umm, no one is saying yao lives on the outside. yao will operate on the high post near the ft line around 10-15% of the time, say like 8-9 possessions a game. the majority he will still be in the low post. again, u don't want yao to stay down there too much b/c his stamina is not very good and his moves can become repetitive (ala okur blocking his shots several times and saying publicly he knew yao's moves before yao does it). moving yao around for a few possessions after 3-4 low post possessions keep his defender guessing. is yao gonna stay in? if he goes out, how should i guard him? what about the cutters? and if tmac avg 30 pts, we'll def. go far if yao avg 22 pts, francis/bonzi/battier/james get their 9-12 ppg. we won't if tmac get 30, yao get 20+, and the rest get 4-6ppg. trust me, yao will be a beauty to watch next yr. he won't be stripped/blocked every 3-4 possession. instead, he'll turn those possible TOs into assists.
i don't care what they avg. as long as they are efficient, fresh down the stretch, finish games, and WIN.
No one here is suggesting that Yao play exclusively at the high post. The OP said that Yao is a low post player and should stay that way the vast majority of the time. A lot people here are merely surmising a few new wrinkles in our offense to give the defense something to think about. I don't know why that seems to piss of some of the naysayers here. Was Yao (and the whole offense in general) too predictable under Van Gundy? How many of you were happy with the offense last year?
well i thought bonzi would be a huge part for us last yr to give us depth. but it didnt happen. all the acquisitions this yr are questions too so i need to see it happen first
why are many of you so worried that using yao as a passer is bad. However adelman uses yao is fine with me even if his numbers drop as long as we get the W.
I was hoping the Rockets would get Bibby after they hired Adelman because he played for Adelman for so long and played very well under Adelman. If we can sign Chris Webber that would be really good for the same reason.
nah u don't want webber. he can still pass obviously but not as well b/c he's not as athletic as a few yrs ago to make those strong crisp passes. but more importantly, he can't rebound for jack; he jumps like an inch off the ground. he can't defend for jack; his lateral movement is even worse than dikembe. i don't think our offense will be as explosive as when the kings were, b/c we don't have all these scorers like they did back then nor the passers. but we have 2 offensive players that are great INDIVIDUAL offensive players. adelman never had 2 players like this where when things break down, they can create on their own. we'll still depend on their individual greatness, but i think adelman will devise ways to get yao easier shots, tmac easier shots. like i said, as long as tmac does not have to do everything like he did under JVG, he should have his legs in the 4th. as a result, we'll finish much better. i expect tracy to be VERY clutch next yr.
You can still be effective if you aren't athletic..look at Tim Duncan he never had any athletisism and he is one of the best players ever. Webber is a decent rebounder about 7 rpg, has some nice post moves and is still an excellent passer. He averaged 20 ppg and 10 rpg in 05'-06' with Philly.
I believe that Yao was a face up jumpshooter when he got to the league (first game I ever saw him play, was the World Championships in 2002...first shot of the game was a 3 pointer by Yao...I said ohhhh another Wang Ju Ju) and he will do just fine in the offense as Vlade or Chris depending on his complementary player at the 4 spot. The way in which Adelman uses Tracy and Yao will be very interesting.
That is another reason why Yao could be good in the high post..if he doesn't have a cutter he can shoot a 15-18 footer over anyone. At 7'5" Yao can easily see over the defense too.
Yes, he came into the league as a face-up jumpshooter, I think we've all seen that youtube clip of Jerry West talking about him predraft. He could probably do fine playing like Brad Miller/Vlade Divac. The problem is, he has already shown the ability to do so much more. He is one of the two best low post scorers in the game (not my claim, Shaq's claim). Low post scoring is at a premium these days. Inside scoring is always better than perimeter scoring. Why take Yao's low post scoring away and have him play on the perimeter? Why take your most efficient, effective inside scoring threat and have him away from the basket shooting jumpers? You can have a dominant low post player and still have motion in the offense, look at Phil's Lakers for example. There's plenty of movement in the triangle offense, and it allowed Shaq to own people from the low post. The problem with our offense was that after Yao posted up or McGrady got the ball on the wing/top of key, everyone else cleared out and stood still, essentially an isolation set. This doesn't need to happen, not every play has to be an iso like this, and we don't have to move Yao out of the paint to get movement.
I wonder we'll see yao's first triple double next year. it's not a matter of if, but when under adelman creative off the ball and ball movement offense.
20 pts, 15 boards, 10 assists, 10 blocks. i can only hope hehe. i hope yao gets one of those one of these days.
That and his 2 rings, 2 finals mvps, defensive player of the year award, regular season MVP among other things such as his career blocks record. He got to the finals in just his second season and took the 86' Celtics to 6 games!
i think a guy named ralph sampson had something to do with that. dude was a monster ya dig. we need a few monsters on our team besides yao and tmac.
I think yao will not be a passer.Because he has stronger offense. Yao is a low post player.Now,in A system,If you try to change Yao to Divac,that is not realistic.There will be a new offense system to be shown in Houston in next season.Yao must be a low post player,but his method is active.Do you remember the first season?Try to exert your imagination.
