Ok so Charlie Pallilo on 790 brought this up a few days ago and I kind of like the idea. We know he won’t be 100% till at least March or April and his minutes will be limited throughout the season, so why not limit his time from the very beginning of the game? 1) It will allow him to enter later in the game and rest him longer periods of time ensuring he will be at full strength by the end of the game. 2) When he comes in, late 1st/3rd, the opposing team will already be in or close to the penalty which will maximize his free throw shooting when teams foul the big guy. 3) Yao will be coming in against a backup big who he can easily manhandle while avoiding early foul trouble for himself. 4) Create a dynamic bench squad that will not miss a beat when the 1st unit comes out of the game. 5) At the end of games, while the starting center has worn down, Yao will be fresh and ready to make the final push against a tired defender. All this of course is predicated on acquiring a center/PF, whether it be Bosh or another legit 7 foot big, and whatever else we pickup this offseason because starting Chuck at center kills this idea. Just imagine this rotation… Brooks/Lowry Martin/Budinger or FAgent Ariza/Battier, Jeffries or FAgent Scola/Hayes, Hill, draft pick or FAgent Bosh or whoever we acquire/Yao Again, this would force the Rox to limit his minutes while balancing out the team’s depth tremendously. This would also only be temporary, when Yao is back 100% then plug him back into the starting lineup and move Scola to the bench. I imagine if we trade for a legit center/PF then someone or a couple out of Hill/Battier/Budinger/Jeffries would be gone but again depending on who you think might be moved it would still work. Thoughts...
It's not who starts but finishes and while he is costing 17 million, the verison of Yao we will see next year isn't the guy we signed for 17 million, at least until the playoffs.
Different conversation, if they aren't in position to make the playoffs then all this is irrelevant. If his minutes are limited anyway, wouldn't you want the big guy fresh and ready to destroy at the end of the game? What does it matter how much a player is making by the way?
This is an idea that has been passed around a lot already, to have Yao either start and then go to the bench until the 4th or simply come off the bench period in order to conserve his energy and save his body. It was a strategy that was used by Spurs to great success. Unfortunately, we cannot have him come off the bench unless RA is willing to start Lowry as Yao and Lowry do not mix well. Yao is slow and clumsy and typically clogs up the paint. Lowry on the other hand lives by barreling into the paint and has no range so would be horribly ineffective with Yao. The best thing we can do with Yao is go back to Rudy T's in-out offense. There are strategies to nullify the effects of fronting, but the mainly depend on the following: - AB's ability to penetrate and dish out - Team's ability to recognize fronting and swing the ball around - Consistent three point shooting by our wings or offensive rebounding by Scola and Yao
who said they won't be limiting his minutes already? Its not that radical of a idea when that's the most likely scenario. He's going to come off the bench for a while until he's back on top of his game and can take the starting spot back.
I am sure it is an option, let's just wait and see how his rehab goes, I mean by August it will have been an entire year. DD
