Next season: How can we MAKE SURE that Yao gets the ball in P&R situation?

If Yao is too talented as a low post player to operate in the high post, then why make him set all those picks? If Yao needs to set picks, why not make them more effective by involving him more? Currently Yao is stuck in this dilemma.

 

You're absolutely right.

I don't think Sam Fisher knows basketball that much. In a pick and roll situation, you got to pass the ball back to the one setting the screen sometimes and depending on the situation. If it's only picks after picks and no pass (like Rox), the defenders can just ignore Yao standing 16 ft away from hoop and collapse on Francis or Cat that's driving, 'cause they know Yao ain't never going to get the pass off PnR.

Sam Fisher, it's not about percentage, why? because any fool knows that you get a higher percentage of FG if you're closer to the basket.

It's all about using whatever weapons you have and exploit the match up with your opponent. Yao is a great shooter, and he can consistently hitting those 16 17 J. If he get the ball more over PnR, and Yao made the lakers pay by doubling on the driving Francis. Don't you think they would have to have some one (like Shaq) coming out of the paint to guard Yao outside, that opens up the middle and Francis and Cat will have a better drive to the paint which results in a high percentage shot. Or if Shaq too lazy to come out and guard Yao, Yao get a clean look to knock down those Js. That's just smart basketball, and with Francis and Yao running a good Pick N Roll, it's our best weapon against the Lakers.

 

You're right, Yao is stuck in this dilemma because the guards don't take advantage of his outside shooting enough.

Yao setting good picks are an important weapon for the Rox against the Lakers, just look at Game 4 of Lakers game, Yao set 2 good picks to free up Mobley and Francis, they all get good layups in crucial times. The 3rd time, Yao finally get a kick out pass from a driving Francis, and he nailed the jumper to take the lead.

 

And for the year Yao was a 41% jump shooter. While when closer to the basket he was at 57%. One month doesn't tell the story.

 

That's not for 1 month. That's his jump shooting percentage untill Feb.9th. And again, those are mostly contested shots,not only the open looks getting form PnR.

I don't know where you got the 41% from. Any link?

 

We can't compare Francis and Yao to Parker and Duncan.
Parker had a good year and Francis didn't, Yao is not at Duncan's level yet and who knows if he ever will so we need to work with what we have because sometimes Francis doesn't seem to want to pass the ball, but sometimes Yao doesn't seem to want it.

 

When the PnR is between Yao and MJ, Yao is more likely to get the ball back and shoot it. I think its because Yao knows that MJ is a pass first pg, so more likely he'll get the ball back and more prepared to take the open jumper. Cant say the same with SF. Cat is even worse. But I'll give Cat the credit because he is much more able to take advantage of the PnR and knocks down the jumper than SF. This is one of many reasons why we need a real pg to play with Yao, so we can fully utilize his true potential.

 

Go back and chart Yao's shooting percentage against the Lakers when taking a 17 foot plus jump shot

If you come up with anything over 20% I'd be shocked; I recall him bricking each and every one.

In case you didn't realize it, the Pick and Roll doesn't mean fade away from the basket; how do you think Cato is able to get to the basket so effectively?

The arguments on this board crack me up; there's a contingent of YOFs who whined incessantly that Yao was setting too many picks, then there's a bunch of people who claim that Yao isn't shooting enough 20 foot jumpers off of picks........either way it's somebody's fault (and that somebody is rarely if ever Yao...).

This whole thread started ostensibly due to Tim Duncan and the pick and roll. Did anybody ever stop to think that the reason why Yao doesn't play as well as Tim Duncan is not because of Francis, Van Gundy or anybody else? it's because Tim Duncan is a sh-tload better than Yao.

 

I laughed when I read rvpals's last paragraph in his post, because Rox was running the exact play he complained Rox wasn't running.

We run the PnR consistently involving Yao / SF or Yao / Cat, Shaq stick to Yao most of time, thus opened up the middle and SF or Cat count drive to basket with ease. That was the exact smart play rvpal was talking about. We run it again and again throughout the series and it was the very effective.

Actually Yao was not so effective when he got the ball during the series, I already mentioned in my previous post above, in the fifth game in LA, Yao had several opportunities after PnR, he was WIDE OPEN, and he either passed the open shot (one caused direct turnover and Lakers' fastbreak)OR he just missed it. His jumpers were simply not there in April; excuse me, that was a fact.

And this thread's topic is next season we have to MAKE SURE Yao gets the ball in PnR, thus make sure he shoot those 18-20ft jumpers, as if his jumpers aren't enough and make him shoot more on perimeter is to his best advantage. Hello, aren't we complaining Yao is not aggressive enough and shoot too many jumpers. How do you utilize a 7'6 Center more by not asking him going strong to the basket to lay-up or dunk more? For a center with this size and weight, we have to make sure he gets the ball after PnR and shoot outside jumpers, what is that???!!!!

I like Yao also, but I am just frustrated after reading some fans' comments that consistently complain coaches, Yao's teammates and refs. It is all others' fault; it is all others' fault, kind like Bush administration.

 

There is a contingent of SOFs and "subtle" Yao haters in this bbs who take every opportunities to bash Yao and defend their beloved, bone-headed SF. Labelling almost anyone who criticizes SF a YOF. The line between subtle Yao hating and subtle racism is really gettng blurred.

 

Do you realize you attack SF again in your post? Exchange SF with Yao and SOF with YOF in your post, it is also totaly fit for this board. Two extreme group hate each other but are doing the exact same thing.

Believe me, I am not SF's fan, I prefer him to be traded. But I am sure there will be a Steve Franics version II if things are not working out and Yao stays mediocre next season.

 

I agree...there are going to be a lot of unhappy fans if and when the Rockets run an Iso for Elton Brand and he backs it in and takes a bad shot that misses, or Tracy McGrady takes a wild three pointer...that is going to happen with whoever gets brought in....if it is a guard, people are going to call them selfish...if it is a big man, people are going to call hiim a "black hole"...the Rockets could go 82-0 and we would still hear complaints.

 

Yao has faults. Much improvements are needed before he could dominate. And even thats no guarantee. Yao did suk it up toward the end of the season, including the playoff, but he did play reasonably well defensively. Dont know about you, its much easier for me to criticize a veteran than a 2nd year player in a PnR situation. Through out the season, not just the playoff, the fault was mostly on SF. After your big man sets up a pick, you are supposed to run close to him so your defender could be picked off. Too many times SF just dribbled "around" Yao and at times even doing his cross-over move afterward. A PnR play turned into a 1 on 1 iso. That totally destroyed the whole purpose of PnR. Cat was much better than SF though, at least he could knock down those jumpers more consistently. The only problem was Yao rarely got the ball back. If your big man doesnt get use to getting the ball back, he is more hesitant to take an open jumper when he does get it back and more likely to miss.

Once again, the premise of Yao should just go inside and dunk over everyone simpily because he is 7 foot 6 and 310 lb just doesnt hold water. I guess you could argue that all 6 foot pg should be able to cross-over like SF and dictate the offense efficiently like Kidd. Every center in the league, obviously except Shaq, should take that 15 foot open jumper when available. Yao should do the same. Oop! forgot to include Cato along with Shaq on that short list. Yao could become a dominating force ONLY if BOTH his inside and outside games are fully utilized.

 

http://www.82games.com/03HOU17A.HTM

 

Well, if Brand or T-Mac take lots of bad shots, then fans SHOULD be pissed, just as they should be if Yao or anyone else take bad shots. And it's much easier for the new guard to be selfish if he's making a good % of them. In the end, that is the problem with Francis. The guy just can't shoot enough high quality shots.

 

First, if the Pick and Roll ends up in a switch with the big man guarding the smaller player, it SHOULD turn into a one on one Iso.

I recall that happening, on one occassion in either game 4 or 5, where Francis, who was being guarded by Fox, ran around a Yao pick and was out near the rightside 3 pt line after Malone switched off on him, with Yao standing approximately 6 or 7 feet to Francis left. Walton (or Tolbert) frantically shouted "Yao needs to DIVE to the Basket!!!!" However, Yao just stood there, which helped Karl Malone because it effectively meant that Francis couldn't drive left w/o getting the help from Fox. Likewise, had Yao dived, not only would it have set up Franicis to drive, it would have given him a chance to set up underneath on Rick Fox -- either way it would have been a better outcome than what happened.

I don't understand why Yao being a 2nd year player excuses his failure to dive. Most Junior high school level players can accomplish this task. Kelvin Cato can accomplish this task.

What is amusing to me is your attempts to put Yao's poor shooting on Francis not passing him the ball; vs. LA, the reason why he was unable to hit that 16-20 foot jumper from the top of the key (which I don't ever recall him hitting consistently; he's a good shooter -- for a 7 foot 6 player, but I wouldn't put him evenn in Karla Malone's class with that shot) was the same reason why he couldn't buy a rebound to save his life, why his shot was getting blocked underneath, and why he was tentative and out of synch for the last two March and April's in a row: his legs were gone. If you have no legs, you have no shot, period. That doesn't mattter if you're 7-6 or 5-6.

Again, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Yao's greatest asset is his size. His shooting, running, passing etc is all good - for a player of his size . That doesn't mean its good/great in an absolute sense.

I don't think Yao should only dunk, god no; but if you think that Yao taking more 20 foot jumpers is going to be a panancea, that's just crazy.

 

Do you really think McGrady shooting 41.7% vs. Francis at 40.3% is a significant difference?

Again, this isn't to say that Francis is as good as McGrady, or even that he shouldn't be traded.

The problem is, any guard you get is going to shoot in the low 40's, Yao is going to shoot in the mid 50's, and there are going to be legions of pissed off Yao fans every time somebody other than Nachbar takes a shot and misses.

 

I am not saying Yao does not have his own problems. I'm just saying what the thred is intending to do, discussion on how to use Pick and Roll better. I'm not blaming Yao's ineffectiveness to Francis or cat, I am just saying he does not get the pass enough off pick and roll, it's almost always pick and guard drives to the basket and bricks a shot.

A 20 foot open jumper is better than a brick throw up in between 2 defenders under the basket, I think you can see that.

If you can't understand my post, don't bother to comment on it. By the way, Tim Duncan is not sh!tload better than Yao. I know Parker is heck a lot better than Francis though, Popovich is probably better than JVG, and their GMs are probably better than CD. In whole, their organization is much better than Rox right now.

 

Did you read my post right? I'm just saying we don't run it enough, I did not say we did not run the play at all. To sum it up, when Yao gets the ball, good things happens. He can shoot and pass or make his move to the hoop. Make sure you understand this: I'm not blaming Steve or Cat for not passing out off the PnR, they probably does not have the skills to do it consistently.

I'm not saying that Yao should just shoot those mid jumpers after he received the pass off PnR. I'm saying it's better to hit some to have Shaq come out to guard Yao and opens up the lane. Yao is versatile enough to make something good out of that pass. We're not talking about MoT who can't make a decent pass most of the time.

It's elementary basketball that the one setting the pick is supposed to get a pass off it some of the times. IMHO, we're not doing this enough.

 

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