http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers-rockets6-2009may06,0,4848630.story I'm not sure why they didn't front Yao in the first game. I guess they assumed their 4 wins over the Rockets during the regular season without fronting Yao worked well enough. Hope Adelman and Yao are prepared for this, and bring back their counter-fronting plans from the Portland series.
The Rockets are well-prepared. We just had 5 games against Portland where that was all they did; in fact, Portland probably took it to the next level by putting a defender behind Yao, too (Games 2 and 3). I can't see L.A. committing two defenders to Yao 100% of the time like that; it's not Phil Jackson's style. That being said, Bynum is foul prone like Oden was. He'll pick up a bunch of fouls if he's fronting, and he'll be out quickly. I can't believe that Gasol would front Yao, too, though Odom might.
Bynum and Gasol are softer than pillows. Even if he does try to front, theres no way they can reach the same level of effectiveness as Oden and Pryz, both tough defenders.
I don't think Bynum is quick enough to front him, if anyone Odom should do it...Well...Looks like Scola has to step up tonight...
Crystal Ball Crystall Ball tell me how to stop Yao Front him you Idiot! "oh ok Thanks" said Phil Jackson.
There's fronting and there's fronting. Portland 100% fronted. Phil won't do that. Watch Gasol. Gasol stays behind Yao but reaches around during the entry pass to try to poke the ball away or deny the pass altogether. IMO, that's all Phil is suggesting. The problem is you need a quick guy to pull this off otherwise Yao will seal you off and roll to the basket. Bynum won't be successful with this approach. This is why Yao always plays better against bigger center because they can't as easily deny the entry pass. I don't expect at anytime that Bynum or Gasol will outright front Yao.
Watch for fronting, plus Fisher/Walton/Vujacic/Gasol to slide over behind Yao and immediately shotgun-blast-flop the second Yao catches and turns to the basket. It's funny, Laker fans whining about Shane's face-shielding when their team depends on flops and a superstar that mugs his defender with knees and elbows on the ground. Evan
good luck with fronting Bynum. It takes a lot of work to front and your lazy soooo, I'm not worried. foul out like Oden
AWESOME! LOL. I am rolling. I wouldn't worry about Bynum to much. Gasol however has fast hands and can cause problems for Yao. Between Odom, Gasol and Bynum Yao will have his hands full, but Hayes is very effective on Gasol, and he is the one we need to worry about on offense. The rest of the guys cant afford any mental lapses with Yao battling down there. Maybe Ron’s new haircut has increased his aerodynamic efficiency and he will take it to the basket more.
Although it wasn't as a strong a front as Przybilla's, Gasol and Bynum did it a little on Monday and Brooks attacked the baseline for easy layups.
