said. jonathan.feigen@chron.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rockets Summary Uncomfortable win The Rockets managed to beat the Lakers, snapping a three-game losing streak with a 14-point win. For that matter, they scored 114 points, with the seemingly pleasant oddity of all nine Rockets who played surpassing season averages. But the Rockets did not seem pleased with anything. They struggled just enough to win without enjoying it. "It helps the whole aura when the ball's going in the basket. There's no doubt about that," guard Bob Sura said. "But we've got to try to put it all together. We've got to make shots; we've got to play defense; we've got to take care of the ball and we got to bring high energy on both ends. "Nobody was real comfortable with that game. Obviously we were happy with the win, but we got to get back to the way we were playing during our win streaks." Said Scott Padgett: "We just had to get a win. We couldn't keep stumbling. At least we got the win." The Rockets probably should appreciate any win, having lost to all six last-place teams, plus Toronto and Charlotte (twice). If those teams should not have been considered bad teams, than a win over another struggling team must be worth something. "You know what, right now, I'm not really clear about who's a good team and who's a bad team," Yao Ming said. Road test The Rockets were not satisfied with the victory against the Lakers, and they move into a portion of a schedule in which wins by any means would be accomplishments. The Rockets go from the Lakers' slide into the lottery to consecutive games against the Suns, SuperSonics, Grizzlies and Nuggets. "It's bad to say that it is good, but I think it is good," Rockets guard Bob Sura said of the schedule. "I think we get a little more focused against the better teams, and really bring it, which is not the way it should be. We should bring it all the time. But hopefully, when we play the better teams, it will gear us up for the playoffs and get us ready. They (the Suns) caught us when we were not playing too well compared to what we did to them out there." -- JONATHAN FEIGEN
I am glad Yao's confidence is up... Now ONLY if we can get his stamina up But really, I am glad Yao is on a good streak now, the fact remains that Yao is probably the biggest mismatch we have against teams on most nights, obviously because there are few good Centers that play him. The thing that hurts him more now is that there is no PF to make the mid-range jumper to get defenders off him. But as long as our guards make outside shots, Yao will get MUCH more room to operate and dominate the Suns' weak interior defense. Good luck to the Rox tonight...
Everybody including the scouts of the other teams and coaches know that Yao is the guy on Houston has to be played with double triple team and hope his teammates not confident enough to bury the open jumper. The only solution to this problem is have guys shoot the light out when they were left wide open. Or else Yao has to fight a stream of 3 or 4 defenders night in and night out to get his 20 points, which is just a matter of time he will get tired out or injured or further banged him up.
Suns play no defense this article is about 50% accurate however YAO needs to grow some Cohonas! and play with a killer instinct tonight!
Yao and McGrady are doubled on most nights, THAT is the whole idea behind hitting the outside jumper. THAT is the reason why JVG went out to bring in shooters who can knock down the shot and make other teams pay. The whole key to our offense working smootely is to knock down the outside jumper: we have Wesley, Barry, James, Padgett, and Sura for that. They are all pretty solid shooters to carying degrees, but are streaky at times, and when their shots aren't going, we tend to lose/struggle to barely win games. Barry is probably our most consistent shooter, but even he had a few bad shooting nights. I hope our shooters are back to the top of their game tonight, we will need them big time.
