Rick Adelman On How to Deploy Yao Ming & Tracy McGrady

Adelman knows a lot more basketball than I do, so I'm assuming he's right in that Yao can be a great passer in the high post. If so, it will definitely help Yao out in terms of fatigue over the course of the game. If he can be part of the offense without having to tire out in the low block, this team's offense can run a lot smoother when Yao's not getting it done down low.

I'm not concerned about Yao totally becoming Divac/Miller though. I don't see how any fan can reach that conclusion. Yao is the Rockets most efficient scorer. Why someone as smart as Adelman take that away makes no sense. He's only trying to make sure Yao doesn't get murdered at the low post every possesion. That hardly means Yao will park himself at the high post every time down.

 

It's pretty obvious why Adelman wants Yao to move away from the basket part of the time. Last year, the Rockets' offense was stagnant and dependent on good 3 point shooting. Sure, the other teams had to choose what to give up, but everybody in the arena knew what was coming. That was why the Jazz were able to close out on our 3 point shooters effectively.

Similarly, Yao's offense was stagnant and easy to defend. Part of this was because he lost a step coming back from injury, but if you read the playoff interviews, Okur said that he knew what Yao was going to do by his body position as soon as he got the ball.

Adelman is going to mix this up to give opposing defenses fits. They won't know what decision that they are going to have to make until the last second, and that will cause them to make mistakes.

Weslinder, you think that a guy as smart as Yao with his 7'6 point of the view in the center of the court isn't going to be able to adjust a little and take advantage of these mistakes?

Yao_fan_2007, don't you think Yao needs to advance in the playoffs to make the Hall of Fame? Charles Barkley and Ewing at least made it to the NBA Finals. Neither Yao nor TMac are going in the Hall without some playoff success. Their current records are embarrassing.

The Rockets will average 5-10 points more per game, and Yao IS going to be more successful by expanding his game. We are finally going to see synergy on the Rockets where the game is easier for Yao and Tracy because their games will complement each other's fluidly.

 

Terrible post. All you are talking about is Yao Ming this, Yao Ming that. This is a Houston Rockets board, not a Yao Ming board. Thankfully Yao Ming himself will do whatever it takes to help the ROCKETS win, not himself looks good.

Yao is an amazingly talented player. Yes, he can score in the low post but he has a pretty sweet shot too. How much of a nightmare would he be if his opposing player had to defend him in the low post and 10-15 feet away from the basket?

When he first came into the league everyone raved about his passing ability. I think its still there, it just withered away with JVG's all defense, no offense mentality. Why are you against passing? The more ball movement, the easier shots everyone will get, Yao included.

 

Until the playoffs, and Jerry Sloan's "They can't call everything" defensive philosophy, Yao's offense was unstoppable.

 

You cant resist you'reself can you?. you have to have a dig at tracy to make yao look good. yao dosent need anyone to make him look good. he s that good. Pryuen is the perfect fan. he cares about he's player, but he also understand that team success will define how good yao will be when he is retierd.
BTW, Adelman never aid yao will avge 18 a game. he said he will try to get the most out of yao's creative side. meaning yao will he's height and IQ to setup the offense and creat open looks.

 

I don't need to do anything to make Yao look good. I only bought up T-Mac because Yao is a very efficient shooter so him shooting MORE will not hurt the team but him shooting LESS will. Why decrease the scoring of your most efficent FG % shooter? So you think that increasing your less efficient scorers and decreasing your most efficient scorer will help the Rockets win more?


T-Mac averaged 43.1 FG% during the regular season.
In the playoffs of last year, he averaged 39.4% FG%.

In game 2, T-Mac shot 31%. He threw the ball 29 times.
In game 3, T-Mac shot 39%, chucking the ball 23 times.
In game 4, T-Mac shot 33%.
IN game 6, T-Mac shot 34.8%.

So in a 7 game playoff series, T-Mac shot < 40% 4 out of the 7 games. That is atrocious.

Let's look at Yao Ming.

During the season, Yao averaged 51.7%, needing 17.1 FGA to score 25.0 points.

During the playoffs, Yao averaged 44%.

In game 2, Yao averaged 37.5%, shooting the ball 24 times to score 27 points.
In game 5, Yao averaged 33.3%, shooting the ball 18 times.

That is only 2/7 games in which he shot < 40%. Compare that with T-Macs 4/7.

In the other 5 games, Yao shot much better.

Game 1: 44.4%
Game 3: 42.9%
Game 4: 53.3%
Game 6: 56.3%
Game 7: 45.0%


How can it help the team for Yao to shoot LESS?


Adelman should apply his motion offense to the other players not named Yao Ming. T-Mac will benefit from it. So will Luther Head, and others.

But Yao Ming should continue as he has been: Staying in the Low - Post, and shooting at a high percentage >50%.

And he should keep his average around 25 / 10.

 

What a joke. Give me a break. I, like most people on this board, am a Rockets fan. I like Yao, but I am a Rockets fan first. I want to see the Rockets win and dont care what it takes. What is truly amazing, is that you are more concerned about Yao's stats than he is. I dont know Yao personally, but from what i have learned about him over the past few years from him being here, is that he does not give a crap about personal stats. I believe that Yao would be happy to score 5 points a game as long as him team is winning. Yao is a true team player like no one else in the NBA. It is a shame that you are more worried about Yao than he is. How can you sit there and spew this garbage about how Yao's scoring better not go down, when you know good and well that Yao would gladly sacrifice his minutes, scoring, whatever to help his team win. Why dont you let Yao worry about his own personal stats?

 

You are out of your mind. Yao was shooting the ball from 10 feet away whereas Tmac was shooting much further most time. What do you expect their shooting percentage to be? Both player shot less efficiently in the playoff. And Tmac played better than Yao in the playoff, which is a fact that a normal basketball fan can recognize. For your very first arguement, I don't give a sh@t whether Yao can be selected in Allstars if he can wear some rings and hang some banners inside TC. Player performance should be measured in team achievement, not single stastistics.

 

Have you guys considered that RA isn't as dumb as to make Yao into a strict high post player?

 

Pryuen, I believe that Yao's shoulder injuries are phantom injuries, and are exaggerated as a way for Yao to not play for the CNT. Yao's injuries also provide a way out for CNT so as to save face.

Do you really think Yao's injuries are that severe? Think man, THINK! If he had a detached cartilage, he cannot shoot the ball, much less raise his arms. His career would be threatened itself. Yeah, maybe he has some SLIGHT shoulder discomfort, but it is nothing serious. They ( Yao's management team, and possibly CNT ) are exaggerating the injury as a way for Yao to escape his CNT duties.


Yao's career longetivty is not impacted even 1% with his low-post playing.

Here are Yao's factors that WILL reduce his career:

1> 7'6, and 310lbs. That in itself will reduce his career. He won't play past 35 years old.

2> His off-season commitments for CNT.



His low-post grinding has ZERO impact on his career longevity. ZERO.

 

Sorry but you are the typical dumb T-Mac only fan.

You think that Yao being doubled, tripled in the paint is easy for him to score? You think that nobody is guarding him when he is in the paint?

T-Mac for the most of the time, is single covered out in the perimeter. Can you at least admit he sucks at 3 point shooting? How many 0-8 3PT do you need to see?

Yao Ming is a much more efficent Shooter than T-Mac ever will be. Get that through your dumb head.

 

Thanks for the translation Pryuen.

Now as to the disagreement.

A: Yao Ming isn't going to lose effectiveness moving out of the box. He will still make plays in the paint in this offense, but he will have less double teams and more room to move.

Suppose you set up Yao up above the FT and get him the ball. He now has at least three options. 1. make a move and shoot a jumper 2. watch for a cutter and pass for an easy layup or an open jumper 3. back his man farther into the paint and make a move closer to the basket

B: The movement on offense isn't going to be something Yao can't handle. We are talking about a guy who was doing just fine setting a screen for tracy and rolling to the basket. That is the kind of movement Adelman is talking about... its not like the man is going to have Yao running all over the court. Think swift short motions across/over/around the paint area.

C: Yao is going to work hard in whatever offense the coach puts him in, there is no way a new offense is going to slow down his progress. If anything think of it as more weapons. He can still post up on the blocks, but he will have more offensive options.

Now if we can get him to start blocking shots like Deke... he will be darn near perfect! LOL

 

You don't actually give him the "Rockets fan first" arguement. Even a normal YOF knows Yao needs to accomplish NBA titles to put himself into history, hence team performance is always a priority. This guy is not a YOF, but a DYOF (dumb YOF that is).

 

They are having too much fun arguing over who's the bigger fan to think logically like that. LOL

 

I have the feeling that under Adelman, Yao will unleash his true potential.

Yao became very effective as a scoring machine under JVG. But I believe Yao has such great potential as to be more than just a scoring machine. If yall recall Yao's first year in NBA, he showed glimpses of being a very interesting and innovative basketball player. High basketball IQ. He could do many amazing stuff on the court: twist & turn, shanghai-shake, dribble to the basket from beyond the free-throw line, scoop-shots, wonderful assists, even shooting a perfect 3 pointer with perfect form, etc etc etc. But then over the next few years, JVG has forced Yao into a almost one dimensional player: a low post threat.

As of now, Yao is a very very good center. But I mean who knows. Perhaps Adelman is going to unleash a super Yao that is free to do anything he sees fit on the court, an impulsive player that performs to the full extent of his abilities (not just scoring). I hope Yao becomes the true force that Bill Walton has been hoping for ("Yao is going to be a center like we've never seen before").

 

And why do you think that for the Rockets to win, Yao's scoring MUST go down?

Yao is not a Steve Francis, who needs to shoot 25 times to score 20 points. HE IS THE MOST EFFICEINT SCORER.

It hurts the Rockets for Yao to take LESS SHOTs. It HELPS the Rockets for Yao to SHOOT MORE because he has a HIGH FG%.

Why are you so dumb that you think Yao's scoring must decrease? Is he inefficient like T-Mac? Is he like Steve Francis?

 

Agreed. It's not like Yao didn't move before. JVG always had him moving from one side of the post to the other-- usually banging hard with his man all the while-- in his offense. I very much doubt Rick Adelman's offense will consume more energy than Van Gundy's.

 

All Adelman said was Yao's ppg may drop, they may not. At this point it is too early to tell, but what he does know is that Yao Ming himself cares much more about team success rather than his own stats (too bad some of his own fans don't agree with him). Tracy feels the same way. Then he went on and on about how having two unselfish superstars is great for his system.

Saying that Yao has a Brad Miller shooting touch and Divac passing-ability, coupled with his already dominant post game is a real compliment. Too bad some people take it out of context.

I like that Yao and the team as a whole are going to try and look to get easier shots. Yao is a very underrated passer, and I cannot wait to see him become more versatile under Adelman.

 

Please go back and re-watch the playoff. Yao was single-covered by Okur the whole time. I am not trying to diss Yao to make Tmac look better. I am giving you a fact. You may argue Yao was still affected by the injury but him being single-covered by Okur was a FACT.
For the record, I didn't watch NBA until 05 or late 04, the very first reason for me was Yao. I began to watch Rockets games because of Yao. But I learnt over time to love the entire team. Well, not everybody but I like Hayes and Battier's hustle, Tmac's penetration (hated it when he put himself into a passive mode), Head's 3 points and even the recent Greek loser. Like I said, in the end, a player's achievement is measured by the success of his team. I wish Yao can win several titles, if that should come with a dip in his personal stats, let it be; you apparently believe Yao should be on par with KG and that is the only way to prove his success in the NBA.