Dwight is strong and quick enough to seal his man and keep him from fronting.. Yao has the legs to seal his man but he's not quick enough to stop the fronting.. teams will start doubling and fronting Yao at the end of games.. unfortunately, we haven't seen satisfactory solutions for these strategies yet
Here are the possible factors for Dwight: more shots off offensive rebounds (definitely) less double teams on post catches (perhaps ... not sure) better at receiving the ball in the post (perhaps ... not sure)
Which then turns into a turnover. Yao cannot catch a ball in traffic like that. Didn't he fumble atleast 2 catches in the Spurs game that were identical to the scenario you are describing?
I don't mean toss the ball to him, I mean physically put the ball into his hands like a quarterback puts the ball into the hands of a running back. If they overplay the handoff, have Brooks pull up for a jumper or take it to the basket while their center is preoccupied.
Sorry, but if they bite on the play action the best move is to have Brooks look deep into the secondary, if Landry doesn't draw any safety help over the top I like him out there one on one against the opposing DB's.
I agree that the solution is to get Yao the ball a lot the whole game. That way, the guys will be used to it and if they want to start fronting, they most likely will have started before the 4th quarter so that we can adjust for it early on. Go to Yao early and often. This has other benefits. I don't have stats but I'm pretty sure that games where Yao gets off to a good start... like shooting 7/9 for 18 points in the first half or something like that, we have a great winning percentage. Also, if Yao is not feeling it early, we can know early that we should work in Scola and Brooks' 3-pointers. If all else fails, have Scola become the focal point of the post-offense instead of Yao. That way, our offense is still inside-out and the other guys don't have to scramble like chickens with their heads cut off.
