Wow... first things first, I don't get why everyone felt like they know the players better than the coaches and the organization. With that said, the thread title gets a bunch of , but that's also besides the point. Mutumbo's signing is one where he's there to be brought along for the ride and to keep the bench intact. I will not go into more information about how I know this, but he's there more as a mentor than he will be as a player. Wafer as a starter? I cringe every time Wafer tried to throw a pass while driving. I think 50% of those passes goes about 6 feet above a player's head. That's also with a sample size of... about 6 passes for the season. That guy basically puts his head down when he drives. He has NO idea where his teammates are once he takes his first step with the ball. However, I still like him as a player as he could shoot the ball and is aggressive, but just not as a playmaker. He should never get the ball and be the shot creator because he'll throw up more shots than Jordan on his pre-championship days. Battier's already doing what you asked, so that's not even a change. This team has one chance and that's to get more production out of Yao. I do NOT mean force the issue with him, but I do mean that there's got to be better ways of getting him the ball. Also, he gets noticibly tired when he posts up 4-5 times in a row. He only holds his low post position for about 2 seconds, meaning there has to be some new strategy besides throwing it around the perimeter and make him push left and right to receive the ball. There needs to be some more spacing or maybe the ball should start down low with Scola/ Landry. Work on interior passing as Scola and Landry are both good passers under the basket, one better than the other, however. Work on feeding the ball to Yao from another standpoint. Battier at the corner is a choice, as long as he plays smart and doesn't get trapped with the ball. Work Yao on a directional pass as he's moving to position, but work on timing. Allow Yao to react to the passes. I see so many comments about how hard it is for Yao to seal off his man, but it'll be hard for anyone his size and length to work on a low center of gravity. Yao just simply needs to have timing with his passes... JVG might have had the right idea with the pick and roll back then that he implemented. If Yao is posting up and is being fronted, maybe he should work on sealing the man in front of him by the baseline. What that does give you is more space where a swing pass to the corner guy could give Yao a great advantage for a quick pass. It also creates an angle where you don't have to lob a ball directly over the fronting guy in order to get it to Yao, allowing weak side help. It also gives him more 1 on 1 opportunities if he gets the ball with an extra step on the fronting defender. Battier is also one of the better inlet passers in the team when it comes to boucing the ball high to Yao's hands. Either way, Wafer creating is definitely not the answer and Yao still has to be the option. It really is not Yao's fault that his positioning is what it is. That's all center of gravity and the way he's built. The truth of the matter is we need to find ways to limit his turnovers, which basically meant keeping extra defenders from blindsiding him. The best way is to limit angles from where they could attack him from.
