Pls lock if posted. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6222075.html who say Yao is not Clutch?? Scoring a team-high 35 percent of the Rockets’ points when he is in the game in the fourth quarter (a percentage that has increased since McGrady and Artest went out), Yao shoots roughly the same overall and from the line in the fourth quarter as in the rest of the game. He makes 54 percent of his shots and 84.9 percent of his free throws in the fourth quarter and has hit 55 percent of his shots and 86.6 percent of his free throws in the first three quarters. He scores, however, at a much higher rate in the fourth quarter than he does the rest of the game because he gets to the line nearly twice as often. Yao scores at a rate of 32.8 points per 48 minutes in the fourth quarter; 27.8 points per 48 minutes in the first three quarters. He draws an average of 11.8 fouls per 48 minutes in the final quarter after drawing fouls at a rate of 6.3 per 48 minutes in the first three quarters.
he probably turn it over 20 times per 48 min in the final quarter... turnovers r the reason ppl say he is not clutch...
the sample size i think is still a bit small. and that's largely because yao has not gotten a lot of opportunities. i know our offense will change again when #96 and #1 comes back most likely. but in any case, yao should be (and should have been) give more opportunities late in the game. it will only benefit the team on the long run.
the playoffs bro. nobody remembers any stats if they're not duplicated in the playoffs. i want yao to be the best player on the floor after the first round (not tracy, not artest, not our opponent's). when that happens, we'll see what happens.
Clutch is a whole lot more than the points scored in the 4th quarter. clutch rebounds, defense, less TO, making plays, winning big games. also, what is Yao's +/- in the 4th compared with other 3 quarters? what is Yao's efficiency in the 4th? Yao is very unclutch when he is not in the angry mode. Thats what I have to say.
This is pretty stupid. 4th quarter stats aren't probative of 'clutchness.' What you do when it's close and late indicates if you are clutch. And up to this point, Yao Ming consistently folds, even in that brilliant Denver game he had the other night, with countless turnovers and missed easy shots. To call Yao clutch is homerism to the 100th degree.
Living in LA all my life, I watched the Lakers glory years of Shaq/Kobe and Yao is definitely more "clutch" than that MVP Shaq: * In the final 5 minutes, the Lakers can't pass the ball to Shaq because they knew he was going to get fouled * In the waning minutes of a game, the refs let things go more so Bigs which play physical already throughout the game is notched another level during the 4th. Stern isn't no dummy. He knows the thing that fuels the league's popularity is small agile wings (that's why shoes endorsed by Bigs can't compete with wings), so the game is made for them, especially in the 4th. You can murder the most dominant big man in the game as much as you want, but if you put a finger on a wing, there's a foul. Just live with it. It is what it is. Some of you guys just look at the box score. You should watch the game and see that "clutchness" also means how much the other team has to game plan for you. Due to the zone defense, dominant bigs like Yao can be taken out of the game. It's the job of the coach to make teams pay for this and space the floor with capable shooters/slashers. If the team gets a WIDE OPEN look because of Yao's presence, that is clutch. It's not his fault that this team has many poor shooters. Yao did his job. I can't even imagine what Yao's numbers would be like back in the days with illegal defense rules. He'd be sick.
If you can't rely on stats then all you have left are subjective impressions, which are notoriously unreliable.
It's hard for me to call Yao clutch because... Stats aside...in the 4th q of close games...I have too many visions of Yao turning the ball over and missing stupid turn around jump shots (when he should attack the rim) I'm not hating...he's been carrying us of late...But i'd still rather have T-Mac, Artest, or Wafer taking the crucial shot..
If Yao is not clutch then nobody in this team is. Besides, being able to carry the team is way more important than being clutch. Without the former, the latter would never exist.
People amaze me. Let's say McGrady is having his usual 30% shooting games, but he makes his shot to win the game at the end, is he then clutch? Would a player be considered clutch when that player is the reason why the game is even close? Being clutch is the most overrated thing. I tell my employees each month that to do perform CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT the month so we don't scramble to hit goals on the last week. Performing at the beginning of the month is the same at the end.
Yeah, I agree completely. It's the same principle that says that if you play well in the first half of the season you won't need to play out of your mind and kill yourself just to make the playoffs.
When did I say you couldn't rely on stats? I said you couldn't rely on the stats provided in that article - ones that merely look at his 4th quarters as a whole, regardless of the point differential in the game. Show me Yao's stats in the last 5 minutes of a game with a +/-5 point differential. It won't be pretty, especially the turnover rate.
"clutch" is indeed an overrated thing - if people are just looking at the last shot. in houston, because of the "clutchcity" legend, it tends to be a bit more overrated. take the denver game for example. yao scored 10pts in the last 6 minutes and that ultimately put us in front. to me that is being clutch. but many only point put his t/o and the missed last shot.
Being "clutch" is making a play to win the game. Could be a steal, block, a big pick, a deflection, hitting two free throws with 1 second left, drawing a charge, etc etc etc. Being "clutch" can mean anything ...but we know it when we see it. What I've seen, Yao isn't clutch. I love Yao but I can't remember the last time a saw him directly impact the end of a game (other than drawing double teams ...which is big, granted).
overall yao has not been very "clutch" thus far in his career. but he has gotten the potential and should be given a lot more chance. who else are we gonna turn to right now? and does his getting the loose ball from nene after an intentionally missed ft by kmart count as clutch? it didn't show on the stat sheet and the nuggets could've tied the game had nene got the loose ball and put it back in the hole.
Absolutely, the turnovers not only hurt the stats, also badly hurt the morale of the teammates and fans.
Not to be rude, but I think you're a bit confused as to what the meaning of the term 'clutch' is. Clutch City doesn't have anything to do with this. The term had a different connotation in that phrase because it was in the context of a team coming back against overwhelming series odds. Players are clutch when they deliver close and late. No, he doesn't have the potential. He's 28 now, he is, what he is. My post isn't meant to criticize Yao as few big men outside of Hakeem can deliver with less than a minute to go. My posts are only to underscore the importance of a healthy McGrady for all the people who somehow think we can go further without him. This team doesn't have a prayer in close games without McGrady handling the ball. No. Yao is what he is. He can be an anchor through most of the game, but more often than not, he's going to either choke late, or be fronted and taken out of the game.
What the OP doesn't get is - if people say you are clutch, then you are; if they say you are not, then you aren't; no matter what stat you pull. Stats can be spun and interpreted different ways. Pulling out stat or not, you think you are trying to back your own opinion up by facts, but in fact, you are trying to change people's opinion. Do you really think it's possible? When people say you have no heart, then you don't - sitting down shows no heart and standing up also shows no heart. When people say you are not clutch, you are just not - scoring in the fourth, you missed key rebounds in last min; grabbing rebounds in the fourth, you didn't score in the last min; scoring and rebounding in the fourth, there were misses in the last two mins, and those were the keys (we lost the game or we almost lost an otherwise-could-be-convincing-win game).
