I believe this happens because they don't practice it or they don't practice it >>correctly<<. Yao needs to be an animal when he goes up. Yao should have the best chance to catch the pass (arched) when executed properly. The weakside defender has to travel a long ways and is in prime position to commit a foul if Yao uses his body correctly.
This is not true...the weakside defender can double Yao before the pass. The new rules allow for that....and it is what is happening a lot.. DD
I don't understand why players and posters are so worried about "potential" turnovers. Sure, lobbing is more risky than catching the ball in your own half court. But we do turn balls over while bringing up the ball, don't we? Let's take last night for example, we led by 14, what's the harm to try a few "risky" lobs? What if you had 2 or 3 turnovers, but succeeded in other attempts? Are they still going to front without any hesitation? What I also can't understand is, why players think those long 3s can beat fronting. If Yao is fronted, let's say we don't "force-feed" him or we don't lob to him because "he's slow/weak/soft and turnover prone", but everyone should know that they should have more operating room at the opposite elbow, either PnR, and the lane for drive. Due to fronting, opponent defenders won't be positioned well, so Yao will be in better position for offensive rebounds. But long 3s? How's Yao going to get any offensive rebounds? Worse yet, with those long rebounds leading to fast break, how can Yao ever run back for defense? Forget about the ambitious goal of "beating" fronting, forget about wild imagination of better decision making etc. How about every player just does whatever they want to - drive, shoot the mid-range, PnR, swing the ball around, shoot the 3s from both corners, EXCEPT FOR SHOOTING LONG 3S FROM THE TOP OF THE KEY? Is it that hard? I think if we can at least be disciplined of that little piece, we will be fine with fronting. Didn't Yao say he's running back and forth? Why? Long 3s, long rebounds, fast breaks. It's not rocket science. If the team changes the name to "Simplicity", will their lives be easier?
AMEN, AMEN, AMEN. Look. Attack the rack when Yao's dude is fronting him. Not only is there NO CENTER TO BLOCK SHOTS AT THE RIM, BUT YAO IS IN PERFECT POSITION TO GET ANY MISSES, WHICH SHOULDN"T COME FAR OFF THE RIM ON A LAYUP ATTEMPT. GAME OVER FOR PORTLAND. DOO DOO DOO. Rockets should roll Portland in 5.
I'm not sure what is not true, but let me put it this way. I am a passer--a quarterback. Yao is my wide receiver. The defensive backs do not have a better chance to get the ball when I'm aiming for Yao. It is not a free-for-all pass as you are making it out to be. Also if he's doubled before the pass then you don't pass it as there are other options, so that is not relevant at all.
If the NBA had the old illegal defense rules (no zoning at all), then teams wouldn't front Yao nearly as much. We could space the floor to where it would take too much time for the weakside defender to recover. However, with the zone, teams can put 2 players on Yao before he has the ball, and the help defender can be there for 3 seconds at a time in the paint. If we had Tmac or Rafer, they could make a perfect lob right when the other defender has to get out of the paint to avoid the defensive 3 seconds call, but this will only work if the help defender is right behind Yao to begin with. The 2nd option could be for Yao to set a back screen for a wing player at the free throw line extended (basket area might be open since teams are so locked in on Yao), then if that isn't open, run a pick n' roll for Yao, Brooks or Lowery might get a layup if teams don't rotate off of Yao. If they do help out on the drive kick it back to Yao, let him settle, and back back it in from 10-15 feet out. I know he not very good at backing people down out there or taking care of the ball, but he can take a couple of dribbles closer to the basket and take a turnaround jumper over Pryzbilla and Oden, and he is very capable of making that shot. Teams will still send a help defender to try to steal the ball from Yao, since he is somewhat far away from the basket, and that will open up something elsewhere. This is still better than everybody standing around or dribbling for 18 seconds, while Yao is getting mauled and worn out down low trying to get position. Adelman has to try somethings with Yao. He is more skilled and mobile than he looks. If he fights for position for a few minutes at a time, he gets worn out, set him up for the jumper or different mid range opportunities if they are going to fron him down low.
Exactly. The problem is we give it to Artest to make a pass to Yao. He just stands there and holds the ball thinking maybe Yao will somehow get position. And by the time he realizes that wont happen, there isnt much time left on the shot clock and he just jacks up a 3. When we had Mcgrady, he was the one trying to get the ball to Yao. But he didnt wait as long as Artest does. He realized right away that Yao cant get position and he usually drove in for a mid range jumper (which is much better than a long 3). We blamed him for taking so many shots, but that was a much better selection than trying to force it in to Yao. Now that we don't have McGrady, I think our best weapon against the fronting defense would be AB and Scola PnR. We can KILL Portland with this. Their bigs wont be able to match his speed. Heck, we can even use Lowry and Scola in a PnR. Lowry can get their bigs in foul trouble. And if they collapse on our PG, they can kick it out to Scola for a wide open mid-range jumper, which he has been consistently knocking down lately. Here is how it works: As you can see, I suck at arts. But this AB/Scola PnR creates so many options. It could be deadly. Plus Yao would have position for an offensive rebound too. I hope we use alot of this in the Playoffs.
I think JVG and Adelman had tried everything to solve fronting problem and nothing had been working. there is only one thing left: Don't play Yao when he is tired and fronted.
If Rox dont solve the fronting RA SHOULD BE FIRED!!!!! that will mean Yao will always be a huge liability forever and you cant ask of an easier opponent in the 1st rnd
a lot of blame needs to be placed on yao. he needs to learn how to post with a fronting defense. when he's being fronted, why does he continuously try to get in front of the fronter. just keep the guy there and that makes it easier for the entry passer to get a clean look at where to toss it. most of the seconds used are when the passer is trying to make a clean pass but yao isn't giving him one. that's a big problem. there was one play in last night's dallas game where a lob was thrown successfully. it wasn't clean but at least yao caught it. if defenses front, we should try all of the above. i don't see why it's that difficult.
Definitely agree with this. I don't understand why the Rockets keep a guy in the corner when they pass into Yao. This allows the corner guy's defender to cheat off him and harass Yao, a recipe for turn overs and bad shots.
I think at some point we have to accept that the fronting defense is effective on our team. It is not something that will be 'figured out'.
Catch what? Lob pass? How many turnovers does Yao average per game? 3? Let's say 4. One is reserved for offensive foul, fair or unfair. Two are reserved for traveling, or bringing the ball low getting striped, or whatever mistakes, or getting hacked but no calls. There is a little less than one average missed lob pass. What's the big deal? Because he might miss one in 35 mins, so we are not doing it? We do know when he catches a lob pass, good things happen, right?
