Yao has to play more aggressive Sure he missed some chippiesBUT alot of the fault rests upon our OFFENSIVE STRUCUTURE. The current offensive structure of bad spacing, one on one driving, no one moving type of offense does not suit Yao or anyone in this league except the guys dribbling the damn ball while everyone else watches. Case in point, Yao had a great move on Lafrenz last night. Caught it in teh high post. Shot fake. Lafrenz jumped. One dribble and was gonna dunk it but Nowitski, Griffen and Nash were all there which resulted in Yao having to shoot 4 ft out instead of a dunk and subsequently was blocked by Lafrenz. Teams are able to collapse on our guys because guys without the ball are not threats at all. Tell me what Yao could have done on that play??? Pass it out so taht the team can dribble around some more? Or pass so the team can jack up another long jumper? Go and watch Sac play. Check out how well they space the ball. If Vlade jukes someone. He has a clear path to the hole... There offense operates as a unit. I feel ours is 1 on 5 basketball. Long term, it will not work. Whether with Yao or any other big man in this league...
first... where did you get the idea that I am happy with our offense?? I NEVER said that.. I said that Yao needs to play harder...he is not playing like a MAN, and if you think he is, you need to get your eyes checked.. Yes, he had several plays at the beginning of the game where he looked like he might snap out of the funk he has been in....but after that, he disappeared. and there is only so much fault you can lay at the feet of the offensive structure... Im am not just referring to the dallas game when I refer to his timidness...even on night when the offense is running like it should, he is not using his size and being aggressive... no matter how much spacing he gets...if his man can bull him away from the basket and deny him the spot he likes...no amount of Offensive Structure is going to help.. Yao is freaking 7'5"!! he is over 300lbs!!!...geez young man....use your size and make the basket your own!!!! Im tired of seeing those lame chip shots when he could just as easily go hard to the rim...bulldoze your defender...be like the almighty Catomic!!
this is the chicken and the egg dilema. 1. how can Yao "bull doze" someone when the offensive structure doesnt allow him to do so? everyone is sagging on him... 2. you can also argue that if he were able to "bulldoze" over people, this would currently be a good offensive structure.. I am a fundamentalist.. I believe a good offensive structure can make an average player into a star (ex. Matt Harpring). So I really hope that our offense improves soon.. But it is irrelevant which one of the 2 groups you fall under. The fact/truth is that our current offensive structure does not suit Yao. Simple as that. His strength is his passing and this is completely wasted in this offense. I just hope Rudy is smart enough to realize this NOW vs having to lose 2 more years before changes are made..
So,, what you are saying is that you have never seen any games this season that it looked like they were really trying to change the way the offense is run?? I know I have...not many, mind you...but I have seen it.. are you patient enough to give them time to work out their problems? I am.. You see the Kings, Mavs..etc and think " Why Not Us?".. It is because every one of their players believes it is their responsibilty to do everything in their power to make sure the team wins.. Our team isnt there yet.. Do I think they can be?....Yes Will it happen overnight?.....No My only problem with Yao, and keep in mind, that I am a huge Yao fan...but..... He has no aggressiveness...even if the offense were to set him up in the spots he needs to be, against a physical low post defenser, Yao can be denied...and that just aint right...he is too big and too skilled to allow smaller, stronger players to keep him from doing what he needs to do. I think we are both on the same page in one way. We both want the Rox offense to work more to Yao's advantage...but if Yao isnt ready to take advantage of it...it does no good...that is my main point.
I agree with you that they are SOMETIMES trying to change the offense. But in my opinion, sometimes isn't good enough. Your patience question is a very intriguing one. I think that again is part of the fundamental question. Like you, I want to see the Rox succeed. But the thing that we have to realize is that one of the reasons why the Kings, Mavs, Lakers got so good wasn't just that they had time to gel. But management made trades/acquisitions once they realized there were holes in their structure. I will use the Lakers example since I believe we should model ourselves after them since there the champs. 1. Remember before the championship years, Lakers were getting crushed. Got swept by the Jazz. 2. Many believe that they had even more talent on that team. Van Exel, Jones, Campbell along with the core of Shaq, Kobe, Horry, Fox etc. 3. Due to chemistry issues and lack of roles, they essentially dumped them for role players (rice etc.) and filled in via free agency for a PF (horace grant). 4. Coach fired and Phil Jackson hired. 5. New triangle offense in place. Kobe doesnt dribble as much anymore.. 6. Lakers become Dynasty I am not suggesting that we need to do ALL of the steps listed above. But it is our problems are very similar. There is no quesiton that we have plenty of talent but I do think we need to start filling in the roles of players. So the question is how patient are we to wait this out? But my opinion is that everyone on this board essentially knows what we need.. It is no secret. I just dont want us to go through this chaos for 2 years when we already knew what the problem was... So my answer to your question is IT DEPENDS. If we know waht the problems are (as I believe we do), I am not very patient on improving. If people really believe that Francis will become the PG that takes us to the championship and that Eddie will become that brusing PF that averages 10 rebounds and can defend Tim Duncan and Karl Malone, then I can be patient. But I seriously doubt that is gonna be the case.... Looking foward to hearing more of your thoughts...
