ESPN ARTICLE: Yao towers over the opposition, so why isn't anyone afraid of him?

Yeah, it's the same way he saved the Astros playoff run this year.

 

I find it difficult to believe that someone with your level of bball knowledge would favor a zone. First, you have to see that Van Gundy's man to man has a heavy dose of zone principles. (Double team dribble all penetration).

Secondly, the NBA zones do not allow defenders to stay in the paint so Yao is only marginally closer to the basket. Further, the use of a zone keeps Yao permanently on one side of the paint and thus his lack of footspeed severely opens up the court on the opposite side of the paint from Yao's zone position. If I were facing a Yao-based zone, I woud keep him occupied weakside with one corner 3 point shooter and 1 non-impact offensive player on the weakside baseline. I'd trade you a few potential rebounds to open up your defense strong-side and in the paint .

Lastly, as I understand it a zone is an extemely poor defense for boxing out. And boxing out is a big part of the current problem IMO. Along with effort.

 

Gater,

Zone defenses allow Yao to stay within 3 feet of the basket, he just can not be in the paint if no one is there to guard, but he can certainly be JUST OUT of the paint, and 3 feet is a heck of a lot closer than the 15 or so that he is being pulled out as centers like Brad Miller, and Elden Campell, Antonio Mcdyess etc etc, continue to shoot that 15 footer.

I don't like a zone, but I think asking your slowest player to have to recover and be the last line of defense is nuts.

Yao is just not quick enough, put him in positions where he succeeds.

One note: for those arguing against a zone, clearly what we are doing is not working, as we do not have a quick player like Cato to cover Yao's defiencies, why not try the zone?


Sam,

I Saved the Astros season?

Wow, I am special !!

DD

 

Yao needs to blow off the Chinese National Team and spend a summer at Fonde Recreation Center. It made Hakeem into the Dream. It would do wonders for Yao.

 

DaDa -
I agree with the what we are doing not working part but I think most of the problems are personnel issues....but that's another story for another time.

Another aspect of a zone that worries me is that zone perimeter defensive pressure tends to be weak and we are not to quickest afoot at our other positions...

On the plus side, you could probably play Nachbar, Sura and TMac on the perimeter and at least their collective heights may be an advantage.

I don't profess to having the absolute answer but I think the figure quoted earlier about the Rox record when Yao has a double-double is very telling.

 

Hey if Yao and the Chinese Govt cannot agree to let him have the summer off to train at Fonde, then WHY NOT INVITE DEL HARRIS AND THE ENTIRE CHINESE TEAM TO TRAIN NEXT SUMMER AT FONDE AGAINST NBA PROS???? IT CAN ONLY HELP THOSE CHINESE POINT GUARDS.

 

Not if they can't get the ball past half court.

 

Yao has improved in a couple areas of the past two years, but he's not playing like himself, by which I mean the Yao of his first year. I think that if we change systems (which I guess is a euphemism for canning Van Gundy), then Yao can still become a great offensive player. Under Rudy, Yao was immensely creative and could do things no other big man could. Who could forget his ridiculous tip pass to Moochie? And I remember watching him warm up in Boston and can three after three. So it would be a big mistake to trade him instead of changing the system. Even Phil Jackson adjusted the triangle from outside-focused to inside-focused when he moved to LA. I think that it's important to remember that Yao was the #1 pick not just because of his height but also because he has an unbelievable skill set for a C. I don't care if people aren't afraid of him if he's scoring 25 a night and grabbing 10 boards. And I still believe he can.

If he did kick someone's @$$, that would just be bonus.

 

Amen!!!