not fighting you, man. just pointing out that there is a reason that YAO is getting more touches, and it aint because his teammates all of sudden decided to give him the ball more.
It is my impression that this group, Alston and Co. gives him ball more than Sura/James and Co. And, I remember in a Chron article, Tmac told JVG to give ball more to Yao when JVG was prepairing plays for Tmac.
Now that I take another look at his stats posted here, his FG percentage actually declined from 55% to 50%, his FGA is up by 3 pg, his FTA is up slightly from 6.3 to 6.5. It's consistent with what I am saying.
Yao is playing a stretch of great basketball because he is well rested, he makes quick decision and has high confidence. He is also very active. But I am still not sure if he will keep this up. If he could play this kind of basketball until the season ends, then I will become a believer. Forget about all-time greats, just show us 20/10 every night, with occasional bad games of course, then I will say Yao is a TRUE all star, not just being compared to other centers, most of them are pathetic anyway, but to stars in all positions.
If you have watched Yao's last couple years in CBA, and in the international competitions, you'd know that Yao had all the skills and strength to play in NBA. The only things prevent him from playing well in NBA would be his confidence, and whether his body could sustain the 82-game season at a much faster pace. We know there are practice players, and there are game time players. Yao was a practice player in the first couple of years due to his confidence, namely, he had all the skills in the world, but couldn't utilize them in the real game, mainly due to lack of confidence. He was out there reacting & thinking in each of the situations, that's what all the average players doing. Now, with TMac out, with more experience, he is much more confident. He has been out there anticipating, dictating the plays, not simply reacting. This is a sign of greatness, and I hope he can keep it. Average players don't know how to react in different situation, good players react & adapt situation, great players dictate the situation. Yao is in between the good and great right now, is showing the sign of greatness. Yao did become stronger, might have learned a trick of two, and his teamates probably did feed him more, but the most important change is his mental game, IMHO. He now BELIEVES he is good, which makes all the difference.
Yao's touches are up, true, but he has improved in another areas. In particular, his turnovers are way down and his stamina has improved considerably so he can play more minutes. Consider his per-40 minute turnovers over his career: 02/03: 2.9 03/04: 3.0 04/05: 3.2 05/06: 2.8 Granted, that's seemingly only a marginal improvement, but it doesn't take into account that he's getting more "touches" on offense. If you consider his turnover rate, which reflects turnovers per "used possessions", there's a considerable improvement: 02/03: 13.5 03/04: 13.2 04/05: 13.5 05/06: 11.0 In his best years, Hakeem's turnover rate was 10.9, so this is pretty respectable. Shaq has been at 10.1, 11.9, and 11.1 his last three years, and is currently at 12.1.
Shawn Bradley and Yao?? jk For those that say KG was younger, I personally believe that Yao had to overcome more than KG. THink of how far Yao has come. Not too long ago, he required a translator.
I'm not sure the data being reviewed here substantiates that Yao's production is solely a function of his team-mates making a decision to give Yao the ball more. There are other factors - is he doing a better job against fronting defenses, has JVG come up with better schemes to get him the ball, are his team-mates just getting better at making the entry pass etc? Yes his FGA's are up. However there's more to it than just that. Just looking at a breakdown of this 05-06.. Pre-surgery: FGA - 14.4 Post-surgery: FGA - 17.2 So did Yao's teammates all of a sudden decide to give him the ball more after he returned from surgery? I would have doubts about that. Besides just the tidbit above there are other indicators that are improving in Yao's performance as durvasa has pointed out here and other threads that are indicative of other things improving besides Yao's team-mates deciding to give him the ball more.
By the way - I did a whole thread based on applying the "learning curve" theory on this very topic awhile back comparing Yao, KG, Duncan, and others. Not sure it's worth rehashing but if you're interested just click on my profile and look for threads I started that has "learning curve in the title". Season game avg stats are one thing though. It might be interesting to do a comparison of per-minute metrics to see how similar or different their performance has been as well.
Yes, I do think Yao's teammates all of a sudden decide to give him ball more. You need to watch the games to recognize that. On the other side, do you think he has a sudden revelation about his game after coming back from surgery? Equally unlikely. In all seriousness, I think it's a combination of 1) He's rid of the toe problem now. 2) He has fresher legs by sitting out. 3) Alston starts to play better after getting more comfortable with the system. 4) Tmac has his own back issues, they have to rely on Yao more. 5) Anderson who like to put up shots is gone. 6) The team realize it's so much easier to win with Yao on the floor, from the experience of Yao's absence. Yes, they do give him more. 7) Yao's own confidence after seeing how team played without him. Maybe some other factors. I'm not dismissing other factors. Just that the notion Yao suddenly "get it" and leaps to the superstardom makes me uncomfortable.
Good post, I do agree that Yao's confidence seems growing and that helps. Of course it it helps his confidence when the team trust him more. All the good.
Boy that was a backhanded insult if there ever was one. I certainly do watch the games to the chagrin of my wife. I never said that he had a "sudden revelation" about his game nor espoused that view. Infact what's more plausible to me is that his toe being healed was a major contributor to him finding quickness and speed that wasn't there before which lead to a lot of different things. I don't disagree with the 7 factors above. I agree with you he is definitely getting more touches. However, I couldn't see making the conclusion that his team-mates all of the sudden decided to give him the ball more as the key to Yao's increase in FGA's from the data presented. I'm certainly persuadable if you have other data points to demonstrate this however.
Last night is another example. Yao played great. No doubt about that. But not "a changed Yao" great. The difference? The team sticks with him, and he eventually delivered. It wasn't pretty at first. Yao was 2 for 8, or something like that. He missed layups. Blount was giving him trouble defensively. But the team never ceased to look for Yao. Aside from fast breaks, almost every position Yao got the touch when he's on the floor. They swung the ball around, they force feeded him. Well, we all know it's pretty much a given mismatch when Yao is on the floor. And he eventually did wear blount and whoever Minn put on him down. 24 FG attempts, 12 FT attempts, that's hur.....shaq-like. (Shaq had 16/23 FG and 3/11 FT for 35pts and 12 rebs last game they played without Wade). To make team believe in you, go through rough stretches with you, win or lose with your shot, that's huge. And that's the making of a superstar.
I think it's still a mental or confidence thing, though. Earlier in his career, he would have lost confidence or became timid, after missing a few shots, or failed establishing good inside position; of course, his teammates didn't help by moving away from him in those situation. Now, he knew he was supposed to make those plays, and he would get the ball again to make those plays, and the team knows that he would. It's all mental, baybe!
There are still other factors in his improved play of late. Namely, the Rockets have gotten FAR better at re-posting Yao after help defense turns away from him. This is something most opposing coaches haven't seen much at all from Houston until this season, and it allows Yao to get deeper into the paint when facing double teams. Yao's rebounding has also obviously improved. That certainly can't be attributed to "touches." Cleaning up the toe and having fresher legs play into it, but I think Yao really studied what he could do better concerning his rebounding while he was out and genuinely worked on that part of his game. With more offensive rebounds come more points. Several times since his return, including against Minnesota, Yao had his shot blocked, retrieved the ball and dunked it. That sort of "won't be denied" attitude is vital if Yao's to get to another level consistently. Third, Yao has either been instructed or simply decided to attack double teams more often, and he is doing it with confidence. When you are able to effectively attack a double team, you INCREASE your team's offensive options, because now you can either take a reliable shot yourself or pass to an open teammate. It DECREASES the defense's options, because if you're scoring on them they don't have the option of relaxing the doubles or single-covering you. In short, it helps your team control the game. Yao has looked more Shaq-like in the last handful of games than at any point in his career. Here's really hoping he can keep it up indefinitely!
Doesn't it seem like teams are playing behind Yao more than earlier in the season. I remember before that Yao really struggled with fronting defenses. Is he just fighting for post position better, or are opposing forgetting what's worked against Yao in the past?
What willl happen to your thinking if Yao gets past 22 and 11 this season? If he keeps up near to or at his present level he might posssibly do this. What will your thinking be if in three seasons he is doing 30 and 12?
The timing is the key when facing the fronting defense. Yao was either not ready to recieve the ball when the guard wanted to pass, or the guard was not ready to pass the ball when Yao was open. Now, the Rockets seem to determined to get Yao the ball, regardless how hard it takes, that in terms encouraged Yao to keep fighting for the position, knowing that he would get the ball eventually. Confidence from both him and his teammates have changed dramatically from his early career.
and amongst all the stat crunching and suppositions.....comes hippieloser with the truth. you all know I have to watch every second of every game(so dont even go there michecon)..nad what HL says above is EXACTLY why he gets more touches. It is as obvious as the nose on your face. Another thing is....there have been more plays drawn up to find Yao from different angles...they will show a postup on either side, then start going around the arc with each guy looking to get it down into the paint. but the single biggest factor I see....like was said above...REPOSTING. Bill and Bull talk about it often lately....and anyone with even minimal observational skills sees this. like xcomp said....there are two types of fans...those who geekout to stats...and those that actually watch the game with a critical eye to see the things that dont show on stat sheets. we sure could use some of the second types around here..
