Yao Ming is currently averaging 35 mins per game, and if he can keep himself at that pace, it would be his highest average for a season. Looking at some of the other top big men in recent history, we see that those numbers are not that out of proportion. Players mpg in their fifth season- Hakeem 36.9 mpg, Patrick Ewing 38.6, Shaq - 38.1, Tim Duncan - 40.6 mpg Yao will not be a player that you can count on being on the court for consistently a long time. He's 7'5" so it takes more energy for him to run up and down the court. He's playing basketball year round because he loves his country but you can bet it doesn't do him good once NBA season comes a round. He gets into foul trouble and gets forced off the court a lot, screwing up his playing time management. We all knew conditioning would be a problem of his coming into the season. But you know what? He's the best center in the league and you will have to take the good with the bad. Sacremento have to take Ron Artest's craziness with the tenacious D and aggressive floor presence. Teams had to take Shaq and Barkleys non-chalantness when it comes to working out and playing D in exchange for the dominating offensive presence they give. Philly will take AI's "practice?" situations for his passion and letting it all out on the court style of play. You would take the best center in the league even if he doesn't finish games well. At the same time, don't blame JVG. Whether or not someone Yao's size can play consistently in a grueling 82 games season while fulfilling his national teams obligations have being talked about since the day he entered the draft. We knew it was something we'll have to deal with, just be happy he hasn't had a injuries like Ralph Sampson or other big men (Manute Bol, George Mhureasan).
When Yao gets tired, I think it can really hurt our offense. He doesn't post deep enough, and he becomes a weak link on defense. The entire team seemed sort of sluggish in the fourth quarter on offense. The ball movement off the ball wasn't sharp, the passes weren't crisp and decisive. I guess you have to credit the Pistons somewhat for that. The Rockets say that the problems are primarily defensive. Yeah, there were a lot of breakdowns on defense. But to me our offense in the fourth quarter is the primary concern. We've only managed 15.3 points in the fourth quarter the last three games, while giving up 26.7. And a lot of those points we're giving up are coming off of turnovers. Yeah, that's bad defense. But it's worse offense.
It is the coach's responsibility to manage minutes for its players. In my opining JVG is too stubborn and does not want to use all the resources available. Just look at other teams and you can see year in and year out and new players are developed. JVG does not develop any player and all he wants is players that are old and work hard. We need a coach that can work with any talent and develop them to fit the system.
Two points. 1) No x-tra big man in the NBA has ever logged the minutes that Yao is logging. I'm not talking about little 7 footers like Olajuwon (who wasn't even 7 feet) or Ewing type guys. I'm talking about the freaky big guys = Muresan, Bol, Bradley, etc. in comparisson, Yao is about 7 inches taller than Olajuwon and nearly 50 pounds heavier. Olajuwon was 255 during his heyday. Not sure on Ewing but I imagine it was close to that. Big difference in the body. Vgundy made the statement a few years ago that he was going to play Yao in a fashion that had never been done b4 with a man of his size, and he is still trying to do it. It's possible that that is an impossibility, and other coaches may have found that out. But vg just keeps on doing it. I think vg has helped Yao, but I also think he has hurt him by pushing him too hard. i think Rudy was right on with the way he used Yao, but I don't think he is as effective a coach (at least at the end of his career) as vg is for a team. It is safe to say that no other coach in the NBA would use Yao in the same way that vg does. Specifically all the running around and helping. Super bigs are and have been notoriously slow and anti-agile. Yao isn't bad compared to the biggest guys in the NBA past, but he isn't great when you compare him to smaller guys like Dream, Shaq, and PEwing. Also, vg limits Yao's game a great deal. He is an excellent shooter. We mostly see him posting up. He is an excellent passer. vg never gives him that freedom. Also, it is apparent that vg is just trying to prove something with Yao - last year continuing to play him big minutes late in a useless season. Yao broke his foot in a game that was meaningless 2 nites after slightly twisting his ankle in a major minute game vs. sac. starnge to me. I have always liked vg but I'm starting to think another coach would use Yao a little more effectively. And, it IS the coaches responsibility to manage players minutes and maximize their strengths. That's what they are paid to do. it's like a chess game.
Yao Ming gets winded.... Brilliant !! Hmm how about the coach, your coach, realizes what you are trying to point out? Let us presume that he tries to establish a deeper rotation so that he could rest Yao more at the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd quarters. Keeping his minutes down, to say 28-34, (depending on the game) so that he is most effective at the end of the game? Brilliant!! I think you my friend, are in a round about way, just strengthening the reasons of why JVG fails to make adjustments that could have won us these past couple of games. Thanks for supporting those of us who feels he needs to use and establish Novak, VSpan and Wells !!
This topic is strickly about managing Yao's time. Given that Yao is only playing 35 min a game, you would really be hard pressed to cut it even further. As of right now, he's on the court less than 75% of the time (basically taking him out near the end of the quarters), how much more do you want it to be cut down to? 30 min, 25 min? Yao is dominant (the most dominant center in the game right now) because he is can be an anchor in the low post ON BOTH SIDES OF THE COURT due to his size. That's why even half decent big men are coveted and usually overpaid, because they are the rock a team can count on. While I don't mind him taking a fade away here and there from the lowpost, I wouldn't want him to be a jump shooter or he really might be the next Rik Smits (7'3", good touch, but never an elite center because he plays face up from the basket). Yes, he will be fatigued due to that, but if he's on the court, I rather him being dominant player instead of a 7'5" Novak. Also playing Yao late in a useless season? I dunno, does that mean every team without a shot at the playoffs or the title should just lay down? If Yao's healthy, why shouldn't a coach play him? And just how would you manage Yao's minutes? Sit him on the bench for the first half?
Not only JVG needs to manage Yao's rest, he also needs to manage his workload during his 36 minutes on the court. If we have a third scorer who get hot a few minutes per game, it will really help Yao and Tmac and allow them to be more effective when they are counted on.
it is jvg's fault that he continues to use yao for offense when he is winded and ineffective. mac is right. jvg needs to run plays against the stronger defenses.
Talk coming in was Yao needing to stay out of foul trouble to remain on the court longer. Now he's on the court and he's getting winded and a bit of a liability down the stretch. Always some kinda different tactics to mull over for the big guy. Yao played the whole 3rd quarter and the Rockets were up by a bucket when it ended. What if he played only half the quarter with McGrady in foul trouble? Rockets would be down by 6 and fans would be saying "Where's Yao and TMAC??". The other people need to execute for Yao's minutes to be used effectively... When they suck and when McGrady is sitting its just more importance on Yao to play. When the other team is scoring everytime time down court obviously you can always say we need to lock up , buckle down and we need to stop them better. Well, you're not ALWAYS going to stop the other team dead in their tracks. Sometimes you gotta look past that end and counter with some offense. Some of that is on Van Gundy not making enough adjustments and some if not most is on the players for not executing down the stretch.
Of course you can and should blame JVG for playing Yao longer than he can handle. Salary cap is created to make it such that there is limited money to go around so every team will have strengths and weaknesses. The coach's MAIN job is then to make the most out of the players he has, creating schemes and plans that leverage their strengths and work around their weaknesses. It is the same thing as in corporate world. You cannot have all geniuses in a company - you will have some smart employees, and some not so smart. It is up to the CEO and management to put the plan that works best for the team's composition. Tell me if I am off base.
That says it right there: Van Gundy can manage Yao's time better with a third scorer. As of now there's no third scorer on the team to make that happen. Rockets need a third scorer by committee and so far that hasn't always happened. When your 1st/2nd scorer McGrady is out the game what should Van Gundy do? Not much option but to ride Yao on through and hope for the best. The beauty of it should be to work through the other superstar in McGrady instead of Yao. When the team captain is busy thinking of how old is body is and got some 4 years-ago stuff running through his mind and is erratic on his shooting then no wonder really that the Rockets would have late game woes
We do have a great option for 3rd player ON THE BENCH because JVG REFUSES TO PLAY HIM UNTIL HE IS FIT TO RUN MARATHON! We also have a pure shooter on the bench that can be used to provide some points. But JVG is too blind to see them!
Yes it was JVG's bad player time management... how do you manage players time? lets take the last game... when Tmac came out firing... and was 4 for 4 Jvg should have pulled Yao out...simple as that...with Tmac hit shots left right and center... no need for Yao to be out there running around... but then thats a coaches call no biggie... when Tmac had his 3rd foul...in the 2nd quarter... if Jvg wasnt going to play Tmac if he picked up 3 fouls...for a good portion of the 3rd quarter... then Tmac shouldnt have been playing the last few minutes of the 2nd if Yao was going to play a good portion of the 3rd quarter and get little to no rest...JVG should have understood..its not only about how much rest you get but how much physical activity you were doing prior to that rest... to play Yao for the full 12 minutes in the 3rd... when he is use to only like 8 mins... means you are taxing Yao's body well past what he is use too...so then resting Yao for the break between the 3rd and 3 mins into 4th... basically would have ment a small breather not even enough to get his heart rate down... what is shcoking to me is JVG usually does a very good job at managing Yao's minutes... finally with Tmac sitting for most of the 3rd... he should have been well rested... and with Tmac being as hot as he was... the plays... should have gone his direction... every shot, every play, one other thing Tmac foul out? give me a break... and if he did... throw someone else in... I know I know... we have no one... but better to learn now if we really have no one.. then to try and find out come play off time...
I don't agree with this point. I think JVG maximised Yao's effective by making him develop a post game. Yao, despite being a good shooter at his height, will never be the kind of shooter that Dirk is. And at 7'6", he is going to have a height mismatch on every centre in the league, and so since he is going to have to learn how to play in the post sooner or later, why not pound it into him early in his career, where he can make his move over anyone in the game? I think that his dominance now is because players and opposing coaches finally respect the low-post, back-to-the-basket part of Yao's game, and that's slowly opening up his face-up game, and that, in turn will be what truly maximises his potential as a scoring threat both down in the blocks and facing up and hitting that 12-15 footer.
OHH yeah its the coaches fault. No CENTER in this entire league does as much running as ours. He has to set picks at the 3 point line and then go post up at the basket and wait for some sucky entry pass that comes too late with extra pump fakes by our guards. Then go play some hardcore defense on the other side because the guards play sucky defense most of the time...especially Rafer
he's 300 pounds he'll never not get winded. The rox need to be able to rest Yao and either hold the lead or keep it close. they need Tmac to get it together and they also need Bonzi to post up and score points...kinda hard when JVG for some reason can't put Bonzi in the game.
Of course it is JVG's fault. Yao has certain level of stamina, and it is NOT going to change overnight, maybe ever. After all, everyone has his strengths and weaknesses. It is up to the coach to manage it, maximize the strengths, and minimize the weaknesses. C'mon, if the opponent's coach can figure it out (Flip Saunders obviously knew it), why can't JVG figure it out and manage it better? Is he stupid? Of course not, but he is a stubborn bonehead.
Do some research before you post, will you? Currently Yao is statistically 3rd most played -- behind only Chris Bosh and Emeka Okafor -- among all centers who are on pace to play 70+ games or score 1,400+ points. Not even the 2nd coming of Moses Malone, ala Dwight Howard, who is 7 inches shorter and 70 lbs lighter, has played more minutes per game than Yao. As many have pointed it out to you, Yao by design is not going (not now, not next season, never) to be like those athletic freaks who can jump and run up and down all night long. His efficiency and effectiveness drop precipitously when he gets tired, and when the rest of team play uninspiringly. If JVG is looking to shorten Yao's career to fulfill his own contract year's must-win-now-or-else demand, stretching Yao to physical limitation is a sure way to do it. What are you kidding us to suggest Yao himself wish to play an entire quarter without one minute of rest? Thirty-five MPG is not a problem, it's how those minutes are allocated. Get a grip.
We all wish Yao could go strong the full 48 miutes, but that would never happen. Now is Yao's conditioning that bad? No I dont think so. He certainly has improved a lot. He could handle 30 some minutes more than adequately. But the key is what kind of 30 some minutes? A lot of people here crying for Yao to touch the ball and score every trip in a post a while ago, and I raised question of Yao's stamina. IMO, he can not sustain the pace that he has to be offense focal point every time. You see him deferring to Tmac and passive, I think it's partly because he feels he's tired. So, having Yao be the focal late in the game will not be effective, and will even more wind him down into a vicious circle. Instead, Tmac and Yao has to take turns to be that focal. I see the PnR between Yao and Tmac be our bread&butter down the strech. Yao likes to catch in the move, and that way he doesnt have to bang to expend energy. Tmac passing ability and ability to draw double teaming also will make it effective. We should practice and run it to perfection. I hope we will see it more.
