I am really frustrated with the double team trap on Yao. It seems that we dont have a good way to get out of it. Often times, Yao will pass the ball out and intercepted by the oppponent, or the ball will get robbed if he keeps it too low or called travelling, or he pass it out to a Rox player who is too far from him and not open. Anyways, it leads to turnover or not scoring. We gotta find a way to deal with the double team. Right now we run the play that the passer will cut to the basket after pass to Yao. We had success earlier on when the defense on the passer/cutter slacked and Yao was able to drop the ball to him. But we ran that play too many times now, and the opponents defense pretty much know what's going to happen next. The cutting part just becomes a routine not effective anymore. It is just too predictable because the cutter only runs through the middle to the basket. Would it be better if he can sometimes run through baseline. We had that before, but not as often as it should be. Also, why we cant have Rice pass to Yao and stay with him on the premiter. If the defense collapse on Yao, he at least can just simply feed the ball out to Rice, instead of looking for teammates who are far out. Also we have seen Rice can shoot if the defense dosent put pressure on him. Also I would like EG, posey or mobely run the cut/run backdoor when Yao gets the ball, have rice , steve or one more shooter stay on the premiter. Now the rest of the tema just stand still sometimes watch Yao get trapped and not be able find open man. Any thoughts?
Thats the thing, when Yao gets the ball in the post, NOBODY moves. I don't understand, all we're doing is putting him in a ISO against his man, and when someone comes over to double or triple team, he's screwed... Another thing, when Yao gets the ball in the post, it seems like he is moving a lot slower than he used to in the beginning of the season. He would make a quick pass, or make a quick spin move to the hoop. Not anymore, he gets the ball in the post and just sits there
One more play we can run. I notice when shaq gets the ball at a position that he is not comfortable with he would pass back to passer immediately, then quickly adjust his poistion, often he will try to move closer to the middle, then passer will feed ball back, Bam a hook shot from Shaq. Ducan use this trick too. Why we cant run this. Our spacing is really poor when Yao Ming gets the ball down low. So it is not only Yao's fault for some of the turnovers. It's hard to believe that these pro players need to learn how to play with a big guy. sigh.
When Yao gets the ball. Everyone just stands and watches like they expect him to score on every touch
I think Yao is also anticipating the double team now. He will sometimes wait for the double team to come and try to pass to open man, but he cant spot one easily while the the spacing is poor. Many times he will do a cross court pass to a open man, bu the pass is usually too high or not right at that player. So it takes like one or 2 seconds for that guy to adjust the ball in hands. Then it's too late because the defense has already reacted to that. Again it's spacing. Swing the ball a couple of times rather than dangerous cross court passing. Cat hit some three in that fashione, we need to run that consistently.
You are right. Our offense is so simple, all opps know what happens next. Some of the steals on Yao's pass come from the opp. kwowing the play and looking for it. We need to have variations on the play. 1) The person who feeds Yao (usually from 45% angle) cuts quicker to basket, cuts around baseline some, cut thru the middle some but he needs to rub his man off on Yao and Yao's defender. 2) The person who feeds Yao stays back at 3 pt line and not cut sometimes. Yao can kick the ball back for a shot. This change up also helps the next cut to become more effective because the opp does not know what happens next. Yao can also kick the ball out and reposition for a better feed. 3) Another player on strong side baseline, if the feeder cuts, this player stays back or rotates to the recently vacant spot at 45%. If the feeder stays, this player cuts. 4) When Yao receives the ball and gets double-teamed, the weak side need to have good spacing. They can do what they do now, 1 man at top of circle, 1 at 45% angle and 1 at baseline but they should also have other variations such as in 5). 5) Weak side cuts to the basket, either the man from top of the circle or man from 45% angle cuts, man from baseline rotates or any other variation. The key is to have variations and not allow the defense to gear up to stop you.
Believe me fellas, we've had debates on this topic back to prehistoric times . That was always a complaint and weakness of the Rudy T inside-out gameplan.
