Height isn't only an advantage under the hoop, especially on offense. A taller outside shooter can see the hoop better over shorter defenders it also gives them better court vision to dump passes down. Check out how KG sets up in the high post and the offense is run through him or how Sabonis would set up high to take outside shots or pass to cutters. Anyway this is an old debate that has been brought up many times before. I think it is a long standing frustration on the part of many of us here to see Yao used in more ways than just as a classic post player.
Don't forget Hakeem, the best defensive player of all-time. You come out far enough to discourage penetration, which is around the free-throw line area. At worst you're conceding a semi-contested shot off the dribble near the 3-point line.
Stop flaming and start posting. Energy conservation means just that. It doesn't mean he must spend it on the offensive end. It means he has more resources to allow in more effective areas. It means he'll be more capable of both offensive and defensive production later in the game.
I'd like to also add that some coaches style just doesn't fit certain players. One immediate example that comes to mind is Larry Brown and Darko. Darko, who was also more of a face up player was reduced down to a gimp under LB's system. For LB, it was very difficult for him to see big men as anything other than post up players. Although LB was a master of defense, his offense only a couple clicks better than JVG. In contrast, under Flip Saunder's system, Darko was able to face the basket more often, and has shown quite a few flashes of brilliance.
So far this season, Yao looks like he is capable of being a monster on the post up........in the first half. He looses that effect in the second half, just yesterday he scored only one of his nineteen in the second half. If JVG makes him come out more often, rather than post up every singel possetion, he can be a much better scorer. We have no passers on this team, especially none who can deal with a dominant post threat, and until that happens, Yao will continue to miss oppurtunities.
Why can't we have different defensive strategies against different teams with different players? Sometimes a team will have a guard who doesn't even want to take a long jumper, and yet we still send Yao out to force him away. We should try letting our guard occasionally go under picks against bad shooters while Yao stays back. Take Manu for example. he couldn't hit a jumpshot last night to save his life. Yet out comes Yao to deny the long jumpshot, oops, manu just split the doubleteam and got fouled at the bucket. darn. Parker is similar. In the finals, the Pistons went under the screen on him every time, and he could barely make them pay. We need to be more flexible. We're not playing agaisnt Bibby, Kobe, or Stockton ever game, so why defend all players the same way? Mix it up a bit.
