[J.A. Adande] 24 is a bad number for Yao and Rockets

Well it's obvious the Yao 24 minute thing is a huge problem. I remember how Adelman did not appreciate the whole Tmac thing of going in and out of the lineup, and this is the same thing pretty much. Destroys chemistry.

This team will be lucky to be around .500 when the 24 minute thing is lifted. Sounds like the Coach is confused about how to handle this as well, surprisingly a good short article from ESPN.

 

Disagree.

The Rockets had an entire season last year to get used to playing without Yao. There shouldn't be a chemistry issue anymore. Efficiency may go down, but the players should know their roles.

And this is nothing like the McGrady drama. McGrady was usually a game time decision and wanted to set his own minutes. With Yao, you know exactly which games he's playing and how many minutes he'll play.

 

Hopefully they goto 30 by december at least 28. If they do that it makes a difference. Right now they are dictating 12 a half. That sucks. If Adelman had his way he would probably less in the first hald and more in the second. But they say 12 and 12. he can't even manage the minutes.

Yao is the gold chip that Les owns and he will not allow Adelman to mess with it. It's his right but I don't like him right now.

 

Yaos minutes wasn't the problem these first 3 games. Lack of defense was. Yao scored 14 pts tonight and grabbed some rebounds. This team should be used to playing without him.

 

24 Minutes Should Not Have Been the Threshold At Which Yao Was Deemed To Be Ready To Play

Honestly, I think it would have been better if Yao were kept out UNTIL he was ready for a full 30 to 35 minute slug. There's clearly TWO styles of play when Yao is and isn't in the game. One slow when Yao is in and one fast with Yao on the bench. And in either case, it's hard to turn on/off the defensive element in adapting to with/without Yao. I honestly think this is part of what's been going on and why we can't finish/close out games.

Also, few true franchise players can be hugely effective when they're limited to 24 minutes - esp in the 4th quarter. The only one that comes to mind is Kobe. i.e. you kind of need a closer mentatility. Is Yao rely that go-to player in the 4th? I dunno.

But the consistent balance of Yao's presence on the defensive end altering shots and setting a "tone" alongside his scoring efficienty is what is hugely missing with him being subbed in and out for all of 24 minutes.

JVG used to play Yao for what, 8 minutes in the first? And then the final 8 minutes of the 2nd? And then likewise in the 2H? That seemed to work. And I think that's the goal we should be hoping for.



theSAGE

 

What can be done?
Rick seems to have no control, as he constantly answers he can only do what they tell him to do.
Yao said he would like to play more, but obviously can't come out and push hard for more minutes, or he'll be thought of as a diva and troublemaker.
The 24 minute call was a bad move, a different approach should have been taken.
But that's how it has to be for now I guess...seems like peoples hands are tied.

 

Our coach and many players on our team are r****ded. They're trying to find everything to blame other than themselves.

That is all.

 

The point is that they have to switch styles...right on the fly. What other team in the NBA does this? I can't think of any other team, each and every good team has a distinct style they play through for most the game. The Rockets knew last year all year long what style they were going to play though, and that was consistent all year long. Even though we did not have a great year at least the team did not look like they were not gelling. It looked like they were playing as a team.

Hopefully, around 30 mins is probably a good number even for a 100% healthy Yao. I just hope it isn't too late, this switching on and switching off thing I believe has hurt Brooks the most.

At one moment he's supposed to just be a spot up shooter who creates for others...and the next he's supposed to run the full court offense.

 

thinking about it the 24 minute is an obvious issue but i think the 24 minute thing could have been able to be worked with it if not for the rigid structure of it

Yao has to play 12 minutes per half basically 6 mins per quarter


If it was just 24 mins for the entire game played in anyway i think it would be better.

so lets say he plays 18 mins in the first half and the Rockets do well and cruise out to a manageable lead then they could go back to playing a "smaller ball" type offense like last year and then Yao can check back in sometime in the 4th or as needed.

basically saying he has to go for 6 min stints per quarter is what is killing and sort of flow and rhythm

 

my theory is the 24-min limitation is negotiated between Rockets and Team Yao under the advice of Yao's doctor. Coach A. has nothing to do with it, and he has to live with it.

Also I happen to believe the time limitation is beneficial to both Yao and Rockets in the long run. Even if Leslie decides that he doesn't want to give yao a new contract, a broken-footed Yao has even less value to him.

 

My problem isn't Yao playing 24 minutes, persay, but that it has to be regulated to 6 minutes every quarter which breaks up the flow of things and limits Adelman's options in general. I think Adelman should be allowed to use Yao at any point he wants up to that 24 minutes, but the overt regulation is hurting this team.

 

The problem can be solved easily -- bring Yao off the bench.

 

Easily Solved

Trade for Mcgrady and have him play with Yao in those 24 minutes

 

Yep. They may have learned how to play without Yao last year, but now they have to learn how to play with him again and how to switch back and forth. Martin has also never played with Yao.

What I saw last night is that they were able to establish Yao early in the game and in the 3rd as well. They really needed Yao with about 9 or 10 left in the 4th but Yao only had 5 minutes left and Adelman was trying to wait to have him play the end of the game. Well, the team pulled back into it without Yao and had gained a little momentum but then there was 5 minutes left and when Yao came back in, they couldn't adjust back to having him in the game and the offense sputtered.

It was a tough situation to manage. Because of the minutes cap and the desire to have Yao in during crunch time, Adelman was forced to hold him out when we really could've used him and put him back in (because who's going to leave him on the bench if he has time left?) just when we were starting to play well without him again. I can't really blame Adelman for that. I understand not wanting to bring him in too early when you know you'll have to pull him back out and I understand not wanting to let 5 of Yao's minutes go to waste by not bringing him back in at all.

I kind of like Bullard's suggestion during pregame. I think he advocated playing Yao only 8 or 10 minutes in the first half and then 14 or 16 minutes in the 2nd half. So, you establish Yao early in the game, then pretty much give him the rest of the first half off, then let him play the 2nd half like you normally would if there were no cap. Basically, Yao plays 3 quarters, the first, third and fourth and he takes the second quarter off.

 

What an excuse.........

Every Rocket player needs to look at himself.

-Horrible decision making
-TO at the wrong times
-Missing defensive rotations
-Not boxing out for a rebound
-relying on the 3 ball too much
-Coach stuck on his Motion offense, where only 3 people get it (KM,Miller, CBud)
-Horrible subbing, we supposedly have a deep roster but I see us only playing 7 people.


All of these can easily point to Rick. Lack of discipline and wanting a new contract extension.

 

I don't get it yet. What has yao to be the starter if he only plays less than 24 min?