I was intrigued by the substitution pattern from the last game, especially the second half. I think a better substation pattern for Yao is take him out around 4 min mark in the first and third quarter, and re-inserted him at 8 or 9 min mark. In the second and fourth quarter, take him out at the 5 min mark and re-insert him at 8 min mark. The pros of this substitution patterns are: 1. Yao¡¯s total minutes will be around 32- 34 min. 2. Yao will play the end of each quarter. Yao is not a quick shooter thus a lot of time that we observed his basket was nullified because the foul before shoot and we did not get free throws. He will get call from time to time by posting up and the other player foul him to fight for the positions. Late in the quarter, statistically, the other team will have more than 4 fouls. 3. T-Mac will still on the court while Yao is out. 4. For a guy who lacks of stamina, it will be better for him to have more small breaks than a long one. He will get at least 7 breaks plus all the timeouts. 5. The other team usually has a strategy to contain Yao and Yao is usually not involved with early offense. This could also throw off their defensive strategy and substation patterns. Any thoughts, too bad I am not the coach.
Unless you have a time machine, I don't know how this is possible. I personally am a fan of letting Yao play in every quarter at least 9 minutes, giving him 36 total. Personally, I think the best way to do this is to go to the 3 minute mark in the 1st and 3rd and reinsertion at the 9 minute mark in the second and fourth. Generally, the 2nd and 4th quarters should have more timeouts, especially the 4th as time expires, to battle exhaustion.
from observing Yao the past 3 years, he seems to tire quickly. However, he also seems to recover quickly. Like if hes tired and JVG calls a timeout, it seems like hes back up to nomal. I dunno if this post has a point...just my 2 cents
Why do I need a time machine First quarter: 4+3 = 7 min Second Quarter 4 + 5 = 9 min That is 16 min in half and 32 min for the total game instead of 36. Of course if he approves to the coach that he can take more minutes, he will get addition 2-4 min.
It's not important when Yao will be on/off the court, it's how he is used when he is on the court. Big men seem take longer time to get into their glove since they don't handle the ball, like the small guys. The way to get them fire up early is to go to them early on offense, which usually makes them play better defense. We had some games last year with the ball exclusively went into Yao early in the 1st, and he played better in those games.
It's the way you worded it. If you were to take him out with 5 minutes left in the quarter it would be impossible to put him back in with 8 minutes left...
One thing I noticed last night was that JVG yanked Yao anytime Yao struggled with quickness defensively. That was exactly what happened in the 4th. The TWolves put smaller, quicker guys out there and Yao was getting out-quicked, particularly on the defensive end. Like most coaches, JVG plays matchups until he can't any longer. He played matchups in the 4th until he had to have Yao on the floor and then he brought him back.
Yao's substitution pattern in most cases is determined by Yao fitness and stamina level. QED. Everything things about Yao's game folows suit. If he is not huffing and puffing his defense and rebounding does not suffer. Simply put, Yao's stamina is the key - everything else is secondary and superficial.
