Does anyone have a resolution to the opposition fronting Yao?

Now you're on my wavelength here. Playing on the low post with Yao, he helps to clog up the lane even more. And since his shot has disappeared, the guy guarding him can now switch off to double Tmac or Yao. Add in his somewhat questionable defense and you can understand why I'm not that enthused about him.

But you know what you're getting with James and it's not going to be the type of PG play that this team so desperately needs because James is not a facilitator but more of a SG in a PG's body. Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Tony Parker - hell even Devon Harris he's not. And neither is the current people's choice SF3.

He must have had problems counting that $30 million Portland paid him to go away...

Hmmm, I can see why you'd feel this way but to me, I'm not sure because as time passes and James-Francis-Scola gets more and more playing time, their flaws will become more exposed and exploitable - especially those of James & Francis.

But But - that's exactly what they (Rox) have been looking to add ever since the McGrady trade. That's been their primary offensive philosophy: have two "superstars" (Yao/Tmac) surrounded by jumpshooters. That's the type of team that Adelman inherited and I believe that it's going to take more than Mike James & Steve Francis to run his style of offense here successfully.

 

knock them in their mf mouth.. that's how. when Yao grabs the ball.. have him swing as fast as he can with his elbows at max extention should do the trick.

 

Petition the league to go back to the old rules where you can't double anyone that doesn't have the ball. Done. It's a dumb rule that you're allowed to double anyone that doesn't have the ball anyways.

 

perfect solution.

if a guy is fronting you. he must be usually physically, faster and smaller than the Center. (in Yao's case, which is everybody)

What Yao need to do is play dirty.

:you wanna front me?
-I will give me elbows, jab to the waist, pull out out of the position

Yao since you got your first tech. now you are not a virgin, go out and get more. punch couple of players. kick them and beat them. no more mr. nice guy. your reputation is hurting your game.

since most of them are up to your armpit most of the time. learn from deke on how to use your elbows. swing them couple of times. hit their ugly faces.

 

revised

 

The solution to fronting defenses is simply what Van Gundy was espousing. "Make your 3's"

 

How about setting some picks for Yao. Instead of coming down and having him post up right away, set a pick for him in the low block (maybe between him and one of the guards). This will have to be a timing play as Yao will need to get the ball right when his man is recovering or if they switch off he'll have an even smaller player on him.

 

elbow the smaller fronting player in the back and trigger back spasm for the rest of his career

 

I think a lot of the fronting problems can be fixed with proper spacing on the court (God, I can still hear Don Chaney and Rudy T saying that right now). Without proper spacing, you can't get a good enough angle to feed the post when the center is being fronted. Teams tried fronting Dream all the time, and the guards we had then weren't all that much better at feeding the post than the ones we currently had. What I would like to see the Rox do is rotate the ball (either via the pass or dribble) towards the center of the court. This way, Yao has a chance to re-establish his post spot by taking the formerly fronting defender and sealing him off. Now, with a good passing angle, Yao is in much better position to catch and finish right at the basket. If our guards can't do that on their own, have someone come set a screen to get the ball moving towards the center of the court.

When Yao is being fronted, and we're trying to feed from the elbow, we're giving our distributors very poor angles. The ball has to be repositioned to yield better post entry-pass angles.

A variant of this is dribble penetration. If the ball handler can drive into the lane and Yao can seal off the fronting defender, he should be available for an easy drop off pass by the penetrating offensive player.

 

im not being critical, but this is simply a rudimentary discussion of a complex problem...fronting gave hakeem trouble (seatlle)...its certainly not an easy problem to solve...i just wonder why more teams dont try it

 

I agree. This is nothing new, it's been going on since his rookie year. Yet, they still have not found a solution. At sometime, it's going to have to fall on Yao's shoulders. Maybe it's him and not everyone else or the offensive setup.

 

the easiest solution (and has been used by Rudy and JVG before) is to flash one of the weakside players to the foul line, they need to be a player who can shoot that jumper and also make a good pass..... Scola is perfect for the this......

Yao needs to let the front happen and then prepare the seal the player out, ie Yao is between his defender and the ball, then when the player receives the ball at the foul line they can easily make an entry pass to Yao....

ball reversal and looking for entry passes from the top can also work to get the ball to a fronted player....

or maybe ball reversal and screen on Yao's defender to free him up.......

 

The basic problem is that there are almost no big men in the NBA who still play with a traditional back-to-the-basic game. I can think of three: Yao, Shaq, and Duncan (to a lesser extent). Most every other player, even in post position, plays more like a forward, i.e. they score through face ups, drives, or dishes from a driving player.

Because there are so few such players, the NBA has decided that it should not cater to such players, and the rules and reffing are basically rigged against the big men. This is a conscious decision by the league. Anyone notice how defensive three seconds is never called? That rule, which was intended to prevent excessive double teams before a player has the ball, is a complete joke. This is in addition to the fact that smaller players are allowed to swipe and push on the big guys without any fear of retaliation.

Honestly, I don't see how the Rockets can win unless the league actually calls some defensive 3-seconds. Remember how Hakeem would draw about 3 illegal defense violations per game?

There is no other team in the league that has solved this problem. Shaq is on his way out, and Duncan is only still effective because he can also face up, drive, and finish when his man goes to help.

I think our only hope for a long term solution is to adapt our team more to the new rules, i.e. switch to a speedy penetrating PG who puts Yao in position to finish off of dishes. Stop running the offense through Yao, and instead post him only when the defense is out of position. Hopefully Steve can do this, but otherwise I think we are waiting for Aaron Brooks.

 

Fronting defense isn't new, it's been used at all levels play, I regularly ask my U14 AAU players to front bigger post players.

It takes a team effort to play the good fronting defense, e.g., quick help defense from the across side; it also takes a team effort to beat the fronting, such as quick ball movement, set pickups, and repost. The Rockets' problem is the ball movement, they hold the ball too long.