This proved that we should never expect Yao Ming to be anything more than a decent center. People are pissed off, myself included, because we expect him to be like Dream, Shaq, Ewing, and the other great centers.
The thing is even if Dream, Shaq, Ewing, Robinson etc had a "bad game" per se in terms of offensive output... they always found another way to make an imprint in the game. Whether it be shutting down the opposing center, grabbing a bunch of rebounds, making a hard foul so the opposing team doesn't get easy lay-ups, protecting the paint what have you. When Yao plays bad EVERYTHING is BAD! He's like a deer in headlights having flash backs of his first NBA game.
It's becoming an epidemic here in this early start to the season. People who won't admit this is a troubling issue are just too blind in their fanaticism to call a spade a spade. People are quick to defend Yao because because he puts up a double-double, but it really is concerning that he stuffs himself on wide open dunks. The on last night was even more clearly all on Yao than the blown dunk the game before where he was supposedly fouled, although he replay looks like the foul was mostly incidental contact. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=156570 I love Yao and I think he is a really important piece for the Rocket's attempt to make a championship run, but he has to step up if the Rockets are going anywhere.
Yao was around for most of the streak--the first 12 games if I'm not mistaken. The loss to the Celtics last night also snapped his personal win streak at 19 games, btw.
12 games, thanks for the refresher. Hopefully, all of this will die down if Yao can stay healthy the whole year and regain some of his play from last season. If he goes down again with a significant injury I think that starts some serious discussion in the Rockets organization about how to proceed in the future with or without Yao.
Yao wont be any of those, but i think he is above a decent center...very talented...but he needs to toughen up, not give a crap about the last play and move forward, i say inject him with some steroids!!
This is not just one game. Nor is it typical...but saying that everyone is freaking out after just one game is silly. As another poster mentioned, when Yao struggles, he STRUGGLES. He doesn't just have a bad shooting night, or a bad rebounding night, or whatever...it's like he shuts down for the evening, like he did last night. I've gotten to the point where I don't think it's realistic for us to expect dominance from Yao night in and night out. Others have mentioned that against slower, more lumbering bigs, Yao can really utilize his skill set. But against faster, more athletic bigs, he is overmatched. I think this is a coaching issue. Against the Thunder and Grizzlies, it makes sense for Yao to be a real focal point of the offense. Against a much more athletic team down low like Boston, he needs to conserve his energy because we need his DEFENSE, and he's not nearly as effective on the offensive end. But to try to use Yao as the focal point of your offense against everyone not only is ineffective, but it wears down Yao and he gives us 60 games a year. I like Yao. But I don't think he's the best player on this team. Frankly, I don't even know if he's the second best player on this team. But when he starts bumbling around offensively like he did last night, we've GOT to stop going to him over and over again. When we keep him in the game in that situation, that's when you see McGrady lose trust in him and start pulling up for jumpers. Luckily, they were falling last night--but usually they're not. And where the hell is Joey Dorsey? Not that I expect anything OFFENSIVELY from him, but we were getting our asses handed to us in the post last night. Let's use the little size we have.
When the game gets rough and tough, Yao disappears because he can't play well in that environment. As long as we're playing mediocre teams or even good teams with soft interior defenses or at least a soft personality like Dallas, Yao will play well. The Lakers interior defense is rather soft, so Yao should play well. In the West, Utah and the Spurs should bother him the most. In the East, it's Boston. Yao will dominate if we can avoid these teams in the playoffs. Good news is we can still beat Utah and San Antonio if healthy because of his teammates. Against Boston though when practically everyone is getting shut down, we're in trouble. This is why he, nor anyone else should be automatically considered the 1st option by default. When Yao faces Boston, feeding him the ball and running the offense through him is pathetically dumb. That would be the time to try something different, like running a high post offense, or simply using him as a decoy. Hell, just let him focus on offense rebounding.
lol...I laughed at the title, but it was just one game...I admit Yao was playing like a D-league player, but I think he will recover next game.... Seriously, I can't take anymore alston....everytime he shot, I went crazy....smh...
1. It was ONE GAME. 2. Yao was averaging 22/11 before this game. 3. Yao played 39+ min the previous 3 games. 4. IT WAS ONE GAME. People need to realize that everyone has off days. This was just Yao's bad day. And its not like Celtic D is crap. They have the best defense in the league! AND, they are the defending champs! People on this board saying that Yao is a big liability, or that Yao needs to be traded, needs to get off their high horse, and calm down. You want to trade away the franchise? You guys think a duo of Mac and Artest is better than the trio? Come June, you guys will regret your words if Yao is actually traded. I would shudder if some of you haters out there were commanding the Rocket's front office.
I have not seen a bigger hater on the planet than Starscream. Yeah right Shawn Bradley. Let's trade T-Mac for Jamal Crawford. He hits threes!
You are right, Yao had a very bad game, and everyone got mad, that is ok. But to say that he is no long good, need a nickname, need to be traded, those all are stupid. I suggest some of you wait until the next game, then start say some stupid things. To me, Yao is still mentally weak, that is a big problem. But this can also be said for Tmac and Rafer, Luther etc. That is why we need the guys like Artest, Scola who are mentally strong.
Not surprising ....all you have to do is get physical with him and He is done. If he cant score he is useless. He wont start rebounding like crazy , command the paint or block anything the opposing team throws at him. Point blank dunks . Point blank dunks. best center in the leaugue
I said it once and I'll say it again. Look at Yao's numbers against Dwight Howard, one of the most physical and athletic players in the league. He owns Dwight. Yao does have problems when they front him. They should counter that with Yao cutting to the basket for an easy alley-oop or layup. Just something they have to work on. I guarntee Adelman saw that and is working on the teams counter to it. Luckly, we have plenty of 6-10 guys for him to practice on Oh, and the point blank dunks will pass. That was just a fluke. He'll work on it and get his timing right.
Very well said, if anyone gets a little physical on Yao, it's over for him... especially Najera or Collison. It's tough for Yao to get leverage due to his height. He needs to start some plyo or serious strength conditioning.
Yao was not the only one that had a bad game: R. Artest 37 3-16 3-10 6-9 3 4 7 1 2 1 0 5 15 Y. Ming 28 4-14 0-0 0-0 1 6 7 0 0 2 0 3 8 R. Alston 30 1-6 0-4 2-2 2 2 4 7 1 1 0 1 4 C. Landry 12 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 2 0 1 0 4 2 They all shot poorly, and added turnovers and fouls, and we only lost by four. Make only two more shots and one less Technical foul and we possibly pull out the win.
So you are saying we should hang around and wait till Yao is vindicated by having a huge game against much lesser teams? What point does that prove? Yao comes up big against teams that aren't as good as the Rockets? Let's see how everyone plays against the next playoff/championship caliber opponent.
Besides the dallas game, yao's shooting has been a concern. Memphis game he shot at 6-14 OKC game he shot at 6-15 and last night was a pathetic 4-14. There is no excuse for a 7-6 interior scorer to be shooting that badly.
