Delete, if this topic is posted. Apology in advance. An inside look at the perception that Yao Ming is underutilized on offense Take, for instance, the curious case of Yao Ming. There is a growing sentiment that the Rockets are underutilizing their All-Star center. Critics point to the number of shot attempts Yao averages per game (13.2 in 08-09) and cry foul, saying it’s borderline criminal that Houston’s most efficient offensive weapon could rank a pedestrian 59th in the NBA in that category. If Yao is truly a star and the team’s best player, so the logic goes, then surely the Rockets are sabotaging themselves by allowing such an injustice to take place. Now know this: Houston definitely does want the ball in Yao’s hands more and all parties involved constantly work, strategize and scheme to make that happen. But that in no way should be taken as confirmation that the team has somehow failed up to this point to take full advantage of its big man. The fact is that one can’t gain proper perspective on a particular player’s usage by merely glancing at shot attempts relative to the league average. For one thing, dominant wing players will almost always have more scoring opportunities than dominant post players because of the inherent responsibilities of their respective positions. Guards and small forwards begin practically every play with the ball in their hands, allowing them to create and often dictate the terms of their own offensive involvement. Big men, meanwhile, are much more reliant upon their teammates to get them the ball, meaning they don’t possess the same sort of freedom to throw up shots in bulk like their smaller brethren typically do. Furthermore, scoring opportunities are about far more than just field goal attempts – getting to the free throw line and, to a lesser degree, turnovers, also need to be taken into account. And sure enough, once you add the totals from those three categories together, Yao suddenly vaults to 26th in the NBA in scoring opportunities. Take it one step further by comparing Yao only to his contemporaries at the center position, thus evening the playing field, and the Rockets big man is suddenly second only to Orlando’s Dwight Howard (please note: Yao actually moves ahead of Howard when minutes played are taken into account). Of course, the misconception regarding Yao goes far beyond just total scoring opportunities. Critics contend the Rockets greatest failing is their inability to get the ball to Yao in position to score late in ball games. Just to repeat: Houston absolutely wants the ball in the Great Wall’s hands as much as possible, especially during crunch time since he is such a dead-eye free throw shooter. And there’s no point denying the Rockets have had issues with teams which have fronted Yao or thrown various double teams at him late in games. But, again, a closer look at the numbers reveals yet another disconnect between perception and reality. This season many Rockets fans have become familiar with the term “high leverage moments.” In short, they are something the team tracks which places a microscope on key moments of the game when the chance of one team or the other winning can shift dramatically. Once again, wing players rule the day here as LeBron James (43.8%), Dwyane Wade (40.5%) and Kobe Bryant (36.3%) claim the top three positions due to the large percentage of crunch time touches they receive. No surprise there. But those who decry Yao’s perceived lack of late game involvement may be caught off guard by what the numbers reveal about his usage. In terms of going to Yao late in clutch situations, the Rockets center ranks 22nd overall – with 24.3% of his team’s “clutch” possessions in the fourth quarter and OT - and first among centers. In fact, the only bigs ahead of him are Dirk Nowitzki (32.4%), Tim Duncan (29.1%), and Chris Bosh (25.4%). That’s it. That’s the list. Interesting to note that Orlando’s Howard ranks 7th among post players at 21.3%, though one assumes much of that is the result of his still shaky free throw stroke. To be sure, there is no great tragedy in getting taken for a ride on the train of public perception. There are a great many myths out there, and some so closely resemble reality that it can be difficult to discern the difference between the two. The only true crime of consequence is to turn a blind eye once the “real” truth has been revealed. For it is those who ultimately will be left only with what Shakespeare described as, “That within which passeth show; These but the trappings and the suits of woe.” http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Mythbusting_Part_I_Yaorsquo-305339-34.html
Good read, though I'll stress that the team, particularly Artest, needs to do a better job passing Yao then rock when he successfully establishes post position.
Great job Fritz. Somebody finally gets it. This isn't the Yao Ming Show. Its the Rockets and they are doing great considering 20+ million of it's cap space was a no show this year.
I think they are under-utilizing Yao for sure. He doesn't get involved enough offensively, I am not sure whether that is Rick Adelman's fault or whether that is the players fault. The Rockets are going as far as Yao Ming takes them, he's clearly the best leader on this team and the best player on this team when or when not healthy. I've always felt like Adelman has done a poor job getting Yao involved, I feel like Adelman's system was more for Tracy McGrady than Yao Ming when he came in. I also felt like he could take the same road Jeff Van Gundy took. It was a good read, but I hope they utilize Yao enough in the playoffs to get them out of the 1st round.
We are but we need to some how give him shots without forcing him the ball. 17 Shots/G - 25.0 PPG 15 Shots/G - 22.0 PPG 13 Shots/G - 20.0 PPG We are under utilizing him but that is your typical "Rick Adelman" system.
Those years where Yao was getting 17 shots a game were not very good years for the rockets offense as a whole. I'm glad that now we have other players taking some of the pressure off of Yao. That said, in the playoffs itll be really important for Yao to be assertive on offense, but he's capable when his team mates give him the ball in the right spots. I'm not really worried about him.
If it weren't for the zone defense rule, the best way to compare Yao would've been to the past. When post players absolutely shoot 20+ times a game easily. Because right now Yao, Shaq, and Duncan are arguably the only stars who consistently stays in the post. And you can't really compare Yao to the stiffs and wannabe centers around the league today.
According to Friedman, Yao's percentage of "clutch" possessions is great for a center. In fact he's the best in the league. (Although to be fair, what other "true" centers besides Howard are there to compare to? I suppose Gasol and Shaq but obviously they're not their team's first options.) And the fact still remains that he's 22nd on the overall list. That means as a team, the Rockets have a primary "go to" guy who is involved in 24.3% of the overall "clutch" possissions. And unlike top bigs like Nowitzki and Duncan, Yao hasn't had the luxury of playing with a consistent secondary "go to" guy this season. (For example, I'll bet when you combine the "clutch" possessions of Duncan and Parker, it goes off the charts.) So while Yao may not be to be blame, which I guess is the point of the article, the Rockets still have to do more to increase Yao's "high leverage moments" if they want a chance at winning in the playoffs without McGrady. That's the reality. I'm not saying dump the ball to Yao every possession, but as Adelman said, Yao has to demand the ball when he has the advantage. And obviously, the team has to do a better job getting Yao the ball, which I think they have been getting better in recent games.
Hey guys i know theres all this stuff about Yao Ming and all but can we please focus on STAYING AWAY FROM THE JAZZZ.... look at this... Western W L PCT GB CONF DIV HOME ROAD L 10 STREAK L.A. Lakers1p-55 14 0.797 0.0 37-7 12-2 31-5 24-9 7-3 W 2 San Antonio2-45 23 0.662 9.5 29-12 9-4 24-10 21-13 6-4 L 1 Houston3 46-25 0.648 10.0 29-13 7-6 29-8 17-17 7-3 W 3 Denver4 45-25 0.643 10.5 27-14 9-3 27-8 18-17 6-4 W 5 New Orleans5 43-25 0.632 11.5 25-15 7-4 25-10 18-15 7-3 W 2 Portland6 44-26 0.629 11.5 22-19 7-5 28-6 16-20 6-4 W 1 Utah7 43-26 0.623 12.0 29-11 10-3 29-6 14-20 7-3 W 2 Dallas8 42-28 0.600 13.5 22-20 5-7 25-8 17-20 6-4 W 1 Phoenix 37-31 0.544 17.5 22-17 9-4 21-13 16-18 4-6 W 3 Alright so lets say we win against the spurs.. then we will be 2nd seed... Utah is 7th seed..then we have a game AGAINST Utah after the spurs game.. lets say portland loses on monday... then if we win against jazz we will be matched up 2 and 7 and if we lose we will drop to 3rd seed and jazz will go up to 6th...is it like a curse? but if we DO play the jazz i can assure u sweet sweet revenge.
agreed. plus, i think "under" or "over" is relative. i don't care about the conclusion of the article that much, but the way it's presenting it is a little shaky.
According to basketball-reference, here is a ranking of centers with at least 1500 minutes played this season by USG% (I added Duncan because he's effectively been a center this season, though he does handle away from the basketball a little more than a typical center). Definition: Usage Percentage (available since the 1977-78 season in the NBA); the formula is 100 * ((FGA + 0.44 * FTA + TOV) * (Tm MP / 5)) / (MP * (Tm FGA + 0.44 * Tm FTA + Tm TOV)). Usage percentage is an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor. Rk Player Tm G MP USG% 1 Tim Duncan SAS 63 2179 28.4 2 Yao Ming HOU 67 2229 26.7 3 Dwight Howard ORL 66 2372 26.1 4 Shaquille O'Neal PHO 61 1854 24.4 5 Brook Lopez NJN 69 2095 20.4 6 Spencer Hawes SAC 65 1876 19.9 7 Brad Miller TOT 57 1739 18.4 8 Marc Gasol MEM 68 2090 17.9 9 Andris Biedrins GSW 57 1722 17.4 10 Al Horford ATL 55 1833 16.4 11 Kendrick Perkins BOS 64 1877 14.8 12 Samuel Dalembert PHI 67 1691 13.4 13 Joakim Noah CHI 67 1554 12.1 14 Joel Przybilla POR 69 1625 10.4 15 Erick Dampier DAL 68 1544 10.2
That seems pretty accurate. Yao probably gets more touches in the post than duncan, but duncan is a little more versatile and he can handle it at the high post. I think the way we use Yao is fine. Sometimes I wish he'd try to get to the line more often, but I think he gets more than enough shot attempts/touches in the post.
Maybe, if he can handle it. Here are all the centers that have had at least a 30 USG% in the last 20 years (going back to the 89-90 season). Tim Duncan never did it (he had a 29.7 USG% once): Rk Player Season Tm G MP USG% 1 Yao Ming 2006-07 HOU 48 1624 33.5 2 Shaquille O'Neal 1997-98 LAL 60 2175 32.9 3 Shaquille O'Neal 1995-96 ORL 54 1946 32.8 4 Shaquille O'Neal 1998-99 LAL 49 1705 32.4 5 David Robinson 1993-94 SAS 80 3241 32 6 Shaquille O'Neal 1994-95 ORL 79 2923 31.9 7 Hakeem Olajuwon 1995-96 HOU 72 2797 31.9 8 Shaquille O'Neal 2001-02 LAL 67 2422 31.8 9 Hakeem Olajuwon 1994-95 HOU 72 2853 31.7 10 Shaquille O'Neal 2000-01 LAL 74 2924 31.6 11 Patrick Ewing 1995-96 NYK 76 2783 31.5 12 Shaquille O'Neal 1999-00 LAL 79 3163 31.2 13 Patrick Ewing 1990-91 NYK 81 3104 31.1 14 Shaquille O'Neal 1996-97 LAL 51 1941 31.1 15 Patrick Ewing 1994-95 NYK 79 2920 30.7 16 Shaquille O'Neal 2004-05 MIA 73 2492 30.5 17 Hakeem Olajuwon 1996-97 HOU 78 2852 30.4 18 Shaquille O'Neal 2002-03 LAL 67 2535 30.2 19 Shaquille O'Neal 2005-06 MIA 59 1806 30 Interestingly, Yao's 06/07 season tops the list. Yao also had a 29.9 USG% in 05/06. For those who us to go back to those years in terms of how often we go to Yao ... does he really need that many touches on this team?
No because on this teams we have alot of guys who can penetrate deep into the paint and score. yao is a greater screener and also a good offensive rebounder. Using him that much in the post takes alot of dimensions away from his game and it also tires him out.
durvasa those are excellent stats, thanks for posting them. I would like to know how you post them though, They always look weird when I Post stats like that. It would be greatly appreciated. I find it odd how Yao's usage % is higher than Hakeem in his prime. I didn't think he had the ball more often than the Dream, but some stats might be flawed. Not too sure about this one.
