I think having Tmac as the #1 option makes you a good team add Yao as your #2 you have a great team. Now if Yao could earn the right to be the big dog #1 w/ Tmac as his sidekick we would be a championship team. We all know what Tmac brings but we need Yao to step up to take this team to the next level. J
But we can go inside-out while still getting McGrady a ton of shots, theoretically more than Yao depending on defensive adjustments. It's just that the inside-out game is so reliable, and especially with a great permim star there as well, so deadly. You present the defense with a deadly choice, and have pre-set adjustments to their adjustments. And Yao is money when he gets the ball remotely deep and single covered. The issue is that defenses have been able to interrupt our offense with quick doubles or anticipatory flak, and refs and inexperience has allowed it. But it only gets better with work, even if that work comes at a short term cost.
I also question if Yao will ever be a true #1 option in this league. He can be a great number two guy if he can just sustain some level of consistency and not get himself forgotten thru the course of a given game. There is still alot of indecisiveness on his part in alot of areas, and that must be shored up if he wants to elevate his game to another level.
Oh, I forgot to mention that Yao REALLY needs to work on passing out of a double team in the post. That's another thing that Hakeem did really well. Right now, people can just double Yao knowing that he only gets 1apg. He'll either score or not, but he won't get someone else involved.
MrB, while you're right, consider also that Yao essentially played with a brand new team last year. I'm confident that Yao will get better once he's allowed to grow with an established nucleus over a few years.
Yes, he does. Absolutely. However the latent passing ability is obviously there, and there in spades. IMO, the issue with passing out of doubles is this: His doubles go high/low, with a big pushing and reaching, and a small hacking and swpining at the ball when/if he puts it down. So it will always be something of an issue as long as the refs allow that ridiculous treatment. Improved upper body strength will also help, but sustaining his base more,cause his legs WILL give him the room he needs if he learns to use them right. Also,. general experience, Hakeem and Shaq took years to develop the ability.
Yao can become a much better post player, he doesn't take enough advantage of his size and weight advantage yet. He fends off opposing defenses with his arms instead of using his lower body leverage to back defenders deeper into the paint ala Shaq. Last post I saw was Yao was working like a madman on his low post game at the TC, I imagine this was one of the things he was working on. As far as being a 1st option for the Rox, I don't see it while T-Mac is on this team. He is a special player that can just dominate, even KG might become a 2nd option if he played with McGrady.
MacBeth, who are you? Why haven't you sparked these kinds of conversations since I've posted here? It's great especially in the offseason. Go through Yao. The T-Mac playoff offense was nice to watch for a while and even fun at times when he played for the Magic, but in the end a T-Mac and Yao, 1a/1b offense will win championships while a McGrady first, second and sometimes third while Yao is an after thought decoy offense probably won't. If the Rockets do decide to go through this kind of a change Yao will have to do a lot to facilitate it, but I also believe it's on T-Mac about as much as it is on Yao. With his talents T-Mac can do everything, but that does not mean that he has to, especially in the playoffs where getting everone involved in the game is most important. I've always said that T-Mac should let Yao and his teammates take care of the offense all the way up to the fourth quarter where he can finish with fresh legs, that will make him a champion just like it made Jordan a champion. It's not an easy task for Van Gundy to make him see that, he doesn't even have to agree that it's the best way, Jordan never did, but he let Phil and the triangle have it's way until winning time came around. You're right on target with your take on entry passes, San Antonio is the only team that does it well consistently today, Robert Horry would of been nice.
How bout a legendary egomaniac ? the quotes are a little different now arent they...Im sure you wil lget it together in time for the season... and btw..you missed Deckards post futher back up..I know how you like to make sure to respond to everyone...
Am fading into oblivion on sleeping pills as we speak, am barely sentient. I will address Deck's post demain, as I could not accord it the respect it deserves as I am now. As for you legendary egomaniac, ouch. Not egomaniacal legend even?
depends on who ya ask JAG...depends on who ya ask.. see ya tomorrow night as I will be checking in from the hotel room in San Marcos..thank god for laptops and free high speed internet.
This is absolutely on target; I don't believe I have ever seen anyone point this out, except me. I once wrote that if I had a butt as big as Ming's I would own the lane. Ming needs to study Barkley's "butt moves." Charles cleared some major space with his giant rear.
Ultimately, if Yao develops, this will be a 2 headed monster. TMac is the obvious #1 option right now. But as Yao gets even more dominant, we will really have 2 #1 options. Yao is egoless and I really think TMac wants to share the spotlight with him. I can see in the future us starting the games by going to Yao to get him off and then when he takes a break towards the end of the first quarter, then turning to TMac as the #1 option. Then when TMac takes a break going back to Yao, etc. Really, it is most important to get Yao off at the beginning of games. We have to develop our offense so that he gets the ball early and often and forces the doubles and gets the opposing bigs in foul trouble. If he gets the opposition in foul trouble, it just means more free throws for us and it also means the opponent is playing more tentative on the other end. It makes it easier for him to defend and it gives us the momentum. We are at our best when we establish Yao early, let TMac carry us in the 2nd and 3rd, keep Yao out of foul trouble, and then in the fourth, we let the dogs out on defense with Yao really turning up the intensity on both ends of the floor as we near the finish. By the way, welcome back, Macbeth. Where have you been? Sorry if everybody else knows. I haven't kept up.
Great to read one of your threads MacBeth. In time, quite possibly. In my mind there are two questions here though: 1) The high-screen p'n'r with Yao and T-Mac late in the season started to look damn scary. It's possible that their gelling could easily get Yao 5 more ppg. alone and raise his apg. The downside to running that play to death increases Yao's potential to be in foul trouble. Even before Cuban made his remarks Yao was vulnerable to calls that aren't usually called against smaller players. The upside is that T-Mac and Yao could learn to time it better: Sometimes Yao was too slow, but other times T-Mac took off way too early. In T-Mac's defense I think Yao has to learn that if T-Mac takes off early he must freeze in his tracks instead of just not getting to the spot. 2) In terms of Yao being down on the block and our offense going through him, I think it definitely should have happened last season. After early-season frustration our guards gave up on Yao way too early in games unless he was red-hot. MacBeth I completely agree with you about the continuing advantages of an inside-out game (but kudos to Chilly_Pete for pointing out it's certainly not now what it's historically been). People say Yao "has to demand the ball" and that to me is a small part of the problem, but I think the largest part is we have yet to fully commit to getting Yao touches. I do believe he could still develop into an MVP, but I hope we get his learning curve over sooner than later. The Rox organization has been patient, but few of us here have been willing to really show patience. No. There are too many variables, because his circumstances are unprecedented in too many ways. Stamina has been huge, but Yao's always had very good efficiency per minutes, and he's going to be a max guy soon so it's time we put it all to the test.
IMO, go inside out is the only right way for the Rockets to succeed. Reason being: 1. as MacBeth mentioned, thru history it's been proven. 2. Yao has the talent to make it work, to make it work we also need a great player like TMac which we had. 3. I don't think anybody can match up against Yao down in the post if he's not heavily guarded by multiple guys. It's almost a sure bucket if Yao was single cover deep down, much like a sure Shaq dunk inside. I don't think Rockets' identity has been set in "clay" yet (have TMac as the primary, Yao being the 2nd fiddle). Last season to me is a "adjustment season" in which everybody is learning to play with each other, TMac being more atheltic and talented just naturally emerged as the primary option. IMO, we did not see "free" Yao who play without any inhibition and to his full potential. We saw glimpses of it last season when he teared apart Dallas, but in the same serie, he also had to sit his ass down for foul trouble a lot of times. One day when Yao was being treated as well as Shaq by the refs, we can see a dominant Yao consistently. I know TMac knows that he needs Yao to succeed (because he knew what it feels like to put up 50 points and lose), from what I heard from TMac, he's also expecting a lot more out of Yao and happy with Yao's progress.
Even if Yao is in the high post, we can still run a majority of plays through him. His court vision, passing skills, and soft shot benefit this approach. Constantly battling in the low post reduces his effectiveness on the defensive end. The inside of the inside/outside doesn't have to be so inside.
