Shaq still Yao's Daddy Just read this from foxsports.com What a crock.. http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3363214 Shaq still too much for Yao to handle Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com Used to be that Yao Ming was touted as the Third World Shaq. Yao could shoot, pass, rebound, and play with cool unselfishness. He was also 7-foot-6, 310 pounds and a terrific person. He was destined to eclipse the Shaqster sooner rather than later and be the most dominating big man in the NBA. Well, it hasn't happened yet for several reasons: Coming from a culture that downplays individualism, Yao lacks the mean-spirited, bully-boy mentality necessary to rule the lane. His shot release is sometimes slow (primarily because he often has too much left hand on the ball), and despite his various wrong-footed releases, the league's quick-jumping big men can frequently bother his jumpers. Also, Yao's center of gravity is so high that opponents can get into his legs and move him off his favorite low-post spots. It takes too long for Yao to gather his huge body to jump and he's therefore a poor shot-blocker (only 1.84 blocks per game!). His lateral movement is likewise painfully sluggish, rendering him defenseless against any opponent who can turn and face. Yao still has difficulty dealing with double-teams and continues trying to force his high-rise dribble through traffic. Even with the dubious benefit of the personalized mentoring of Patrick Ewing, it's doubtful that Yao will ever make a quantum leap in his game. In truth, Yao is a good, but not great, man in the middle. The sagging, blue-black bags under the bloodshot eyes of Van Gundy the Younger have gotten so large that he can probably pack enough gear in them to accommodate a long road trip. That's because Jeff Van Gundy still has plenty to worry about even after he's resolved the question of what to do with Yao — i.e. turn the team over to T-Mac and make the big man strictly a secondary option. And as for Shaq? He may be lighter, but he's as slow off the floor as ever before — which means that he's no longer a rebounding machine. Sheer power was always his game and he still lacks a touch. (He shoots 60.7 percent on gimme shots that the NBA's most egregious brick-layers would convert at an 80 percent rate.) But the Diesel can still gear up his game when he's well-rested and faced with a challenge. Like the chance to atrocitize Yao Ming on a Sunday afternoon home game broadcast on national TV. So, let's size up the latest Yao-Shaq go-round and see where their rivalry stands. Shaq vs. Yao: Entire game Player Min. FG FT Off. Reb. Tot. Reb. Ast. Stl. Blk. TO Pts. Shaquille O'Neal 27 6-11 3-5 1 5 2 0 1 3 15 Yao Ming 34 8-14 6-6 4 9 2 1 0 1 22 Actually, the game stats are misleading since Shaq and Yao were both in foul trouble all game long and were simultaneously on the court for only a little over 17 minutes. Here, then, are the head-to-head numbers — including the all but meaningless six points that Yao registered in the last two minutes of the game. Shaq vs. Yao: Head-to-head Player Min. FG FT Off. Reb. Tot. Reb. Ast. Stl. Blk. TO Pts. Shaquille O'Neal 17 5-9 0-0 1 2 2 0 1 3 10 Yao Ming 17 7-12 2-2 1 4 2 1 0 1 16 With the Heat virtually leading from tip to buzzer, and winning handily 104-95, both Yao and Shaq had only marginal impacts on the game. Even so, there were several noteworthy developments: Yao blatantly moves on at least one of every three picks that he sets. The refs literally let him slide only because his playing time is already limited by his penchant for picking up fouls. Accordingly, the Rockets utilized Yao in numerous screen-and-roll situations, mostly to their benefit. This was because Shaq showed on the opposite side of the screen more in this one game than he did all last season with the Lakers. By rolling into a switch, or by fading, Yao was able to generate open shots. Whenever Shaq nestled into the pivot, all he had to do was lock up Yao by initiating body contact, after which a tight spin (either to the middle or to the baseline) always created a layup. The one time that he lunged instead of spinning, Shaq missed a layup under heavy defensive pressure from Yao. (Interestingly enough, Shaq never once assumed position on the right box, which meant he was looking to attack the basket instead of dribbling left, then coming back right to bank his jump hook.) Likewise, Yao took Shaq deep into the pivot a total of five times. With Shaq able to body-up on defense, Yao could only convert one of his subsequent shots — a rolling right-handed hook into the middle of the lane. Yao was much more effective stationing himself in semi-high post position (midway up the lane and about five feet outside the lane-marker). With Shaq playing him soft that far from the hoop, Yao was able to catch and shoot several twisting, fade-away jumpers. In coming to the ball from the weak side to help defend guard penetration, Yao was frequently off-balance. When he made an awkward lunge toward Dwyane Wade in his attempt to block a shot, Yao actually fell to the floor. A big man wants to open up to present as much of his body as possible when he comes to help near the basket, but Yao often arrives on the scene too late to assume the proper position and can only approach the ball from a sideways angle. This means he can only attempt the shot block with his nearest arm, and is an important reason for his chronic foul trouble. It also means that Yao can show, but can't recover. Shaq was so slow off his feet that Yao was able to reach over him to capture a total of three rebounds. The scouting report on Shaq used to emphasize his great hands — he was renowned as one of the NBA's greatest "catchers." Not any more. Two eminently catchable rebounds and four soft and accurate passes bounced off his hands. Yao also fumbled several easy passes, but only when he attempted to catch the ball while he was moving. In the first half, the Rockets generally let Yao try to contain Shaq by himself. But with Yao in his usual foul trouble, the Rockets spent the second half sinking every time Shaq received an entry pass down low. However, by returning the ball to the passer and then re-posting, Shaq was able to create enough space to overpower Yao without further interference. Both bigs were guilty of committing silly fouls — Shaq on offense and Yao on defense. However, even though they each finished the game with five fouls, Shaq only fouled Yao once, and vice versa. The final verdict is that Shaq is still capable of destroying Yao with spins and power moves in the low post. And that Shaq's sheer physicality turns Yao into the world's tallest jump shooter. Advantage, Shaq. Charley Rosen, former CBA coach, author of 12 books about hoops, the next one being A pivotal season — How the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers changed the NBA, is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.
What a load of crap This guy might have no life other than pile craps. Get a girl friend, former CBA coach.
Good read. Much more accurate than most of the analyses. Yao can't gain deep position when Shaq is guarding him. Shaq can. Fortunately Yao's turnaround jumpers are falling today.
Yao is not an excellent shot blocker. But...poor? That 1.84 blocks per game is poor enough to rank 11th in the league.
What a "great" article. Of course when YAO posts better stats than Shaq they are "meaningless" because Shaq's team got the win but when the Rockets beat the Lakers last year Shaq was "more dominant" even though his team may have lost.
This sounds fairly accurate to me. Don't start talking about today's game (1/30/05) because Shaq got in foul trouble and didn't play against Yao much. Yao is good, but not YaoWow! like we were told he'd be. I was excited to get him, but I'd entertain trading Yao if the opportunity - real, worth-it kind of deal, came about.
RIGHT NOW, he's right. That could all change as Yao gets better and more experienced and I hope Rosen is force-fed his words with a rusty spoon at that time.
Funny that you come up with an excuse for Shaq. I am fairly sure that if Shaq had dominated Yao today, you WOULD be talking about today's game.
Charley Rosen is an idiot. He wrote an article once that claimed Jerry West deserved NO credit for building the recent Laker championship teams. All West did was trade Vlade Divac for Kobe Bryant and sign Shaq. Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian (a LA radio guys) once started a prank/joke saying that Kobe should sue Phil Jackson for slander. Some other reporters got wind of it and a few weeks later Rosen was actually on their show claiming that he had an "inside source" saying that Bryant was suing Jackon. Needless to say, McDonnel and Krikorian embarrassed the fool. This Rosen guy is just a Phil Jackson a**kisser. ps - I think his original article stated that Yao only had .49 blocks a game. FOXSports corrected it.
so when the refs aren't busy already fouling yao out of the game, they should actually make sure to start calling even more fouls against him? gee, how nice of rosen to suggest so. and i love how he points out that shaq was pretty much a nonfactor and then continues to bash yao. exactly how many games each year is shaq a nonfactor? must be a coincidence it happens the most when he's playing yao.
People keep making excuses for Shaq because he was in foul trouble. I seem to remember that Yao was also in foul trouble. Actually he collected two fouls within the first 4 min of the game and had to go to the bench in early first quarter. Shaq always said that it was unfair to him because Yao had help D and he played Yao one on one. Yesterday, Yao clearly played Shaq one on one in most occasions and all Shaq was able to score 10 tough points and could not get to the FT line until late 4th quarter. Has it happened before? I seem to remember that Shaq averaged over 10 FTs against Yao and the Rockets last season when playing for LAL. BTW, I really believe that among all centers Shaq has faced (including Dream), Yao played the best defense against him and gave him the most trouble. Now Yao has gained enough weight and physically strong enough so that Shaq cannot easily move him, and the extra 6 inches clearly bothered Shaq. I know that Yao was expecting this meeting months before and was pumped for the game. Now only if he can play the rest of the lower ranked centers with such passion...... Finally, the media right now takes it for granted that Yao can consistently outplay Shaq. Unless Yao clearly dominates Yao (like scoring 35 to 18) and the Rockets gets a win, Yao won't get any praise from the media. Unfortunately, with the current Rockets squad, unless Yao plays out of him mind and imagines that he were Jabbar, or the Rockets role players have a field day, we cannot beat the Heat. As such, Yao is in a no win situation (with the media, and to a certain degree, the fans).
It's strange that but Yao does seem to match up with Shaq well. It just sucks that he does so poorly against Doleac since there's a lot more Doleac-like centers around the NBA than Shaq-like centers.
Truth be told, West should be given little to nil credit for landing Kobe. If you were around then during that draft, you should remember that Kobe forced Charllote's hands. The Hornets wanted to keep him when they picked him @ #13 or thereabout but Kobe pulled an Elway on them - now what did you expect them to do after a kid says he not playing for you comewhatmay? I would even give CD more credit for landing Francis after he rejected playing for Vancouver. My point is Kobe wanted to be a Laker or at worse a Knick (and he made it clear to the Hornets) - West had little to do with landing him. Now as per Shaq, I will give West some credit there for luring him away from O-town.
JVG and the team should watch the game we played against the Celtics at Fleet center last season to get a clue on how to beat the fronting D against Yao. A motion offense with crisp ball movements, and suddently Yao got dunks after dunks. By moving Yao out more for 15 footer jumper, running P&R to free Yao for some midrange jumpers are also a good choice to beating the fronting D in the paint.
All you need to know about Charlie Rosen and his basketball watching abilities is that he once wrote these words: "the best [LeBron] James can ever be is an average NBA player."
Where did you see that quote? I'd be willing to bet Rosen predicted Yao would be a bust. I think these genius writers forget to realize that NOBODY dominates Shaq on a regular basis. Because Yao doesn't it shouldn't be such a mark against him.
Somebody please inform this idiot that Shaq was NOT the difference in this game. I don't want to see this, "Shaq too much for Yao to handle" crap.
i agree..if you're saying Advantage: Shaq in yesterday's game..then you didn't watch the game. by the way...i don't want to hear about someone who could have been more dominant in a game because he got in foul trouble. that's the breaks, jackass. it's not like it was an injury. stay out of foul trouble, and you can play your game. otherwise, you lose the right to b**** about it.
I don't understand this article at all. I think Rosen was trying to prove a point. I think it was that Shaq was better than Yao this game although the first paragraph makes me think he is just trying to prove that Yao is not as good as hyped. I agree with a lot of his points here, but some are just blown out of proportion. Reading this has made me realize, that I have never seen a player taken apart as much as Yao has this season. Every single flaw in his game has been revealed, not matter how small or insignificant (has any player experience scrutiny this intense). Anyways regarding his idea that Shaq beat Yao Sunday, he surely didn't succeed with me. He quotes stats to back up his claim. The first set clearly shows a better game by Yao, but since this won't back up his point that Shaq is better than Yao, he changes the stats to only the time that they were both on the court. These stats still show that Yao had a better game, so he decides that he needs to break them down for us further. To make his argument appear stronger, he claims that Yao's last six points were meaningless, but the game was within 5 at the :31 second mark. Anyway it goes Shaq was in the game. Was Shaq not playing defense with 2 minutes left??? Okay, even if we buy the argument that Shaq was just lollygagging at the end of the game. The stats equal up except for the rebounding numbers which Yao doubles. Yao even gets to the free throw line and makes his shots unlike Shaq who somehow didn't get to the line even though I somehow remember Yao fouling Shaq on a shot attempt. I wonder how Rosen came up with his statistics now. Then Rosen decideds that he can't win his argument with statistics and comes out reaching for any fault he can. Yao Moves on Picks Rosen insists that Yao moves on his picks. And well, he's right he does sometimes, but to claim that the referees just ignore it because they don't want to foul out Yao is ridiculous. If anything he should watch more games and see how often Yao gets called on this. The reason why Yao doesn't get called is that Yao generally speaking sets some of the best screens/picks in the game. This is one part of his game that I do respect. Plus this is nitpicking anyways as all big men cheat when they set picks. Watch Dunca, Shaq, etc. They all do it. Shaq could just muscle in to score My memory is a little foggy on this, but I know that Shaq when he did his usual bulldozer approach was able to dislodge Yao, but apparently Shaq wasn't able to do it enough as they didn't go to it repeatedly and Shaq did miss some shots. I also didn't get this Shaq could just spin to score thing as Shaq only scored a few times off of this move. Did I fall asleep when Shaq did this repeatedly. Did the staticians not keep track of these baskets that Shaq scored on Yao. Yao played him better than most people in the league. He still does get pushed around, but he did a good job and in no way did Shaq, just dominate him. Blah... Blah... Yao shoots jumpers Time and time again he mentions that Yao shoots jumpers/set shots and makes them and takes advantage of Shaq's slownesss/reluctance to defend the pick and roll. Can someone shoot jumpers and still be dominant.? Yao was doing the smart thing and utilizing the part of his game that Shaq can not touch and never had. That is shooting range. Yao shoots a high percentage not only because of dunks only, but because of his outside shooting range too. This is one thing that I like about Yao lately. He is not determined to bang down low all the time and is finally making the jumpers that he scored on so much in his first two years. There is no shame in this part of his game. Give Tracy and him time and that pick and roll/pick and pop will pay dividends. Why don't people run the pick and roll with Shaq too often? That's because Shaq doesn't provide a reason to guard him on the roll away from the basket. Yao does. Summary Articles like these annoy me. Yes, Yao is not as good as Shaq. You can prove that to me and I will accept it. Yao has a lot of things to work on. Certainly he does. Shaq got the better of Yao this game. Yeah, if you count the win as the deciding factor, but otherwise, Yao played a better overall game than Shaq.
People seem really hard on Yao this year, I think its even worse than the beginning of his rookie year.
