So do u guys really think that Cato held Shaq to 16ppg in the first round series against rockets??? Or is it Yao and Cato's double team really limit Shaq??? Or Duncan n Rasho Nestrorovic are just plain suck?? Or maybe JVG is really a defensive genius??? I think people, and all those haters, just forget that Shaq has to guard Yao on the other end of the floor, which really wear him off. I remember readin some where Shaq admit Yao is the most heavier opponents he faced since Gheorhe Mureseum, the 7'7 romainian once played for washington n sixers i think, which is the main reason he wear off quick thus affectin his offensive game.
This is the most accurate assessment of them all. Cato did guard Shaq a lot. But it was a heavy dose of guarding Yao that kept Shaq from going nuts.
from what i remember; malone was left open a lot cause they hepled on others off of him. JVG even said we made malone what he is, because of all the points he scored.
I dont know the reason, but Shaq did not have the look in his eye against us that he does this series. One possibility is that Shaq does a lot of things to make a point. Maybe he was dead set on just stopping Yao against us? Either way, you cant argue the fact that the Lakers did not use Shaq the same way in this series that they did in our games.
1. Cato can't guard Shaq (not that anyone can including Yao). The best you can do against Shaq is to make him less effective and to deny him the ball. 2. When Cato did guard Shaq one on one, Shaq either scored on im or got fouled most of the time. 3. It is not like Cato has never played Shaq before. Last time I checked Cato used to be a starting center for Rox before Yao and Rox played Lakers 4 times a season. Did Shaq average like 16 ppg for 5 head-to-head games? Granted Cato has improved but without Yao, do you trully think Shaq will average 16 ppg? 4. I am not knocking on Cato. I'm just countering some haters who think (or want to think) that Cato is the main reason for Shaq's low performance. 5. I gave Cato a lot of credits just like I gave Yao unlike some haters who dont want to give credit when credit is due. Both of them did good jobs but I believe Yao's effect is bigger. 6. One point most people overlooked is that Shaq has to defend Yao hard on the other end which worn him out a lot.
Cato was getting abused in the first half of game one. IMO, Shaq's poor play was: 50% JVG's sagging defensive scheme which opened up things for Karl 15% Yao's defense, he's undeniably a big body and can frustrate Shaq on occasion 15% Yao's offense tiring Shaq with screens and position fighting. 10% Shaq's FT shooting was horrendous, even by his standards. If he had made just 50% of his ft, his numbers would have looked much better. 10% Shaq just didn't have it for most of the series. He is really starting to show his age.
I don't think it's really Yao or Cato's defenses that stopped Shaq. It was a combination of Yao's offense in game 2, and the fact that Shaq couldn't hit a FT to save his life. If you look at the games, Shaq put up close to his customary numbers except for game 2, when Yao put him in foul trouble. Hence a big drop in average. Also, if Shaq had made at 50% of his FTs, like in previous playoffs, he'd be scoring a bit more. And get the ball more. You could tell the Lakers were shying away from Shaq at times due to his bricks at the line. In addition, all those p&r the Rockets used with Yao really hurt Shaq, as he had to come out and defend. Not something he likes to do. You take a player out of his comfort zone, and his game suffers. The Spurs, of course, doesn't have a center that can put Shaq in foul trouble. The Spurs use the p&r with Duncan, which brings out Malone instead. Nesterovic has no post presence, so Shaq never has to play much post defense that can be tiring. This way, Shaq can concentrate on offense much more. What I'm saying is, Yao did have a big impact on containing Shaq. But it's not his superb man-to-man defense that's making the impact. It's his play on offense.
Everybody is a genius on BBS, inculding myself I guess. But the question was raised to point out the obvious that Yao did his share to guard Shaq or at least to try, and he had somewhat impact on Shaq's numbers. Yao is selected as the Center for the third All-NBA team (I guess it's not voted by Chinese internet users), which might be able to translate to the conclusion that he has somewhat level of skills and achievement, given the fact that the Rockets are back to the playoffs after 5 years, while he happened to be the starting center on the team. Yes, we saw lots of love for Yao here, but also lots of hate. I believe the guy started this thread was just trying to make a point, and hope that some of us could open eyes a little bit, believe what we actually see, not to just picture what we think. There is no one on this BBS saying that we are better than the Spurs. They are the defending champion and they are the favourite this year again. But the fact that Shaq is doing better against the Spurs speaks more for the quality of Rockets' defence. Yao happens to be an important piece of this defence system. You can see that I am trying to avoid the word "center piece", because that might offend some posters here, I guess praise and Yao are not allowed in the same sentence in their vocabulary. Yes, there were help defense. Yes, Cato had great contribution. But I guess if Cato could single-handedly limit Shaq to 16ppg, he would be a max player on some other serious contender teams. As a matter of fact, that nobody outside of this bbs are saying that Cato stopped or limited Shaq mainly. If MoT could hold Shaq on his own, adding his shooting ability, I guess I would not see so many threads everyday claiming that we need a PF. The only reasonable explanation to this bbs is, that everyone outside knows nothing about basketball. It's really about time to give our players some love. I know sometimes it's hard, how about starting with admitting that they did some right things at certain point of this season, and everyone somehow contributed to our playoff experience. Really, to admit that someone is good at some aspects won't hurt us.
SSG, Sometimes maybe you make some points, but mostly you go too far because of your hatred, and that impairs your part of validity. Malone scores a lot simply because rox executes the strategy to double shaq, it is not Yao's faults. Yao has no strength and stamina to defend shaq all the game, but when he is on him, he is most effective in this league IMO. In my view, Yao didn't play well in the offense, but he is pretty solid on the defensive end. If you don't give him the credit he is deserved, you are just blinded by your hatred. Finally, when someone performed bad, don't say it is because he doesn't care. This is a really really bad excues for any player in the rox or other teams. -Littlefish
As much as i dont like Shaq, the big guy has the best hands for a big man!!. some of the passes he catches is Awesom!!. People need to give the guy some Credit!
Right on! Shaq is too good to just play simple double-triple teaming on. You have to attack Shaq. Yao is the only center capable of attacking Shaq right now. Shaq spent more than half of his energy on defense of course he couldn't go nuts.
