C'mon man, stay away, dont you have a Rashard Lewis thread to chime in on... First of all, great idea. The idea of having Ming set up just above the free throw line, with the ball, facing the basket, is an excellent notion. Rudy could have his players set in all kind of different motions, utilizing Ming as the hub of the wheel, so to speak. For instance If Ming has an easy time shooting over his opponent, and his shot is pretty accurate from just above the free throw line ... Rudy could have it where Ming receives the ball there, then have Mobley, Nachbar, or Francis curl around him, giving Ming at least two options: 1)dumping the ball off to the curler or 2) If his man gives ground, shooting an easy uncontested jumper. use a little more imagination, like im sure Rudy will, and one could be in heaven designing all kind of different sets from this perspective; that is Ming being the hub of the offensive wheel. Come to think of it, I think the perfect example of just how reasonable this idea is is the the way Utah exploits the outside shooting skills and passing ability of Karl Malone. Ming is a unique player, but the basis of the idea seems to be the same.
TexasS, I wouldn't call out somebody via a double-post, and then misrepresent the thread. As many have said, having Yao in the high post is a fine idea, but this does not make him a "point center," with all the accompanying horrifying images of a 7'6" dude bringing the ball up the court. Nothing wrong with leehoang's post, IMHO.
Strange my previous post didn't show. Wilt Chamberlain showed you can be a "point forward when he led the league in assists one year. wilt
Leehoang should read the entire thread before he types in a silly one liner, because the above statement is enough clarification for me. Shooter is explaining what he really meant for those that misunderstood him. I mean c'mon Bob, do you really think he fancied the idea of having Ming dribble the ball across halfcourt. For the sake of common sense, I hope not.
I think Yao will do whatever Rudy asks of him. And with enthusiasm. Ralph Sampson is an example of someone who often did as the spirit moved him. We have several of those folks on the team right now. Hopefully this is the season that they see the light and play team defense, our great weakness. Yao will be a HUGE help as a player who understands team play... and not to a fault, with luck. The Chinese team took team play to an extreme I hope we're not subjected to. Yao being "the hub of the offensive wheel" is something I hope we see a bunch of this year. Because if it works (and Rudy doesn't lose his napkins he's been scribblin' on)... then we're going places, baby. Rudy won't use him if he's not effective, not in the second half of the season. He wants to win.
If we deploy Yao at Point Center, does that mean we move our rebounding machine Francis to Power Guard and Taylor to Shooting Forward? Bring the ball up? No. But if Yao is not doubled, and he's being guarded by a slow hulking seven footer, I don't see a problem with him dribbling a couple times to get himself in scoring position. If he is doubled, he finds the open man. That's the extent to which I want him to be a point center. As long as we're not talking about keeping him away from the paint most of the time, I'm okay. Like Griffin, he might struggle inside at first, but eventually I hope he's an inside force. I too remember getting stressed out myself over Ralph insisting on making like a guard out there. Once in a while, it led to an awesome slam. More often than not, it slowed the break or led to a turnover. Hopefully, I think we all agree we are not talking about that kind of point center.
