ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets vs. Pistons 11/02/2004

Yao is progressing well on his strength and conditioning. It is his jumpshot that has regressed dramatically since the 1st half of last year. Even Ben Wallace shot a few jumpers in the game to space out the half-court a little bit. When Big Ben is an ace marksman relative to Yao, there is a problem. I've harped on the jumpshot being a required skill many times on this board. When a big man develops a shot from outside, it gives defenders fits. Duncan has a jumpshot. Brad Miller has a jumpshot. Rasheed has a killer jumpshot. Only guy who doesn't need a jumpshot is Shaq. That's because he is a killer in the paint. The jumpshot is a necessary weapon in the half-court. I do not think Yao has that skill in his arsenal anymore.

You know what teams are doing now with Yao? They are fronting him aggressively preventing the quick pass into the post. This forces the Rockets' offense to bring Yao out to the perimeter to set screens. Yao is then left wide open for the shots due to defensive rotations. If he capitalizes consistently, it's freaking game over for the other team because the Rockets can go screen and roll with TMac and Yao all day long.

 

I blame this loss soley on JVG. I know we are playing the Champs and it is only one game, but I think we are going to start seeing a bad trend:

We are playing way too SLOW of a game for this team. JVG likes to slow things down and use as much clock as possible. This translates into Ward/Lue dragging the ball up, dribble it for 20 seconds, and then someone jack a shot up.

The Rockets need a more uptempo game. We don't have to be a running team, but we need to run when we can. We need to bring the ball up faster and try to get easy buckets. Don't wait until 10 seconds to run a play.

 

Yao's FG%
2002-2003 - .498
2003-2004 - .522
This preseason - .536

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/yao_ming/index.html?nav=page

Yao's FG% was BETTER last season. This wasn't because he was dunking that much more. And, oh yea, it has been even better so far this preseason, which you said you was one of the things you were basing your complaints on.

 

There is a nice new shot chart thingy over at espn.com

 

Unfortunately, Chris Mihm and Kobe under Rudy looked a heck of a lot better than JVG's Yao and T-Mac combo tonight.

 

It seems like on every play Yao will initially try to establish some sort of low post position. However, if the position is not good enough, he will run out, set a screen, and then roll to the basket - sort of like a plan "B". Instead of going to plan "B", I would like to see Yao get the ball even if it is in the high post, and see if he can spin around the defender, do a turn around jumper, or try to back his defender down from there.

Yao is not going to establish a good low post position most of the time - he's just not that kind of player. In fact, he only did it once in this game that I saw (which resulted in a dunk). He has to start learning how to score when he's initially further away from the basket.

 

True. But that can't possibly hold out for too much longer. I mean, we're talking about Chris Mihm here.

 

We're also talking about a JVG offense here.

 

This loss didn't bother me at all. Sure, I want Rockets to win, but when Rasheed hit 10/19, ane even Big Ben hit an amazing 6/8( acturally, he just missed the last 2 after he scored 6/6), what do you expect? Plus TMac and Yao were so off tonight, as well as Howard, this loss is totally acceptible, IMO.

From what I saw, the team is going to be better and better. Yao played very hard on rebounds, although the ridiculous offence foul killed his offence. Boki can hit open shots now; JJ is as solid as last year; our inside defence is still the one of best, if not the best, in the league.... I would rather give these guys 1 month to set up their chemistry on court before I make any negative judges .

 

Come on now, you can do better than just rehashing Kenny and Charles' BS. Its funny how i often see JVG on the sidelines, madly motioning his arms in a horizontal pattern. I wonder what he means by that....

 

There is just so much wrong with this logic. So if theres a risk of injury, why do it? Why even step foot on the damn floor? Voshon Lenard just tore his achilles while running down the court! Besides, Wallace isn't a dirty player, he just blocks everything in sight. Your post is one of the lamest excuses for a player I've ever heard. Why even play the damn game?

Secondly, so what if Yao missed TWO jumpshots? That's the whole problem with Yao. When he misses some shots, he just stops trying to be agressive. Yeah, it would have been great for Yao to hit some jumpers and spread the D, but if that doesn't work, why not go inside against a center who's a foot shorter? There's no way to know if Detroit would have even tried to doubleteam him. And lots of people are to blame. Yao because he just starts setting picks everywhere, JVG because he doesn't get Yao to go back down low, and even Ewing, who is supposed to teach Yao how to be a great bigman. What the hell does he really do anyway?

I'm starting to wonder why getting the ball to Yao has become such a big production. When there are 4 or 5 necessary steps to "properly" feed the ball, theres a higher chance of the play breaking down. First, Yao gets on the block, then we swing the ball to the top of the key, with someone setting a backpick for yao. Then, the guy at the top of the key hesitates, and it all goes down the gutter. Just put Yao on the block, and give him the ball. Let him back down the smaller defender. Let him use his little baseline spin if the defender pushes too hard on his back. Do the spurs take 18 seconds to get the ball to Duncan? No, they just give it to him. JVG is trying to make things too complicated.

 

Rehash what Kenny and Charles said? We were one of the worst fast breaking teams in the league last season, we had 2 points tonight. Fast breaks get you easy buckets, period.

I just want JVG to implement a more up-tempo game. How many last second shots did we shoot tonight? We took forever to bring the ball up, we took even longer to set things up, and we just ended up jacking up a shot at the last second.

JVG can waive his arms all he wants. We know what type of game he wants to play, slow the ball down, set it up, use the clock as much as possible. If we wants this team to play uptempo ball, he can make it happen, not just by waiving his arms.

 

the only stat u need to look at is the assists.....
8 assists Rockets
20 assists Lakers

...it's good that Ward got us some points, but he is in there to distribute the ball...1 assist aint gonna get the job done. I'm kind of worried about Van Gundy's style of ball, it doesnt allow for many assists because we are in half court offense the whole time...pleaseee prove me wrong rockets!!!

 

i want to see yao gets off the ground quicker if he wants to improve his offense but more importantly his defense. nobody is afraid of him. i saw billups, hamilton, prince, and other pistons players just shoot over him all night.

even though yao couldn't make a basket tonight, he still should have given more chances. if the rockets plans to go deep in the playoffs, yao has to play well. he should take more shots.

 

I agree with that tonight . I think jvg is using him wrong. Also, he doesn't need to set picks when the ball is coming up the court, that just doesn't make sense. Yao is 7'5, he needs to get a deep postion in the post. Still, I don't think Yao should try to get his offense going with jump shots. That's why, last year, Steve use to slap him on his butt and tell him to come on. Seems like he needs the extra motivation sometimes.

 

clearly Yao is not 100% due to the injury and those ridiculous foul calls prevented him from being aggressive. They should have put Yao on 'Sheed early because neither MoT nor Howard could gurad him. We need to post up Tmac more and stretch out the floor a bit more. overall, an expected but contested loss on the trip.

 

This team needs time. It's going to be a rough couple of months, but eventually they'll start gellin' like Magellan (unless Yao or T-Mac go out with an injury). What's up with the weak excuses about how his left elbow hurts him. We can all figure out that it's going to interrupt his shooting, but he's got to stop complaining and start stepping up. This is supposed to be the year.

 

I hope we'll start Deke along side Yao, 'cause the current starting lineup struck me as being soft. What do you guys think?

 

Yao sucks in this game period. TMac, played well, but still has room for improvement. Mo Taylor have some lapses but he was good so with deke. Over all, the game was winnable. If only the rockets played smart and start to hit shots. There's no more excuse for yao. He was given the same shots that rasheed and ben got but he missed all of them. But this is only the first game so its forgivable. But if he continues to play like this in the next few games, its time to ask ourselves is he really worth it? Are we looking at the next biggest underachiever in the line of benoit benjamin, sam bowie, pervis ellison? Hopefully not. I have already given up my thoughts that yao could be another great center. Hes just a rik smits type of player. And probably, a brad daugherty type of player the most. If ever hes going to be inducted in the hall of fame, its not because of what he achieved, but who he is. Nobody is afraid of yao. Pistons big men were much wary of deke than yao. Their eyes glowed wide when they saw yao in the middle. Yao just sucks. I hate yao. Please stop coronating him as the second best center or the best center in the west because hes not. Ben is better, brad miller maybe as good as him, eric dampier can outplay him any given night and now chris mihm may post a challenge to him in the west.

 

Yao sucked..Cato could have shot better..
But just one game..and he's injured. We all know Yao is one of the best centers in the league when he's healthy!!!!!