I'm sure the function of this forum is to have quality discussions about the Rockets among their fans, and this is a quality discussion because the guy have strong points in his post. Any argument is a good argument as long as you can back it up, so don't rage on others just because you don't agree with them.
Yao is a young player who on some nights have excellent stats and on other night he has just average stats. He is by no means a bust. He is a good young role player. He does make mistakes but consider the other centers in the league he's doing great. Give him a few more years before we are really hard on him. When he gets double teamed, there are options else where....
Yao needs to "demand" the ball. Often, he is unselfishly out there facing away from the ball setting picks and screens and getting in position to rebound when he should be demanding the ball for his own shot. This unselfishness is not always a bad thing. He is the consummate team player. However, when Yao "demands" the ball and kicks some teammate butt (ala Hakeem) for not getting him the ball, we'll have our monster. When he says "get on my back and ride, I'm gonna win this game," we'll have our monster. I truly believe we will see this from Yao before he is done. Patience.
I can see both sides of the fence on this subject. Yao does need to get better at getting position more consitantly. I think he does a pretty decent job overall most of the time. I think the biggest problem is not that others don't want to pass to him, but they are not good and/or not confidant at it. Nobody has ever really played along side a go-to post player before in their respective careers. This lack of experience becomes apparent when the opposition crowds the passer and/or has a weak side defender sagging down behind Yao. Then, when they do get the pass to Yao, it is just that. As a post passer, you have to throw the ball away from the defender or, at least, to the post player's free hand. Most of the passes I have witnessed are at either Yao's chest or a bounce pass to his feet. I think there are alot of factors that have attributed to this (play calling, post position, post passing, etc, dfensive rules, etc). I do wish they would force it to him at times. He was dominating the Magic the other night leading to a 20 pt. lead but, when things got tight, they didn't force it back to him. At the very least, it makes the defence double and leaves a shooter wide open. When Yao is going good it does seem as if they decide to get someone else involved by running a play for them. Bottomline: As Yao gets better and he, and his teammates, continues to learn how to play along side each other it will get better. On a side note: Yao is virtually a 20/10 player at only 24 yrs. old, minimal shot attempts, and still hasn't fully adjusted to the league. How scary is it, for the rest of the league, to think how good he will be when he gets his good share of attempts and completely 'gets it'?
Yao has get his confidence back in last few games, which is really good to help to secure our playoff position. I guess JVG has most faith in TMac and Yao, he is trying to practice our role players more in the rest of the season, which will provide necessary support in Playoffs. As long as this team goes on well and no big injuries, we got a decent chance to beat any team in a 7game series.
JVG is experienced with how to play Yao now. He has reduced Yao's minutes even though seems to be stronger and had better stamina than last season. He hopes that Yao will have a much stronger second half and make a serious run in the playoffs this time aroud. JVG has also tried hard to make sure the refs calling the game not too much against Yao.
i'm sure this was a well thought out thread, but please can we give all the YAO threads a ****ing rest?!?!?!?!?!?! I'd rather discuss Rudy's hair than do this!!
Rivaldo, good post man! I've been following the NBA going back to the early 70s, got a few favorite team : 76ers in the early 80s with Bobby Jones, Moses and Dr J, the Rox in the mid 90s with Dream..... and a few others. What amazes me is some of the posters on this board refused to acknowledge that their is a legit problem why some of the Rox players ignored Yao and won't pass him the ball. Their true intent and purpose only they themselves know. Sometimes I wish people would just come clean and tell us one way or the other. If you truly hate Yao for whatever reason then come out and say it, it's okay! Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, just don't insult people's intelligence by keep coming up with crap like the reason Yao does not get enough shots or touches is because Yao is this Yao is that YADI,YADA......... I always believe this: you will not see how truly great Yao is unless we have a new coach, a legit starting point guard and a legit starting power forward.
Good point. very agree. I have noticed this also. I like sura's play too but that not means we can not say something. Chemistry between sura and yao http://bbs2.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=89334
Me too. I used to be a HOF (Hakeem only fan). However, I guess that the point people want to make is that Sura is the best we can get at 1 right now and it's a temporary fit for this team. I do agree that Yao can be much more efficient if we have a legit 1 and 4. TMac is a guard and can create shots by himself so his play is not affected that much by a subpar 4 and 1.
