I can't think of anyone, at least a star, who sets as many. I think he needs to improve on his screen-setting technique though. Sometimes he doesn't set it solidly enough, and sometimes the guards start their move before Yao is ready. Also, he doesn't square up to receive the ball, I guess because he knows he isn't getting it on most plays. Yao sets screens to initiate plays and get shots for teammates, but he rarely gets shots for himself on these plays. Where would Karl Malone be without the pick and roll? Amare would be just another athletic body if he didn't use the pick and roll to score. We need to somehow get Yao more scoring opportunities from the pick and roll. Would it kill us if we let (or made) Yao shoot about 4 wide open jumpers per game? It would add another dimension to the offense.
shaq doesnt but duncan just may he runs a lot of PnR with parker the reason why yao sets a lot is because it frees up t-mac and then himself as he is rolling towards the basket. Also with a person of yao stature it creates a huge roadblock for the defender if you've seen the wesley curl that jvg runs as one of the first few plays of the game wesley gets that wide open because of a massive pick set by yao yao still gets pushed off the block too often for a man his size and he doesnt have the sheer size of shaq to consistently get the position he needs nor the "star power" of duncan to get calls from the officials when fouled by the defender getting position.
I'm all for Yao getting ready to catch the ball after setting a pick..and for him taking some outside shots. Good idea to me. He can make em. He can create. I don't know..we just don't have time for him to experiment and develop..:/
He sets perfect PicknStall, wut r u talking about Willie?! It is the PnR that he has a problem with, he usually sets good picks, but then forgets the "roll" part. But may be that is what JVG tells him to do, I don't know...
I think the whole "Screen Setting" task of Yao contributes alot to Yao's exhaustion and him getting tired quickly. Van Gundy needs to minimize yao setting screens on the offensive end and conserve that energy so he can concentrate more on penetration defense, rebounding and protecting the middle which is a big man's duty on the defensive end. Van Gundy really needs to rethink Yao coming out and setting screens. Possibly using the weatherspoon/bowen or whoever is maning the power forward position as a subsitute. I might be wrong but i dont really recall centers setting screens and playing the pick "n" roll from top of the key around the three point line. Yao just sometimes seems lost when he rolls. To conclude the whole pin "n" roll takes away from yao's energy not only on offense but also on defense because he gets tired so quickly. What do you guys think?
I love Yao's picks. Especially the one he put his butt in the guy's face to stop TMac's defender when TMac went around Yao, Yao at the same time turn and put his butt on the defender. Yao sets the best screen on the team, it's usually a open shot because he's so huge.
The screens pretty effective the way they are but I think we could also use Yao to hit the outside jumper (like a previous poster stated) and that would work well because we all know that he can hit those Right now all Yao does is set the pick and T-Mac rolls off and shoots the open jumper but if T-Mac penetrated and threw it back out then Yao would have a wide open jumper. Of course he'd have to hit that shot 50-60% of the time or were not going to get an chance at the off. board
He should get the ball back sometimes to keep the defenders guessing. With Yao's shooting, he and Tmac can do a PNR as good as Malone and Stockton.
Yao can dribble and stop & pop.Let Yao shoots off a pick set by a pf a few times won't hurt either. That adds another dimension to the offense. The offense is never fluid when post feeding is bad due to smaller players fronting Yao. The repetition of such failures often kills the flow. Yet Yao and teammates have no choice but to repete the cycle because of Yao's singular role in the offense. That's why sometimes Deke steps in and the offense picks up again - they aren't obligated to do the post up thing when they can't beat post defense. Post ups are good for getting high percentage shots. So are dunks. Amare still needs to add an jumper even if he's the second most dunker in the league. It can never hurt to have more weapons, particularly so under zone defense. The same rationale goes for Yao. Also, like nomaanbaig said, there's many starts and stops that wears out Yao's stamina. I'm not against Yao setting picks, just that fighting for position then running out to set picks, and hovering around the court on defense is quite demanding for a center to do.
Setting screens is FAR less taxing then banging down low. Yao setting screens and moving to get in position means less wear and tear on his body. DD
Yes, Yao set more screens than any stars I can thinks of. On the subject of Yao receive more pass off PnR, that's not going to happen any time soon. The reason is that Yao is too slow to make the turn to keep the guard behind him. If you watch the game closely, you will see that most of the time, the defender got picked by Yao usually ended up either fought through the pick, or quickly stepped in front of Yao, make it very hard for the ball handler to pass him the ball. So, unless the on-ball defender gets knocked out by a blind-side monster Yao pick, or Yao's defender chooses to jump on our ball handler, you won't see Yao get the ball too many times from the PnR.
Also, Yao can barely catch the ball while standing perfectly still with no one covering him. While rolling, moving his legs, looking back for the ball, then catch the ball - that is just too much to ask him to do at this stage of his development.
That is absolutely correct. Setting a pick is extremely less tiring than grappling for position down low.
The picks are set too far out. The picks need to be set at the top of the circle, inside the 3 point line, so Yao can get back into the paint faster. Our offense is too concerned with shooting the 3 ball instead of the good ole 18 footer or driving the lane.
His screens are the best in the league, he creates more space for his shooters than any other big man in the league with his screens. Screens don't show up in any offensive stat but its a big part of the Rox game. One thing is the refs let Yao get away with is he moves a lot when he sets his screens and they don't call it. God bless the refs for that at least.
