EXACTLY !!! JVG was not even singling out Big Yao. The media and the OP of this thread just took JVG's words totally out of context. JVG is talking about the WHOLE team, and that include Tracy McLazy !!
Yao stabbed someone to death, and Van Gundy still doesn't think he has a killer instinct? The Boston Strangler might not be tough enough to play for Jeff.
Yao needs to get to the basket more. As well as he shot last night, he took a little too many jumpers for my liking. That was why he got blocked towards the end when he made the move, because it was so predictable. He did play well defensively though. I agree with JVG. He needs to demand the ball, and take it to the opposing team and get to the charity stripe.
Pryuen, as much as I love the big man. There is no need to put down T-mac for the sake of being protective. Yao did play hard, and I love him for it. But there is still a lot of room for improvement. What JVG said, regardless if it applies strictly to Yao or the team, is sth that Yao has to take upon himself to be able to do. TBH, the reason why Yao improves so much is because he does take constructive criticism to heart and improve upon it, instead of staying complacent.
Getting to the Line is what it's all about IMHO If you think back to any of the "dynasty" championship teams, there's always one dude who can get to the free throw line consistently. MJ, Kobe, Isiaih, DWade... you name it. Someone from this team likewise has to be fearless enough to draw contact and get those freebies. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced that person is Yao. Why? b/c of all we've seen of him NOT getting the respect he deserves from the refs. There's a bit of gamesmanship being played here btw superstar and ref and I'm not sure if Yao has that. Yao can't simply draw contact and get the call. And thus, I feel like Yao taking charge more will merely result in him getting called from more charges. In reality, I think Yao is deserving of easily 10 FTs per game when he was more aggressive. His efficiency may be up with his array of turnarounds, but what's missing is again the contact and "kill mentality" that comes with attacking the hoop. It's the intangibles of putting a team down when they're trying to mount a comeback. T-mac on the other hand has that POTENTIAL. I keep thinking, hoping that he will start attacking the rim more in the fourth quarter. Maybe he's holding back on purpose and staying healthy for the playoffs. But Mac not only has the explosive step to get to the paint, he also has the RESPECT of the refs that Yao is lacking. T-Mac's greatest shortcoming imho is that he doesn't attack the rim as much as I think he should and when he does, his free throw shooting this year hasn't been like T-mAc past. Hopefully, he'll take it up an extra notch in the playoffs. Other players who I think have the potential of fueling that killer instinct is Juwon Howard. Yup. I said it. JHo, for all his limitations is not only a good free throw shooter, but is still fearless enough to draw contact. He doesn't have the hops of his youth but at least he gets respect. The only other player I can think of is maybe Rafer. Here too, I'm not sure why Rafer doesn't penetrate more. Or cut more. I think Charlie Ward is still an assistant. When Ward was a Knick, he would regularly penetrate down the middle for a layup or dish. At least once a game I would say depeding on the opponent and per my memory, more often in the fourth quarter. Charlie could hit the 3 and penetrate. No reason why Rafer can't add the latter. Thus to develop this killer instinct, I think the most realistic request is for T-Mac to take the lead. Unless the refs start reffing Yao differently in the playoffs, I just don't see Yao getting the RESPECT needed to get to the line late in games. Rafer and JHo have even odds of getting that respect in the offseason too imho. -theSAGE
Pryuen needs to cut this tracy bashing. it's pathetic that he seems regulary bring down tracy to propup yao. yao is great allready. he dosent need any proping. cut it out. this is the rockets board. take you're one-eyed nonsense somewhere else.
The Killer mentality is due to lack of understanding. it seems both tracy and ao are to nice for there own to good. yao seems to go into he's shell thinking tracy usually takes over from here on so i'll just go along for the ride. tracy is vice versa as well. it's upto to someone the coach or the players themselves to take responsibility and attack. tracy was a beast dring that un without yao. he had that killer instinct cranking bigtime. now with yao back, he seems to be back to he's more of a play making role again.
I get it. You don't like Tmac and you're jealous because he gets credit. This is the same guy who stood all alone in the media and defended Yao when everyone else was slamming him to high heaven when he couldn't even stay on the floor for an entire game. Yao totally respects him, but you have a blockage in your vision from seeing the truth.
Seriously, did you really need to diss McGrady? I know you are a huge Yao fan and all but it makes you look like even more of a YOF by dissing T-Mac. We wouldn't be in the playoffs if it wasn't for T-Mac's play without Yao. As of right now, T-Mac is still the better player which is why he gets more props than Yao.
I love Tmac, 13 points in 30 second is one of my best time in my life, But I do worry about his play recently, every time when end of a quarter, he handle the ball and try to make the last attack but really too few of them he made it. So when we paly in playoff it will hurt our team.
That was out of line. Most would call me a YOF, and I still think that. There is no reason to bash McGrady especially when the team has it going well right now.
I think it’s getting them on the same page. I have no doubt that after this game they both will be more assertive. Prior to the injury, Yao played with a killer instinct in the fourth quarter (See games like Miami, Washington, West Road trip). But upon coming back, I think he was trying to find his nitch with McGrady and the rest of the team. Van Gundy basically said Yao, go to that aggression from last year and before your injury. Attack. That said the guards need to do a better job of recognizing when Yao has deep post position. It is totally unacceptable to have Yao pin his guy right under the basket and have to reposition himself outside the paint on the baseline instead because his teammates missed him. I have been seeing too much of this for my liking.
Pryuen maker sure you read this>>> I heard what JVG said!!! What he means is that Yao Ming when he reaches a certain high point in his game slackens off his offensive effort inorder to assist others to bring up their game. Last night's game was a good illustration of this senario. Jvg wants Yao not to be afraid to score 30, 40 or even 50 points and that he must focus on 'his' scoring late in games. Yao seems overly conscious of not wanting to outshine his teammates. I have been talking about this for several seasons .Yao needs to take command. Y
I haver been talking about this for every season since Yoa started with the Rockets. Francis and Alston have been the worst offenders!
I'm not jealous and I don't think I hate Tracy McGrady. I'm just speaking the truth. As alot other posters in this forum will agree (and in fact, there is a separate thread discussing about it) TMAC's game is getting poorer and poorer for all sorts of reason after the All Stars break, and in particular after Big Yao's return. As suggested by everyone, he could be reserving something for the playoff, or he could be deferring too much to Big Yao now that he is back. But in any case, to me, TMAC seems getting lazier and lazier. His FG% dropped significantly; his shot selections are sometimes horrible; he chose to shot his long range jumpers instead of penetrating more, and he missed crucial free throws. But look at Big Yao. Upon his return to the game, he was like a tiger out of its cage. He is getting better and better in the past 10 games since his return from injury. In some of the games, he even fish-leaped and rolled onto the floor to fight for the ball, forgetting he has just returned from injury. Did TMAC show that kind of fighting spirit lately ? BTW, who is the player that gets the most credits in this win over Detroit Piston ? Check every news articles please. It is not TMAC as you claimed. It is all about Big Yao who spearheaded Rockets in both offense and defense. In particular, that HUGE block in the last minute virtually sealed the win for his team.
I like how the OP has quoted JVG out of context, started a thread here and caused a four pages debate.
Tottaly agree. our best option is allways and i repeat the opreative word here is ALLWAY yao in the low post. throw it into yao, if teams are tripling him, he is smart enough to creat the open shot for rafer or head or whomeverelse is open. this is gotta be the company line in the clutch. however if yao dosent have a good enough position, let tracy go from there.
Did T-Mac not keep us afloat during Yao's absence? How quickly you seem to forget how great T-Mac had to play to keep us winning without our big guy. Honestly, if it had been the other way around, T-Mac out and Yao carries us, the results would not be the same. IMO, we'd probably be fighting for the 8th seed. It's not that Yao is incapable of being a leader, its because T-Mac's playmaking abilities is a huge reason why we were so successful. Sure T-Mac's offense has dropped since Yao came back, but he is still as important because of his playmaking ability to find his teammates. We wouldn't have won those games if Tracy didn't drop his 6-9ast per game. McGrady has proved he can still be effective and efficient without having to score and shoot a high percentage. Yes, Yao did have a huge block against the Pistons, but McGrady helped spark the big run in the 1st half. So before you go and question Tracy's spirit, think about everything hes done this season to get us where we are.
