You need NBA League Pass! He's good at jumpers. Very good a bank-shots. And very good at dunking (not like Shaq though). But, see. He doesn't need to dunk all the time. Sometimes he just finger rolls it over defenders hands. He's very good offensive rebounder too. Thus, a lot of tip-ins.
playing aggressively doesn't mean dunking everytime. when a player plays aggressively, he constantly attacks his opponent by scoring or setting up his teammates for easy shots. in addition, it's about not backing down from opponents who try to stop you with aggressive and "dirty" defense. if they see you as a physically weak player like yao, they punish you physically, often pushing, grabbing, and elbowing you in the back. to survive, you have to play aggressively. you must be able to take the hits, but also dish out some yourself. you must have a mindset that nobody will or can stop you from helping your team wins.
Exactly!!! Yao has to realize to either be a viticm, or fightback. The refs aren't going to rescue him all the time. Especially in the play-offs.
I am not sure what defines aggressiveness? It seems Shaq was physically punished every time he is in the post. He was pushed, grabbed, elbowed in the back every time he moves under the basket. Anyway, suppose Yao becomes a black hole as he shoots the ball every time he touches the ball, does that qualify as aggressive? I remembered Chuck Daly said the best player always wanted to score instead of doing other things. Maybe Rox should encourage Yao just shoot the ball and never pass the ball out.
You are right. Duncan should also improve his aggressiveness. He was held 11 points, 6 rebounds, 7 TOs and 0 block last Thursday when he faced the Mavericks. He shot 3-10. It is nearly a triple double for him though with that 7 TOs but the Spurs lost. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=230220006
Even Yao doesn't improve as a player, he will easily put up 16/10 next season as a result of increased minutes. That's why I think Anthony's and Tolbert's (Anyone remember him? He also predicted Yao's peak numbers are 18/10) predicted 18/11 or 18/10 peak numbers were a bit low.
Aggressiveness doesn't necessarily mean "taking the shot." It means being active, and expecting contact. Be strong. Aggressiveness can bring defenders to converge, thus making openings for passes easier. Right now, Yao is flopping when the defenders are pulling and tugging on him. Or, he gets the ball stripped. He has to expect tough contact.
Why Elliot should shut his pie hole: 1. "Yao should hold the ball low instead of high to keep it from getting stripped." -- Sean Elliot after Yao was hacked after a rebound with the ball held high 2. "That was a totally clean block by the Mavericks. Bad call by the refs." -- Sean Elliot after Yao was grabbing his wrists in pain 3. "Yao should have gone straight up with it." -- Sean Elliot after Yao completely fakes Bradley in the air and gets hammered on the shot attempt, subsequently nailing both free throws Moreover, even Yao's English is better.
sean elliot is wrong about it. if yao were to go straight up, his shot would have been blocked. the reason yao did the fake is because he wanted to gather himself for a monsterous dunk on bradley just like shaq would do. unfortunately, yao wasn't strong enough to complete the dunk.
Yes, I remember that, in particular the third play. It was very clear even when Yao was fighting for the rebound with his left hand, Bradley just was whacking Yao's all the time. After Yao held the rebound firm one hand (with his left hand), he tried to lay that up with his left hand; but Bradley was still whacking Yao's left hand aside. There was no way Yao could go straight up. It was because Bradley was holding Yao with one hand and crossing inside Yao's left hand all the time, whacking his left hand. Had it not been a thin Bradley, Yao would have been easily hurt. How come Yao could go straight up? Yao was pretty strong against Bradley to get the rebound and still attempted to lay it up in the circumstances. In fact, the whole game was that. Dallas just sent one after another to foul Yao every time he touched the ball.
I shared your disdain for his commentary last night. I don't think he was intentionally slamming Yao, but I couldn't believe he said #1 - it goes against everything we always hear about how big men should never bring down to the level of the little guys where guards can strip the ball away. With League Pass, several times a week we get to hear opposing TV announcers preach to Yao the opposite of Elliott's advice! (And when he said #3, I too found the analysis puzzling in the context of the play).
As Yao's comfort level goes up, his aggressivness should as well. As soon as he gets tired of getting the ball stripped all the time, he will learn the benefits of being aggressive.....at least I hope he does. DD
This guy is a rookie, playing with a team who is in the process of changing its style. Right now, Yao is average about 30min, taking as many shots as EG and Rice. Does anyone honestly believe this situation will stay in a year or two? Yao is a very efficient scorer, good rebounder right now. Once he get his condition back next season, starts log 35+ min a game, he will average 15+ shots, 10+ ft a game. With his percentage, that will easily put him over 25pt a game. His rebounding will improve significantly once he become stronger. He will lead the league with OFFENSIVE board in a year or two.
That is a ridiculour comment from GA, who always did that when he was with the (Vancouver) Grizzlies. Even with the recent ten games, Yao has already reached that stat. Does it mean he has already peaked? Of course not, if you consider that he is tired after playing continuously for three years; he has not got adequate touch like other all starts are getting; the Rock has not jelled as a team, the schedule was tough in this ten game streak, etc., etc.
Does anybody really care what Anthony said? or, did any anybody still remember what Barkeley said ?(<20), then he kissed an ASS?
People have been eating their words since we drafted Yao. Many of these so called NBA Analysts or washed up pros are morons. Didn't any of these people learn from Barkley and all the other doubters? Don't be surprised if Anthony's words look absurd in a few years. 18/10 is respectable, but why are people even making predictions? How can they really have any idea?
Maybe all the lackluster predictions are good for Yao. Yao is already under a ton of pressure as a rookie. The last thing Yao needs are superstar stat predictions for his career. In any case, if we didn't have at least some non-believers out there, we wouldn't have as much fun teasing them when Yao proves them wrong (e.g., Sir Charles).
