Exactly right. Yao needs the other Rockets to be creative and smart in getting him the ball. If he's forced out beyond the paint, pass out and repost. Or run some trickery where you swing the ball around the perimeter strong side to weak side. Or hit Yao when he's flashing across the middle of the paint. And when Yao gets the double cut to the basket, like Scola did so often in the Miami game. Or get out to the three point line and wait for the open shot. Properly used Yao is a formidable weapon, one of the toughest match up's in the entire league. Everybody's got to be on the same page though and playing the offense. When it works it's something to see--the Miami game was just a huge amount of fun to watch.
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wow just think how angry we get. and i do get angry at this, im talking about almost crying with frustration and feeling victimized after yao gets a ridiculous game changing call. i can only imagine how he feels
What is up with Yao and the huge turnover games lately? 4.5 TPG in only 30.8 MPG over his last five. I guess his ridiculous field goal percentage more than makes up for it, but I'm still a little concerned.
YES!!! My legacy lives on! In all seriousness though... I think we need to get a group of 29 people together. Someone buy a jersey for every other team in the NBA, and get one set of season tickets to home games (perhaps in a different location around the court so that he doesn't catch on). And just whale on the guy the whole game... he'll score 30 every game. The tickets would be expensive, but if you are splitting it 29 ways, we're probably looking at 1K each for a seat close enough for Yao to hear us.
No McGrady, no Artest, so teams are game planning for Yao specifically. And one of the key things they do is send a weak side guard to poke out the ball from behind right after the catch. Yao's always had a terrible habit of holding the ball at waist level for a second or two before initiating a move. At 7-6, it's also very easy to cause him to lose his dribble. He has gotten much better at putting the ball on the floor only when necessary.
actually, it we're jsut talking about the last 2 games, he's got whistled for quite a few "offensive fouls" (e.g., the traveling in denver game, or the hip check on wade), which all accounted for his turnovers.
Earlier in the season I thought that maybe the injuries had taken too much out of Yao. He could still have games where he scored a lot of points in some games where he rebounded ok but nothing like we saw a couple of years ago before his first foot break. He just didn't have the lift when he jumped or the quickness to really be what he was. Over the last several weeks though, Yao is starting to show the mobility and lift he had a couple of years ago. Early in the year he was barely getting off of the floor hitting the front of the rim with the ball on attempted dunks gone bad. Now he is dunking with athority in traffic against athletic big men. Sometimes you cant see the difference in the final stat line, sometimes you have to see it with your eyes. And what my eyes are starting to see is the Yao we saw a couple of years ago when he was a serious contender for MVP before he got injured. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hopping against hope that Yao can avoid any injuries for the remainder of the year because if he can...he just might be an unstopable beast during the play-offs. But only time will tell. My last thoughts on Yao's injuries is that he was an iron man his first few years in the league, rarely missing time due to injuries. Now maybe we can get Yao's career back on track.
I agree. I don't know if this is his "annual explosion" or not but one this i have noticed is how he bangs/pushes his way in for a layup or a vertical dunk (if close enough) though Yao has done that in previous years, this season he is extra vary (of player around him not just his defender) and focused while making that particular move and in result of that you see his aggressiveness and he is definitely taking advantage of that every game. In another words IMO Yao has finally learned his why into the basket! which he can use against any player without getting take away on consistent basis or getting offensive foul or any other crap from the officials.
