Most people agree that Yao is an impact player.. meaning if Yao does well the team wins and if plays poorly the team loses. His stats (a way to measure production) seem to directly correlate with our wins and losses. While other players like SAR (formerly Hawks and now Blazers) are considered numbers players, essentially getting good numbers but not having much overall impact on the game and I dont understand the reasoning behind that. Whats the difference if Yao scores 25pts and we win or if SF3 scores 25pts and we win? is there a difference? some arguments are that when Yao (or other star players) play well it opens up things for their teammates by commanding double teams and such. any thoughts? If we transplanted Yao with SAR (while a Hawk) would they have been a better team and why? just thought this would make for interesting discussion. J
The difference is this. Unless guarded by multiple defenders, players like Yao, Shaq or Duncan will easily drop 40 points on teams at a very high % shooting. This is because their shots are nearly point-blank range. So if they get position, it's over. Hence, teams always put extra help on these players, which obviously give other players better looks at the basket. Guys like SAR, T-Mac, or Iverson shoots much further away from the basket, in general. So teams can give up jumpers all night w/o worrying about them consistently shooting at a high %. Hence, the defense can worry about their teammates.
Jason Kidd's impact on his team's offense is mainly his passing, which is reflected by his assist numbers. Kobe's impact is mainly his scoring, which is reflected by his scoring numbers. But I think your original post wants to know the hidden variable that makes people say they'd take Shaq over Kobe, or Duncan over T-Mac, when the guards put up sexier numbers. The hidden variable, as I've said, is their ability to draw double team throughout the game. Which, amazingly enough, is a stat that you can't look up in major sport websites. Even if it is so important to the outcome of games.
Well I think an "impact" player is someone who can either: 1. Carry the team to victory. 2. Make his teamates better. The great ones can do both. SAR can do neither of those. Yao is starting to gain the ability to carry the team. And I would definately consider Kobe an impact player and a great player. Shaq was the playoff MVP during their championship run and deservedly so, but Kobe was making the plays during crunch time and winning a bunch of games for them.
Which means if we had some really good shooters on this team we could beat almost anybody. We have an abundance of open shots, we just don't hit them consistently.
well, look at our improved 3pt shooting, a lot of that comes from when yao gets doubled, and passes it out where it can be swung to the open man. there's also the defensive presence too. another thing is, how many more points is he going to score over his matchup, and how many is he going to keep him down to? if yao scores a 15+ pt differential over his matchup, on average, with high percentage shot, it is a lot better than if steve gets 20 pts going against marbury who also has 20 pts.
just think if we had kenny smith, cassell, horry and elie during our championship years playing for us right now.
Agreed, last year his timidness or confusion at times makes it seem that if he's not scoring, he isn't helping. But this year, Yao's becoming a whole new BEAST, he is definitely more of a precence on defense, and because he asserts himself on offense, teams have to respect him even if he's having an off night (Also give a little credit to the guards of finally started to feed him even if he is cold).
