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NBC columnist Matt Guokas says Steve should feed more to Yao

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by vcchlw, Dec 3, 2003.

  1. vcchlw

    vcchlw Contributing Member

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    It's actually Guokas' reply to a fan's email

    http://www.msnbc.com/news/996273.asp#BODY

    Getting Yao more touches

    Rockets’ Francis needs to get ball inside more often

    Matt
    Do you think new coach Jeff Van Gundy can make the Houston Rockets a team that looks inside first? Watching them, I have serious doubts over whether point guard Steve Francis will change his style of play. If he doesn’t look for Ming more, do you possibly see the Rockets trying to trade Francis for a more traditional point guard?
    Thanks from Bill
    New York, N.Y.

    Bill,
    I’ve seen enough of the Rockets so far to tell that Van Gundy has already made an impression on his new team.
    He has them getting closer to playing the way he wants them to in that they will go inside to 7-foot-5 Yao, whom I feel is quietly but effectively getting better.
    This season Yao looks very strong and comfortable.
    When he gets the ball inside, he’s a little bit more physical than he was last year in his rookie season and he can make something good happen.
    Van Gundy is pushing for Yao to become more of the focus in the Rockets’ offense and I think Francis understands that concept, but he is such a talented player that there are going to be many times when Francis goes on his own feel and can take over a game.
    Francis is such a talent and such a good player that while he isn’t a classic point guard and while he needs to feed Yao the ball more, I wouldn’t think the Rockets would have any desire at all to deal him.
    With Yao and Francis, the Rockets have the foundation to become a very good team.
     
  2. ZRB

    ZRB Contributing Member

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    Yao should't get the ball until he learns to win a jump ball and make a dunk.
     
  3. francis 4 prez

    francis 4 prez Contributing Member

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    or block a 6'0 guard who basically lays the ball out for him to swat.
     
  4. yipengzhao

    yipengzhao Contributing Member

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    since when is matt guokas a basketball expert?
     
  5. gotoloveit2

    gotoloveit2 Contributing Member

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    Totally agreed. DribbieFranky should not pass to Yao anymore until he learn how to pass.
     
  6. yipengzhao

    yipengzhao Contributing Member

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    wait wait i remember now, marv albert and matt guokas, he's an analyst, i had him confused with this other guy.
     
  7. topfive

    topfive CF OG

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    Simultaneously?!?
     
  8. Visagial

    Visagial Contributing Member

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    My post should be in the game thread but what the heck. I think the way the team played Yao tonight was perfect. He was in the high post to set the offense and huge screens and got the ball deep deep in the low post. Finally didn't embarrass himself against a really big ackward center.
     
  9. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

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    Did anyody else notice a play they ran tonight, where all of a sudden Yao flashed out at the corner of the FT line and hit a wide open 10-12 jump shot?

    They have NEVER ran that play before, and Yao looked oh-so comfortable shooting it.

    Perhaps Yao's talents don't necc. have to be exploited as a back-to-the-basket type player.

    Hell... watch Hakeem during the championships, and he'd get several jump shots from penetration dish, or coming off the pick and roll.

    As long as Yao can hit those shots consistantly (which I trust now, more than his back to the basket hooks / fade-a-ways), look for JVG to try getting him free for some jump shots.
     
  10. Preston27

    Preston27 Contributing Member

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    I'd also like to see Yao shooting more jumpshots, and maybe some 3 pointers, but he needs to get that inside game developed soon.
     
  11. J DIDDY

    J DIDDY Member

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    yea i totally enjoy watching Francis dribble a 100 times than jacking up a hail Mary shot with 1 second left on the clock.:rolleyes:
     
  12. giddyup

    giddyup Contributing Member

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    Matt Goukas is also a former Rocket and a Rocket Head Coach if I'm not mistaken.
     
  13. IROC it

    IROC it Contributing Member

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    Okay. Which one of you sent Goukas that email?:rolleyes:

    :D
     
  14. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Contributing Member
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    Goukas was a former coach of Orlando. I don't believe he was ever the Rockets Head Coach.
     
  15. giddyup

    giddyup Contributing Member

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    I know he was head coach at Orlando, but I would have sworn he was once head coach of the Rockets... maybe just an intermim or something. However, I can't find a listing of former Rox coaches here or at Rockets.com. Anybody?
     
  16. Manny Ramirez

    Manny Ramirez The Music Man

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    I believe that Guokas was a former Rocket player, not coach.

    Gee Matt, thanks for saying something that almost everyone here has been saying for the last year and a half so. The only problem is that I honestly don't think that Francis knows how to do it.:(
     
  17. Yetti

    Yetti Contributing Member

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    Lets get one thing straight Steve Francis 'hardly' ever passes into Yao Ming when Yao is in a scoring position!! Most times he passes it to another player and it is other players that mostly pass into Yao Ming.
     

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