I didn't see that foul, though I heard about it. Yao's was worse in terms of sheer "WTF was he thinking?" I can understand what would lead a player to commit a hard foul in a blow out. I can't even fathom what was going on in Yao's brain on that play.
There is a reason coaches make u shoot free throws after a lot of running. When you get tired, the first thing happens is mental fatigue and loss of concentration. The rox probably were tired. Its not a excuse, but that stuff happens. Big shot by Shane, but unlike some, I expect him to take and finish the play.
ariza's play was bad, but yao's play, with no hyperbole, really is one of the stupidest things i've ever seen. it's not even a heat of the moment thing like webber forgetting they didn't have a timeout. yao knows he is slow and has no business reaching in on point guards. he has about 1000x less business doing so when he has 5 fouls, there are 2 minutes left, and he's giving a 90% ft shooter 2 free throws with no clock running. it's not even like he came close to making the steal or like billups wasn't paying attention either. at some point for a split second his brain had to be thinking "am i really reaching in on chauncey billups at midcourt in a close game with 5 fouls...because it feels like i'm doing that...and that would be pretty stupid." about the only thing comparable i can think of would be if chuck hayes grabbed a rebound and then dribbled up the court and jacked up a 3 that practically cracked the backboard. in the finals. in game 7. with 2 minutes left.
These types of threads says more about how low the standards are for what consitutes a good game by Battier than anything else. Should we start a thread everytime he has a bad shooting game too? We'd be some busy people. I'm glad he made the shot, but I remember a time when role players like Maxwell, Smith, Elie, Horry, and even Carl Herrera would step up on a consistent basis.
You know its funny. Ever since all this stat stuff has become the rage with Morey being the GM and all and all the coverage Battier's gotten recently and trying to quantify his worth. There have been several people come on here and say that they've done some statistical analysis that shows Battier's ineffectiveness. They inevitably post shooting percentages to prove he's worthless, completely ignoring the fact that those are the exact type of "stats" that people like Daryl Morey put little value in. Ah well. Thanks Battier for saving the day.
I would attribute the horrendous free throw shooting to the collapse of the big lead more than anything. This is the worst free throw shooting game I've seen from the Rockets in a long time (and it's not just one player..it's across the board). The fact that it was also a B2B certainly factored in with the inevitable fatigue, esp. late in the game. But an abysmal free throw shooting night definitely almost lost the game for the Rockets tonight. But I think the Rockets are better for it that they won an ugly game in an ugly fashion. It not only builds character, but you can never have too many ways to win a ball game.
What the? What exactly was exchanged during that interview? Did it seem heated? Please explain in detail. Thanks!
it wasn't heated, just weird. brooks came by bill and bull during their post game and they tried to do an impromptu interview. asked about free throws, and aaron joked it was the altitude. bill told him jokingly to go do his radio interview, and AB started play punching left and rights into bill's side as he was leaving. bill turned to look at him with a weird face and said "if he keeps using me as a punching bag, i'm going to smack him in the face" that line was just really awkward and then they just went about their business with the post game, oddly enough, praising brooks and lowry if i remember correctly. nothing serious, just awkwardness because of what bill said and a 'stop doing that sh@t' tone he had.
Preach on preacher....7 years in the league and he should know better, I think Yao's BBall IQ is overated. DD
it was boneheaded for sure, but I wouldn't expect you to say something so shortsighted as Yao having low Bball IQ.
I did not say low, but he makes a lot of the same mistakes now that he made as a rookie, he should have grown beyond those. I mean reaching in...really? That was beyond stupid. DD
What are some of Yao's attributes that you think indicates he has an above averagae basketball IQ? Let's say, compared to Shaq.
Other than the boneheaded play last night what else does he do that shows he has a low basketball IQ.
With Yao, it's sometimes hard to distinguish him being slow mentally from him being slow physically. I usually give him the benefit of the doubt. Because of his slowness, he has a smaller margin for error than a lot of other players. Offensively, I don't think he's particularly good at reading defenses or quickly delivering the ball to the open guy. I'd like him to be better at making an outlet pass when he gets the defensive rebound.
True thats his weakness is the turnovers that come from him being swarmed when he gets the ball. He gets striped alot from his blind side and fouled. But those don't necessarily indicate he is "slow mentally". The other teams knows it's his weakness is his hands and they gameplan to swarm him. He is gonna turn the ball over a few times but he is to high percentage when gets his spot.
