[Salt Lake Tribune] Amid change, Yao, T-Mac tough to beat

the new system may good for playing with jazz, but how many nights can tmc have touch like that, yao will continue to find himself hard time at the high post, when opponents double him on high post, he's inability to dribble the ball, so turnover will be high. he can shot the ball at the long range, but for past 4 years , he has become the best low post player( thanks to jeff). what the waste!

TMAC is the player who love to create his own shot, most often from screen from big men, he is not the miller-type guy. if he does that , the percentage will be low. and plus it will be another waste.

 

yao was just as bad in the low post tonight. so u cannot blame it on the high post.

tmac might not shoot like this every game b/c nobody can. but his positions on offense allow him to attack utah and every other team like in no ways before. if he struggles w/ his shot (like he did v. the laker to start a game), he can get EASY baskets in this system. when he does, he gets into a rhythm by seeing the ball go into a basket => gets his J (same as lakers)

remember, his first play v. utah tonight => LAYUP. next play => jumper. inside sets up outside most of the time and adelman will seek to do that for tmac

 

I loved that part.

 

I saw Yao in the low post most of the game and he wasn't doing very well and we kept going to him to him which was great to see.

It is amazing how much better Tmac plays when he gets some easy baskets. After that alley oop, his whole game stepped up to a different level even after he had 30 points. After plays like that, he gets his swagger back and that is what makes Tmac great. When he plays with swagger and for fun, there is really nothing you can do.

For the posters that think Yao will struggle in the "high post", we have gone to him in the low post(right outside the lane) several times in these first few games. I think we should start out the game trying to get Yao an easy dunk and his whole game will come together after that as well as Tmac. Don't worry about Yao getting taking from the low post to the high post. Adelman is not an idiot. We all know where Yao's strengths lie and he is going to have nights like these and so will Tmac. We just took what their defense gave us and luckily Tmac was on fire. there will be nights when Yao is unstoppable and Tmac's shot is off but we will continue to go to both of them no matter how off their shot is that night.

 

Although Tamc won't always be this hot, Yao won't always be this cold either. If you still remember what happened in the first half of Lakers' game, you shouldn't worry too much.

 

i'm not talking about the missed shots. i'm talking about how far okur can push him out when he tries to get position. that was the case in the playoffs too. when that happens, he can only resort to fallaways or mini-jumpers and it's hard to make those at a high clip.

 

You are assumming that he had a bad game because he was in the high post most of the time. If you can download the game, you will see Yao struggling in the low post.

 

Yao tweaked his elbow and had a sleeve on. Remember last season, when Yao was struggling and he threw away a sleeve or bandage. He was back to the good Yao.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/5267158.html

 

tmac is moving COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from last yr. i don't think it was the back, but the lack of conditioning and how out of shape he was b/c of the back. i don't think he can run or have his legs for his Js even in the 4th last yr.

again, i just hope yao can establish deeper position where when we pass to him, all he does is just go straight up. no moves no nothing unless he has to. v. the jazz, his positions are horrible. a small tweak in the elbow i don't think can affect his positioning.

 

well, i'm talking about positioning. i'm not talking about other parts of his game that may require skill where the elbow might affect him.

this happened last yr in the playoffs too. are we going back to the knee?

the jazz is too physical of a team for yao. if yao is going to dominate, he has to make all those fallaway shots. i don't see him doing much inside the paint v. the jazz

 

Which is why, in the long run, using him in the high post from time to time is a good idea.

 

what playoff? Yao average 25 pts Vs Jazz last time they met in the playoff. Yao's problem with the Jazz is not offence. Its defending Okur and Boozer.

 

Comparing to last playoff,

Tmac: drive more
Yao: block more
Battier: defending tougher

Obviously, they have been thinking a lot about the playoff lost.

 

He averaged 25 in increased minutes (37), while shooting 44% and turning it over nearly 5 times a game. He had problems on both ends.

 

25 pts on 44% shooting. guards' good fg% is around 45%. tmac shot 39% in that series despite getting 25 pts => sub par.

but for a dominant big man shooting 44% getting the touches he did, that was sub par.

and yes, yao can't defend boozer. not his fault. that's why i advocated the small lineup of howard +hayes more. howard guards okur, hayes guards boozer last yr.

 

Last night, Yao's problem was on both ends of the floor.