Well...I think Yao just needs to learn how to hold on to the ball...he is still bringing the ball down from time to time and needs to dunk the ball everytime...I dont want to see Yao at the high post anymore...Yao should be DEEP in the post at all times!! He does need to be benched when he is not being effective...and we can usually tell if he is going to be a factor or not pretty soon...I say let him start the begining of every quarter and bench him as needed.
It all depends whether or not we can get Yao the ball on the other end. If he is getting mercilessly fronted/shutdown, then there is no point in having him in there against 5 jumpshooters. HOWEVER, if we can actually get in in the post with the ball against a 6-9 guy, then we can afford to let the other team shoot 20 footers while we pound it inside.
There are only a handful of teams in teh league that use 5 perimeter players. The fact that we extended Deke's contract means that a traditional center is needed in our play. But of course we can't deny the fact that more teams prefer to go onthis direction, quickbasketball. That's why I would not think twice to trade Yao for a quick and big center like Stoudemire ( before injury ) or Magic's Howard. Not to mention that the leauge's rules do not favor big men anymore.
A hard question. Yes for now. But I am hoping Yao will finally find a way to get lob pass and punish those guys who front him. Then we definitely say NO to this question.
You have GOT to be able to bench him. This is still a team; whether the first quarter or the last. Coach has 43 minutes to figure out who's effective and what's working. If Yao is not effective and/or the rotation isn't working, bench him. The team is on the court to win, not to practice.
If you think benching one of your franchise players for extended minutes, much less a whole game or playoff series because of match up problems is the right option, you should just trade him. Either you find a way to punish teams for going small on him or it doesn't make sense to build a team around a player who you can't count on in every game.
no, yao has become our biggest asset since the disappearance of tracy McLady, scola or hayes in the place of yao would be a downgrade in any situation. Instead, the dumbass head coach adelman should utilize yao to an advantage against teams w/o centers like goldenstate, i mean for christ sake, the guy is the only 7-5 guy in the whole league. just tell the donkey rafer alston to throw the ball high above the reaches of 6 feet 11 centers in the post, and watch the magic happen.
he's our best player out on the floor, why would you want to bench him? its not like we have other players screaming, "give me the ball and i'll make it!". outside of him, tracy's out duh, we can't rely on anyone else that will contribute on a consistent basis.
Some of ya'all are looking though the wrong end of the telescope. If at ANY point during a game Yao's defensive quickness is matchup favorable to the opponent, why remove him? Makes more sense to surround him with taller, quicker teamates to stop penetration, make quicker rotations, play passing lanes and make blocks from the weakside. Those are the same type of players who can slash and finish when the opponent double and triple teams Yao. It makes no sense to me to cave in when you should be exploiting. Just my .02 and I realized we can't get those players over night. But Yao HAS been here awhile.
Going Small!? Yao is one of the 2 best players in your team and you want to take him out because other teams go small? It's so funny. Phil Jackson doesnt think so. The Rockets have problems passing the ball to Yao. How often do we see a lob pass to Yao when he's fronted? And that's not Yao's fault.
Why would you want your best player sitting down in the 4th quarter, especially with someone that normally shoots with a high percentage? The Rockets have an advantage of a mismatch every second he is in the game. The problem is that the Rockets are not taking advantage when Yao is double-teamed. That’s the problem that needs to be dealt with.
You make a good point here. It's not impossible to surround Yao with players that will mask his defensive deficiencies and complement him better on offense, even against small, athletic teams like Golden State. It's just hard to do, and we obviously don't have the personnel for it. It's unfortunate that the players we got that fit your description of tall, quick, athletic slashers (T-Mac, Bonzi, Snyder) also happen to be our weakest help defenders. I agree, it would sure be nice to have a Shawn Marion or Gerald Wallace on the team to play next to Yao.
Precisely. We have an mismatch advantage, in theory. In practice, the matchups have tended to favor the other team. It's not all Yao's fault. We don't have players who are adept at getting him the ball. And as GATER pointed out, we lack skilled athletes who can make up for his defensive limitations by covering more ground (a Shawn Marion type), or make offensive plays to counter how teams defend Yao.
The problam really is not on the defensive end. He is almost useless on the offensive end against Warriors, in most games against Suns, against Jazz, against Mavs when they go small, against Knicks when they go small, against Kings when they use Miller as center, ...
The reason Yao is having career high minutes is when Yao is off the court, opponents keeps going to the hole and we could do nothing about it. We don't have a 2nd shot blocker except Deke, and Deke is even slower than Yao.
My concern is that it's not like Yao isn't getting the ball just because of double teams. He has difficultly establishing position close to the basket against a lot of these smaller players. Even when they play behind him, he can't be aggressive in getting too close to the basket, because he's liable to draw a charge. And we know that Yao's efficiency drops considerably when he's outside about 8 feet from the basket. Last year, at least, he had a turnover jumper that was money. It seems to me that he hasn't been converting on those as efficiently. I'm not sure about point in the paint given up, but our team defensive rating has been slightly better this season when Yao is sitting, including better eFG% defense and more turnovers forced. Defensive rebounding not as good, though.
This is the dilemma to have him on the team. The new coach is suppose to make Yao's life easier. Do you see it? I sure did not.
By watching the game, RA normally put Yao right back in once opponents changes their strategy by attacking the rim more or get too many offensive rebounds. On offensive end, Yao is still the most efficient scorer Rockets have, guys like Rafer don't turn the ball over too many times when passing to Yao, some other players just need to learn how.
The day you bench Yao is the day he request a trade, and you don't pay someone max to come off the bench.
