While I agree that Yao is only a "good" passer, let's not place Bogut ahead of him yet. There's quite a big difference between making passes in college and the NBA =)
Quite frankly, you have absolutely no idea if this is true. The difference between the NBA and the college game is so enormous that it's a complete crap shoot to know if most skills will translate. The pace of the game and the athleticism of other players is just tremendously different. Bogut looks like a great passer in college. But put Yao in college right now, and he'd make...well, just about everyone there look absurdly incompetent. It's not fair to compare a guy in his 3rd year in the NBA with a guy in college. But it's also not fair to assume Bogut's passing ability will translate well. It's really absurd to say that he's definitively a better passer than one of the better passing post playerse in the league.
Yes, I've seen that too. I'm not sure I agree with what Matt Simpson (of Kansas City) is talking about. He's not watching the same game I am. Yao is not picking up fouls because he's tired of helping on the perimeter. Yao picks up fouls when he's NOT tired (or after two or three post plays; which is more grueling than setting picks). Yao picking up early fouls is not necessarily *tired issue.* It's a Yao is *slow issue.* (as in the first 2-3 minutes of the game!) That's just inherent to Yao. Him helping on the perimeter has actually helped the team close off the guards on the P&R. And Yao has done a good job getting back to his man. Yao is such a big boy that he's blocking the view of these guards passing lanes (Like Easy said). As far as Michael Sutherland comments. Yao is a good passer. But he's not a great passer; regardless if he was with the Kings or not. He's not a great passer because his balance and center of gravity is too high. At times he gets pushed off-center. And when that happens he loses his balance....thus knocking off any of his pass trajectories. I've seen him have an open outlet pass only to get pushed, and cause a turnover. He's not surefooted like Brad Miller or Tim Duncan. Those guys can get low to the ground and pinpoint those passes. Yao is not like that. Saying that he'd suddenly get 2-3 assist a game if he was with the Kings is overlooking Yao's physical limitations. Yao has to show he can pass with efficiency before he starts taking those chances. Thus, increasing his assist rate. And as we all know....Yao has stone-hands. He has enough trouble holding on to rebounds, much less trying to make a pass in traffic when someone is leaning on him. Will he improve? Sure. But he's not going to be Brad Miller type passer. He's just too off-balance. As Easy has said, we're be able to get a better idea of how well Yao has improved his physical training next year. Then, we'll be able to figure-out if we can incorporate new plays based on his training/development. By the, way....have you noticed that when Yao helps on the perimeter he uses a very, very wide stance and is very low to the ground (sitting chair defensive stance). I love that! It helps him NOT get crossed-over like Marburry did to him a few years ago. Plus, as other have said...he's a BIG object in the way of thoes entry passes.
It is not very popular around here to talk about how well Yao would do on other teams. This is a ROCKETS fan site, so we are mostly concerned with how well he fits on THIS team.
I think Yao would be doing better on the PnR and not be as fatigued if we had kept Andre Barrett and Yao could pick him up and throw him from the post area at the opposing players a few times a game. More than that and Barrett would probably be too bruised and actually would need to be put on the IL for a real reason.... waiting for someone to take this seriously.
