Please start the thread/ post with a few words along the line: This is just a theory, I did not really see the game ... It's really a waste of time to read a number of posts and then figure out the poster(s) only talking out of a vacumm. It's becoming somewhat like the fantasy trade posts.
Sigh... Again, for the last time; 1) This was not a post about one game. As such, I neither see the need for the disclaimer, nor the accuracy of the vaccum comment. I rather suspect that you skimmed this thread if that was your conclusion. 2) For ths game, as an example, I cited the announcers whom, it is assumed, did see the game. 3) I did, in fact, note that I hadn't seen this game...although I listened to it, when in the initial post I said I apologize if this was too oblique for you. I did, however, repeat the admission several times. Again, if it took you "a number of posts" to realize what was openly stated in the initial post, I again must say I find it likely that you didn't read it, and are only trying to criticize based on what you infered from others.
So you call these couple lines "theory"? MacBeth must be happy to create a theory so easily. LOL So what? you are not happy that he is liked by the other members? what is your point man?
Defenses DO Adjust Defensive adjustments should cause Yao to miss, but not for him to not get touches. They weren't doubling before he got the ball in the Clippers game. Not sure what the problem was, but the offense got off to an abysmal start in the 3Q and the Rockets didn't really seem to be in synch. Double teams before he gets the ball This wasn't the case in the Clippers game. They would double AFTER he got the ball and not even on every possession (the Clips don't listen to their coach). Even on the lob from Stevie, they were fronting and the weakside help wasn't there. That was the closest thing I saw to a double team on Yao without the ball. Save this kinda stuff for a time when we don't stomp a team by 15 points. I understand the point, but this was the Clippers minus three starters (Elton Brand, Marko Jaric, Quentine Richardson). We didn't play particularly well and if they had their starters we easily could've lost with all our turnovers. Regarding Mobley. He took a few awful shots, but he was passing to Yao tonight and got hot lately. I still don't like his shot selection, but there's no denying that he's a very good player.
Q: Who is the Architect, and what's he talking about? A: The Architect is the creator of the Matrix. If there is a God figure for this reality, the Architect is it. His conversation with Neo is critical to understanding what follows, and also what has come before. See the Meaning section for a more thorough explanation, but here are the basics: Neo is the sixth One. Zion (the free world) is another form of control to house those whose bodies/minds reject the Matrix. The prophecy is a load of bunk. The One is meant to find the Source and The Architect, leading to the destruction of the current Zion, and select a number of people to start over as the whole thing is reloaded and Zion is built up from nothing all over again. Basically, the machines control the free minds in the 'real world' as much as the captive minds in the Matrix. Q: Why does the Architect talk funny? A: All the other inhabitants of the Matrix that we've met so far (Agents, Seraph, The Oracle, etc) may be programs, but they interact regularly with humans. They need to be able to communicate with normal people on a regular basis, and their programming reflects that in the way they speak. The Architect is a machine that never has to communicate directly with humans, therefore he tends to talk like a machine would when talking with other machines. He uses big words, overly complicated sentences, and purely logical expressions of his message - not exactly the way people talk to each other. http://www.thematrix101.com/reloaded/faq.php
Hi, I am a basketball beginner from HK. I don't have the chance to watch the game. I guess yao, steve and cat may try to pad their stat so that aleast two of them can appear in the all-star game. I remember a article say that one of the Reabok contract requirement is that yao should appear in the all-star game 3-4 times in the next 7 years. I guess a similar case in the comercial contract of steve and cat. P.S. : I love the rox win instead of a lost with high point from yao(I am a Chinese but not a yao-only fan). I don't mind they play the balance game when they have enough confident to win the game.
Macbeth, let me say it again. You are so damn respected here. The only one that came close to calling you Yao-only is DanYoYo.
I did not think they played stupid in last night's game. Granted they did stop going to Yao in the second half, but I was ecstatic with the ball movement. They swung the ball around the horn more that game than any game I could recall from the last two years. They hit about 4 straight three pointers in the second half because of excellent ball movement...no aimless dribbling. I was, for the most part, impressed with the whole team offensively.
Actually a pretty interesting thread, so I thought I'd throw my opinion out there. First Yao is not Hakeem, Duncan, Shaq or the like. A very good player but he's not a dominator (yet). He's not an unstoppable force like the aformentioned. The one thing I don't like about the new rules concerning defenses is it is much easier to take a player out of the game. An example would be the Portland game where they double teamed Francis and Yao at every opportunity to get the ball out of their hands. Yao does not have the skills yet to beat that. He is very good at handling the double team if it comes after he has the ball. His size and court vision can easily defeat that, where he has trouble still is when he is double teamed before he gets the ball. He stills appears to be easily stripped of the ball during those double teams. Second, he's not the unquestioned best player on the team. As an example of this is when Hakeem played. Except for possibly the earliest years with Sampson, he was always the star the team played around. Yao for all his upside and game is not that. The Rockets have assembled a nice cast for him to play around. He's not ready to dominate except in spurts and he doesn't have to. His first inclination also is to play team ball and not demand shots. I don't think he cares if he doesn't shoot the ball all game as long as he feels he was a contributing factor and they win. That's the player he is, and to be honest why would you want to change him. He's a breath of fresh air in this league. Do I think Francis needs to recognize the double team earlier and play a little more controlled at times, sure, but he is such a force that he opens things up for other players just by being on the floor. Are the Rockets a finished product, NO, but they are definetely going in the right direction in my opinion and will be a team to contend with this year. Their passing game was much crisper yesterday too especially in the first half when the Clippers played more man to man defense. When the Clip's decided to just take out Francis and Yao, Mobley started to dominate the offense more. Just like your supposed to. If they take one option away, go to another. Why force the issue if you don't have to?? That's the beauty of the Rockets makeup, they don't need to force it. They have to many other optiions in Mobley, Jackson, Taylor and Pike when he starts to play more.
You mean that of a guy chasing an official from one end of the court to the other yelling wildly into the guys ear just becasue he didn't like a call that went against him? People too often confuse fist pumping and eyeballing with actual aggressive play.
It's easy to look through, guys like yao pass the ball when he is hot, guys like XXX refuse passing the ball even throw tons of brick. JVG know it, we know it. Just be patient with our teams.
anyway our guards will mature into butterflies (eventually). Childhood hardships matured in them a precocious sense of responsibility.they just ough to trust their teamer.
JAG, I am going to assume that your thread is based in large part on last night's game, since it was posted soon after. If this is the case, then it begs the question, did you watch the game??? Or are you relying on a 2nd hand account of what happened??? Here is a breakdown of Yao's touches/non touches in the 3rd quarter (he only played the first 4 mins of the 4th), which is the quarter most seem to refer to (my breakdown includes only the times when Yao was in post position (did not include instances where he could receive passes off a PnR since he rarely receives touches this way, anyway)): 3rd Quarter 11:15 Yao posts up - touch – ball knocked away by Drob 10:58 Yao posts up - touch – doubled teamed and tied up 10:10 Yao posts up – doubled w/o ball (Wilcox playing passing lane) 9:38 Yao posts up – Drooling drops down off Steve for a pseudo double team (bad spacing by Steve and Yao on this one) 9:06 Yao posts up - touch - doubled teamed, passes to a cutting Cato 7:30 Yao posts up – Wilcox plays the passing lane, preventing an entry pass from JJ 6:04 Yao posts up– Kaman fronts with Drob comes in late covering the weakside lob, prevening an entry/lob pass from Steve 5:58 Yao posts on opposite side (entry pass could have been thrown by Cat, but Cat took it one on one) 5:34 Steve cuts in and attempts to pass to Yao on the break but is fouled on the pass off 4:29 Yao posts up – Boki comes over from the weakside to take a pass from Steve, with the intent of making an entry pass to Yao, but Boki’s man prevents him from ever receiving the ball, causing Steve to have to it to the weakside 4:17 Yao posts up – Boki takes open 3 instead 3:51 Yao posts up – receives pass – offensive foul on Steve 3:25 Yao posts up – receives pass – doubled – passes off :18 Yao posts – receives pass – doubled – passes off to Mobley for a 3 So here is the summary: Yao had back to the basket post position 13 times in the quarter. Of the 13 times he had position on the block, he received an entry pass 6 times. Out of the 6 times he received an entry pass, he was double teamed on 4 of them. Out of the 4 times he was double teamed, he passed off 3 times and was tied up for a jump ball once. The other two times he received an entry pass, Drobjnak knocked the ball out of his hands, out of bounds on one occasion and Steve committed an offensive foul after passing it into him on the other occasion. Out of the 7 times he didnt receive an entry pass, when he did have post position, the defense prevented an entry pass on 5 of those occasions (by double teaming him/a defender playing the passing lane, fronting him, etc.). On the other two occasions, objectively, one could say that Cat and Boki (the two potential entry passers on those specific plays) ignored/passed up Yao in favor of their own shot. So in my own humble conclusion, the team attempted to make Yao a part of the offense on numerous sets, but were, for the most part, prevented by the Clippers defense from doing so. The fact of the matter is, the Clippers chose to mostly single cover Yao in the 1st half to see if Yao could beat them straight up. He did and the Clippers made adjustments at half time. In the 2nd half, Yao's teamates brought the game home by taking advantage of all the attention the Clippers start paying to Yao. This is why I fail to understand why Yao fan complains so much. If they had a broader view of the game, than just focusing on Yao's shots and/or touches, they would see that he doesn't have to touch the ball to be effective. The Clippers, and alot of other teams this season, have done their best to prevent Yao from even touching the ball, thus leaving openings for his teamates to take advantage (which they have for the most part this season) Whether he touches the ball or not, he is still capable of making his teamates better, which is a distinct difference that all the great players in NBA history hold over others. Our offense will be cyclical for the most part this season: Bill Worrell: "If the left hand don't get ya .............." Calvin Murphy: "...........then the right one will."
Blah blah, i never called him a Yao only fan and why would i not respect him ? i read most of his posts...some i don't have the courage to finish reading but anyway i guess to respect someone you now have to say: "Great post. Right on the money man !"... I just don't agree that anyone is icing Ming...the only icing came from halftime...BTW, when Mobley was shooting the lights out in the first 3 or 4 games of the season, i don't recall anyone saying he should shoot more...
Bravo codell. I wish we could rate individual posts...you would get a 5. Im glad you found the time to do that, I was about ready to roll the tape myself and count since I know I saw with my own eyes that he did in fact touch the ball plenty of times...but if you believe all the squacking of the Yao fans...he didnt see the ball the entire second half. note to MacJag....not lumping you in with these...I just read the game thread, and it is all over in there. also also... note to the posters who wonder why MacBEth is not being labeled.. He has a history of posting quality and he is a known fan of the entire team, unlike some others around here who shall remain nameless.
To answer a question with a question: Do you think that it is good for the Rockets winning percentage and Yao's growth as a player to have teams focus solely on stopping Yao? I don't know the answer to this question, but I would sure like to hear JVG's take on it. Let's look at the best case scenario for continuing to feed it to Yao in this game: Yao continues to battle for post position against increasing defensive pressure, adds a couple of turnovers, gets a little more tired and a few more bruises, and finishes 12 for 15 with 38 points. This would be great for his stat book and perhaps good for him learning to battle double teams. The downside is, the next 5 coaches to play us will look at that tape and see two things: 1. Boy, I don't want that Yao beating us - let's double-team him before the ball gets to him from the get-go. 2. Hmm, Yao is vulnerable to this kind of defensive pressure - I think we can make his life really miserable. In addition, Yao would have expended some energy that he may have needed for our next game. Personally, I would like to see Yao get some shots in the high-post area, just to confuse the opposing defense. He is tall enough and has good enough court vision to make some good passes to cutters. People say feed it to Yao, but they underestimate how hard Yao has to work to get in position for those high-percentage shots on the block. There is only one player in the league who is strong enough to average 30 points a game bruising in the low block, and that's Shaq. Even Duncan takes his share of midrange shots. Anyway, my feeling is that Van Gundy doesn't want to wear Yao out or overplay his hand, particularly this early in the season. I expect him to use the regular season to teach the team a number of different ways to get the ball to Yao so teams won't be able to shut Yao down in the postseason easily.
Confucious Say: That's the distillation of all things Yao... AND Bill and Calvin's comments make it certain they are disciples. Now if we can get CAT to hit say 11 of 20 instead of 7-20... I'd like the offense to gel a little more so the spacing allows Pike and Taylor a few of those 20, and some sort of motion or fronting for Yao to get some good shots too. Better teams will not let the other players open the game up when Yao is locked down... How about the face up jumper and the running hook he has?
A few weeks ago, a friend told me he saw Steve on Fox Sports telling the interviewer that when he first came into the league and made an unnecessary highlight reel dunk, the coaches called him over and told him he shouldn't showboat so much. Steve followed that up by saying now that he's an all star, he feels free to showboat all the time and now no one can say anything. It's crap like that that leads people to question Francis' dedication. Maybe he does want to win, but at times it sounds like the "me success" outweighs his desire to win. So while MacBeth was very political with his post, I'm not so sure that he should have been. I prefer to tell it like it is. I remain unconvinced that Steve is the kind of player to build your team around. He'll sell tickets with his flash, but I have not seen the dedication to winning from Steve that I am accustomed to. A big part of that is that there just are not a lot of real winners left in the NBA these days. Big, guaranteed contracts and a lot of exposure seemed to have lead to an overall softening of the league's talent, even the best of it. A winner does whatever the team needs to win even if the game plan does not include him/her. I remain convinced that Houston's best chance of winning is to use the higher percentage shots of Yao in the post. As Macbeth pointed out, that is still not the case on a consistent enough basis and yes, I think the problem lies with the selfishness of the guards, Mobley and Francis. You see, they feel they have to get theirs AND get the ball to Yao. Getting theirs is fine when they're hot, but if you start off cold, drop the nonsense. It is not necessary when you've got an athletic 7'6"+ big man down low that can catch and release the ball so high that he is damn near undefendable. Now I've also been critical of Yao's aggressiveness. He defintely needs to learn to be assertive consistently. But there have been many a time when Yao has established good post position only to watch the guards jack up a running 15-footer off the glass. I'm sure Van Gundy is on this problem and he will either solve it or have a stroke trying to do so. He's got the team playing the kind of defense that can bear a few lower percentage shots from the backcourt right now, but if that defensive intensity wears off later this season, this team is going to be right back where it was last year because they refuse to recognize that their best chance of winning is making Yao the focal point of the offense. This isn't little league. Everyone does not have to be happy. The goal should be to do whatever gives this team the best chance to win, period.
