DD is right on, i think. It may be frustrating to us that adlmean equivocates all of the answers in the press conference and is vauge, but ultimately, he IS just protecting his players. Would you rather he rant about the deficiencies of his players loudly and publically? These are very young, very rich people, and half the job of an NBA coach is managing big egos. Will he criticize them privately? Absolutely. Will he publically call them out, and embarass them on national TV? No...because that's how you turn a team against you as a coach. And to ABC--Yao deserved to be yelled at. On the play you are refering to, we played a switch on a pick and roll, and the Mavs isolated Harris on Yao. Had "other rockets rushed to his aid," they would have left players wide open. The Mavs are a smart team, and space the court well. So don't put it on the team. Yao had a one on one with a vastly quicker player, and played it poorly. If you actually listened to what Adleman shouted at Yao, he said "BACK UP". And he's absolutely right about that. Harris is lightning quick and LOVES to get to the basket, but has a shaky jumper. Yao came out WAY too far. He should have stayed back, and encouraged harris to take the jump shot over him...after all, he's a foot and a half taller, even if he gives harris some room, it's not an easy shot. And fouling harris after he got burned is just an inexcusable frustration play. I know you might love yao, but that doesn't mean he's infallible. He made a bad play. Even great players do that sometimes, and coaches can't let it slide. Yao can take it. Popovich yells at duncan as much or more than any of his other players, and because duncan accepts that criticism, the players respect the coach more. Giving Yao preferential treatment when he makes a bad play hurts Yao, it hurts adleman, and it hurts the team. So, to paraphase: you're wrong.
