ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Mavericks 11/13/2003

Total BS.

Yao scored a FG @ 2:12 in Q2 right after a time out. The next 2 possessions were wide open (missed) J's by Padgett and Mobley. Then, Yao was triple teamed inside of the Mavs zone and kicked out to Steve for a missed 3.

Q2 ended with a driving layup through the Mavs zone by Francis, Mobley being fouled on a drive with a foul to give and Yao hitting a fall away prayer on an inbound pass from JJ with .1 on the clock.

Q3 started with multiple screens for Francis turning into a CM/KC 2 man game. Yoa received a pass and was fouled by Fortson in the lane @ 11:24 Q3. On the next play, Yao missed a shot @ 11:15 Q3 which Cato tipped in.

A double high post play resulted in Francis penetrating the lane and passing out to JJax for 3 @ 10:40. Next trip, Jackson tied the game at 51 with a transition 2.

Another double high post play had Cato wide open for a 15' shot which he missed and Yao put back at 9:45 (Yao's 12th point). At 9:15 with the scored tied at 53, Mobley passed the ball into Yao for a low block ISO where he went 1on1 vs Fortson and missed the shot. Yao then went over Fortson back for the rebound and fouled him.

You should probably watch more closely.

 

Great post! Worthy of its own thread imo. JVG needs to think outside the box a little. I know Rox are thinking long term and want to turn Yao into a low post player, but there's a possibility that he'll never be as effective doing that as he would be moving around screens and shooting mid-range jumpers.

Yao's face up jumper is his most reliable shot and he's clearly most comfortable shooting on the move and in set plays. We're basically starting all over again with Yao by putting him in the low block on every possession. It's tough to learn and win at the same time.

It used to anethema to put your tallest guy anywhere but the paint but come on, look at KG and Dirk. Yao is Ralph Sampson but not nearly as good. He looks like a fish out of water in the post.

 

I don't see Yao moving off screens to shoot jumpers for some reason. Yao belongs in the post. Right now he's missing a lot of shots he normally makes. If this team didnt have to deal with the damn zone defense, Yao's skills would trully show. He'd score very consistently on the block, and find his open teammates when doubled. Until this team can consistently beat the zone, we won't be allowed to see that. I also found it funny that Yao was whistled for slight contact on Bradley's sweeping hook when Yao is hit worse than that on every shot he takes. Every hook shot turns into a fade because of contact down below. The refs really let the mavs play a soft, pansy-ass game, and that's why i hate them. Any game with the mavs turns into a freethrow parade for them, but i digress. Anyway, I think Yao will score more consistently from the post when he gets used to the different defences teams throw at him.

 

actually, i have dome some "coaching". nothing professional, though. pro-am stuff...

honestly, some games are fairly easy to predict, if you look at the matchups, coaching styles, and player/team tendencies. makes gambling "fun"! even more fun when you have a friend that's a former las vegas bookie.

 

oh, and for all of those that are analyzing yao's game, the number one (physical) problem with yao is his shoulders...or the lack of strength therein. every weak facet of his game - rebounding, post moves in close proximity to the basket, etc. come from his inability to gain proper separation from his defender. a well placed shoulder rub across the opponent's sternum yields the spacing necessary to get an easier shot.

this is, imo, one of the reasons you don't see yao powering through or over defenders for a dunk. he uses his strongest muscles (his legs) to get to the bucket and gain a little separation. problem is, those same muscles need to be used again to explode to the basket, and he has already expelled a good deal of energy in those legs just getting into proper position. when it comes time to explode, he just doesn't have a lot left.

watch shaq. or duncan. or even kg. almost every power move they make is preceeded by a shoulder rub to the opponent's upper body. it need not be extraordinarily forceful (though's shaq's are)...just enough to get the defender off balance and to get the offensive player in prime position to explode to the bucket.

yao's shoulder's are both weak and narrow, but continued weight training should give him the necessary bulk and strength. whether he has the affinity for using them properly remains to be seen.

 

Something's got to be wrong. Yetti is talking about himself in the third person.

 

You have a point. This is a question of coaching philosophy. I don't have a definite answer.

JVG is great. But his coaching style might not be the best in developing Yao. Is it really good to force Yao to try to score down low ALL THE TIME? I've been saying that they should take advantage of Yao's mid-range shot. That's his strong suit. They should exploit it. Why do you want to force him to be a traditional center simply because of his size?

Dirk is a great shooter. His game is mostly outside shooting. Only after he has established his outside game did he start to develop his post up game, which is still not great.

Last season, people bashed Rudy and EG for letting EG park at the 3pt line. Well, maybe he should establish his outside game first because that what is natural for him. The problem, of course, was that EG needed to learn better shooting technique.

OK, I'm babbling. The point is, Yao is not a set low post player. His strength is creativity. He can do a lot of different things with the ball. Maybe the coach should allow more variety in the offense so that opposing defense can't key in on just one thing: denying Yao's low post game.

 

Easy,


who is more effective from 16 feet - yao or steve?

 

It depends. Yao can make a pass from there probably better than Steve. Yao is probably equally accurate from that range if left unguarded. Steve is better at creating his shot from there.

So what's your point?

The idea of setting him out is to force the zone to either come out (thereby leaving a big hole inside) or leaving him open to shoot the mid range shot. And if you read my posts, I'm not saying that he should be there all the time. I'm advocating variety.

BTW, JJ is probably a more effective low post scorer (guarded by player his own size, of course) than Yao at this point.

 

i ask that question because it's one of the things JVG has to look at. moving yao out - even if only occasionally - removes the threat of a low post threat (at least for that play). it also removes a 7'6" player from prime rebounding position. those are some of the negatives that come along with such a move.

the things you mentioned in the post preceeding this one are, indeed, some of the positives. and, for the most part, i agree with those potential positives.

it appears that JVG, for the moment, is ok with a relatively effective steve francis operating at 16-20+ feet and having yao in rebounding/post position. it'd be interesting what would happen, though, if steve were not able to stroke the midrange j consistently, or if he consistent starts making terrible decisions from the outside. then, you might see yao move out a little bit.

imo, i'd like to see yao face the bucket a few times, if for know other reason than to give a different look to the defending team. mixes things up a bit, you know? in time, i'd almost guarantee you'll see that; however, it is more important at this juncture to get yao to establish the team's low post offense. that, if developed properly, can be an unstoppable weapon come playoff time.

 

Dirk was hitting rainbows from all over!

I agree our fast break needs work

 

I understand the rationale of developing Yao's low post offense, and I'm not sure if that wrong. But maybe, just maybe, forcing him to establish the low post position all the time actually slows down his development. If we let him mix things up, do something that he is comfortable with, then maybe it make the low post offense that much easier. Right now, people know what he's trying to do. So they just concentrate on stopping him from doing it.

 

well, here is mine,

mavs 94, rockets 81

Not too bad, either?


--daoshi

 

I was at the game last night... it seemed like there were two different teams on the floor, both wearing red. OKay, so there were three teams on the floor...

The Rockets couldn't handle the defensive intensity of the Mavs. The Yao inside mout game just didn't happen after Yao went 0-4 to start it off... then when we'd get fast breaks it would lookm like we didn't know how to complete the break...

Van Gundy seemed to be begging our boys to run it down and we looked lost...

I love Yao - as a potentially good prospect - but how can you not blame him for not setting the tone early? He SHOULD dominate in a game where he is 10" taller than his opening defender, even if you slide Dirk into defend for Danny "SHORTson" Yao still has a 6" edge... For goodness' sake he's a second year pro with way taller oponents scoring fewer against him, and scoring more on them... he get's the fat lip in this one.

Unbelievable to me that you have the ball down low, closer to the basket than you are tall, and you blow 8 easy points...

Set that pace early, with Yao getting easy buckets, THEN you would have freed up the guard play... It's the same as a football team establishing the run game to open up the passing game.

Check the score... what? 11 points? Way different had you set up the inside game and stuck with it... that would automatically get your running game on too, inside completion sets up defense, sets up fast breaks.

Shoulda, coulda, woulda... had Yao got it IN THE HOOP early...

Why "freeze out" Yao? Cause he misses easy buckets.

Better outcome later, we hope.

p.s. - I've got some limited live game and warmup footage (I got my camera in) and some stills, mostly of Boki and Moochie (Yao had gone in by the time I got down to the floor)... if anyone would like to see them email me through the board and I'll send them too you...

Other than the outcome of the game, and my frustration with Yao (which made our guards look lost as well), the AAC was a fun place to attend a game... maybe our marketing can take some notes...