Not whole game but definitely in stretches Yao was double-teamed or in vicinity of double teaming, i.e., a help defender ready to strip ball from Yao. You can often sense the lane was too crowded for him make low-post moves.
he had enough spacing to operate. he just went to his jumpers b/c he couldn't establish good position. this was the same case last yr in the playoffs. but last yr, yao got more touches and played more mins so he got his points.
it's the same way boozer cannot dominate or score v. hayes. hayes is so strong boozer can't get good position so he ends up taking fallaway jumpers.
I'm just catching up with last night's game. The bench is going to be such an asset this year! Yao and McGrady will play better just knowing that the entire game is not on them completely. I think the mental security of a good bench will be as important to them as giving them a rest. The other thing I notice is that the stage could not be more set for Francis to start for this team than it is right now. Alston is not even passing the ball efficiently anymore and Adleman looks pretty fed up with him. Mike James is a perfect player off the bench. I would leave him there since he's so effective. He can drain shots when McGrady, or Yao is on the bench. I hope Francis can get in shape and pull his head out and remember that once you get a reputation as a selfish butthead it tends to stick. The Rockets have the assets to go get Bibby when he's healthy...if Francis keeps sulking that just might happen.
His left elbow was bothering him.. he just doesn't want to make excuses. He will be fine. I expect a MONSTER game Saturday night. WOO!!!!!! 63-19
I second that. Maybe Yao should even throw a few Deke's elbows to those who dare to attach too close trying to disrupt and steal the ball. I think it's worth to pay 0.1% of his salary for Ts to earn some respect from the opponents. Yao has earned the sportsmanship before, right?
exactly. i dont know aobut dunking though b/c u have to get deep position for that. but if he knows he is gonna get an offensive or defensive, make it count and make them feel it.
Man, if only we could get off to better starts... that has to be the focus now, our first quarters. We've done amazingly well to pull ourselves out of the quagmire in these first couple games, but better starts is going to be key for us as the season wears on. Portland next up, NO LETDOWNS!!!
For all the "bench Yao" people, here is my response: Would you have contemplated benching McGrady last year in November when he was REALLY scuffling, not just for one game, but for an entire month? Yao deserves more respect than fans calling for his benching after one poor game.
I think it might be a confidence issue with Yao. Maybe his inability to guard Boozer affected his shots last night. There is really not much more Yao can do against him. If he gets close, Boozer drives. If he backs off, Boozer hits the jumper. He did the right thing by making him shoot the jumper vice taking it inside.
tmac was fat. still scared of hurting his back and rightfully so b/c later on that month he got a back spasm. he was playing tentative. he was thinking retirement. he had no passion for the game.
We can summarize that by saying McGrady was scuffling. Not just for one game, for a whole month. Would you have thought about benched him? I didn't ever think of doing that. McGrady deserves that respect as a superstar. Yao plays one bad game and people call for him to get benched..... maybe you'd rather watch Andrew Bynum yuck it up at center when Deke isn't giving his 5 mpg of doing nothing.
