Sane, Pike is just going to come in and do his thing but he is not going to be some savior since the team is 2nd the league in shooting. It just is not a problem at this point. The article in the Chron puts it right. Yao is involved and is probably the one mostly responsible for the team good outside shooting to this point. Should he take more shots? Yes we would like that but people have to recognize that Ming himself has to step up more on many fronts. He has to want it which he said is coming and he has to be better conditioned. It is a clear fact that his conditioning will not allow him to take 20 shots a night on a sustainable basis. NJ's Scott said the biggest difference he saw in the rock was a concerted effort to run the ball and do the early offense thing. That too would make it look like Yao is being ignored. If we look at it differently, if we continue to establish that we are pretty good outside shooting team, Yao will get more space to operate. It could also be said that if we had an offensive PF the attention on Yao would be lessened further. Good to see MoT come up with a good offensive game. If that continues it will help Yao. The eventual return of EG will also help. Our current state of play is very encouraging and I believe the mindset and ability of the team allow us to be versatile to the point where we can beat you in a number of different ways. I like the idea that shutting Yao down will not get you a victory against the rocks and vice versa. I also believe we are operating with an increasing margin for error based on that versatility and our vividly documented defensive game.
Good point. Honest advice, though jarring on the ear, induces good conduct, hopefully In fact, playing in that way we had more loss than win, however, like Schopenhauer said "...in good days we have only a very cold and imperfect memory of the bad."
Great, great post LB. Check this out : http://www.jsdzilina.sk/ucla1.html Look at that deep position! (umm...that sounds like porno, but it's not. Not exactly.) Here's ucla cut, back door, oh-mine, and switch all set up from the R side. There's more than one way to get the ball down low. This is how Sloan can beat Portland with Carlos Arroyo. Too many players aren't prepared to close the back door. In our set, you can swap Ming to the 4 and leave Cato on the left block for a different look when you run one of these sets with Francis, overloading the r side with power. This also works wonders in the triangle, where Cat really does get an iso if the ball comes back to him and Cato or Taylor. I'd love to see Cat and Taylor learn to work the two man game.
He wasn't on the team when Vancouver drafted him. He hasn't done that since then. The techs are a problem, but don't really indicate a predominant immaturity. He rarely yells at teammates during games, and the coaching staff has asked him to be a more vocal leader. He's doing that. The problem is that's not the truth it's half the the truth, or less than half. Yes Steve was initially upset when they drafted Ming. However Steve was mature enough to not say anything about it or rock the boat, and when shown evidence of just how good Yao was and how he could help the team, Steve personally called teammates and voiced his support for Ming. Steve then drove Yao around in his SUV, giving a sign of support to a rookie from the team's leader. Steve talked to Yao about what he could expect from the NBA as far as pressures on and off the court. Steve made a point of going and stretching every single time by the new rookie teammate. How many star players on other teams go that far out of their way for a rookie? Steve showed his composure and maturity by waiting for all the facts before writing off Yao Ming. Then he went out of his way to support the new comer. That's maturity even beyond his years. Now add that to how immature he was on draft night, and it's a huge improvement. Steve has shown maturity by staying in shape, working hard during off seasons, and being a leader amongst his teammates. He's not perfect, but definitely doesn't warrant the kind of labels you've put on him. Maybe I've only pointed out the good things about Steve, but you took a few isolated bad incidents, and tried to create a label for him. This only balances the picture.
Can I get the Cliff's Notes on this one? I agree with everything you said, Macbeth. It's simply about playing the right way AND winning.
That's what haters do, anyway Jeff made a good point in the thread about the defense that New Jersey and Memphis played against Yao. They fronted Yao and they let a man play zone behind him which prevents the lob pass. This defense was unavailable against Hakeem because of the illegal defense rules, but we are seeing the results of what we all knew when the NBA changed these rules. People keep claiming the guards don't know how to throw a lob pass when if that pass is thrown, the player defending Yao's back side is more likely to get a steal. My solution would be to let Yao catch the ball fronting the basket. He's a good enough shooter to face the basket, and he would draw the opposing big men from under the basket which would give the guards more room to cut to the basket. JVG needs to quit trying to force feed the ball to Yao, its the same thing that got Rudy in trouble down the stretch last season. They are not using his talents. They need to do the same thing Sacramento does with Divac. How often do you see Vlade playing with his back to the basket. Hardly ever. They take advantage of Vlade's mid range game and his passing ability by bring him away from the basket, leaving more space for the cutters. Its quite simple, and I don't understand why JVG hasn't tried this yet. This is beginning to be the problem I had with bringing in Van Gundy although it is definitly too early to judge. No offensive imagination. He is coaching under the same old rules, just like Rudy T was. The elimination of the illegal defense rule has totally changed the way you use your big man. Rudy failed to adapt and now JVG is making the same mistakes.
MacBeth, Your posts are usually interesting, this one is no exception. I agree with many of your points. This team is a real work in progress. It is almost like a soap opera; the plot unfolds a game at a time. Who knows what the conclusion will be! This team may become scary; it may get dismantled. Even JVG doesn't know for sure.
Spot on. I can't believe how many people just don't "get it." Once Yao WANTS to dominate, once he WANTS to take over a game, once he WANTS to put the team on his back as all great superstars do, he will have arrived. Until then, he will only be a very good player. Steve has his faults, but the way he put the team on his back for the final quarter of the New Jersey game is exactly how a team leader should be on the floor. I'd like to see him be able to pull that off for an entire game. I can't WAIT to see Yao do it, and I think that's where people's frustration with the Rockets is coming from: We want to see Yao dominate not three years from now, not next season, but RIGHT NOW. He's clearly not confident enough to put the team on his back yet, which is why we need to click as a team and get everyone involved until Yao is comfortable enough to shoulder the responsibility of wins and losses.
Nap, it might be true for the Memphis game, but the Bulls game was just as bad as the Nets game. More than a few times, I state again, more than a few times, Francis brought the ball up, dribblled passed Yao, who got the good position. Another well known probelm is that Francis rarely passes the ball to the roller when PnR with a teamate. I'm not sure if it because he lacks the skill, or just doesn't want to share the ball If I were Yao, I have no problem with it the first year, I'll not be happy the 2nd year; by the 3nd year, I'll probably make my mind that I'll play somewhere else. I'm hoping the team will change by the end of this year, otherwise, I just don't see Yao stay here after his contract ends. --daoshi
If you look around the league, there isn't a single team that is only a "dump it down low to the big man" team. Teams have some kind of post game, but the rule changes have made it necessary that the game be played also if not more on the perimeter and mid range. Believe it or not, unless Yao or Shaq is your favorite player, it is considered boring to see a team dribble the ball down and run the same dump it to the big man play every time. I love the Rockets and they are my favorite team, but people that weren't Rocket fans didn't want to watch the team because it was boring predictable basketball - so they say. Then come the rule changes. Designed specifically to get the ball out of the low post so much and to get more movement and mid ranged jump shooting into the game. I love it when the Rockets have a balanced attack. You have to make teams pick their poison. Do you take away the low post? The dribble pentration? The spot up shooting? That's when they are at their best. As good as Yao could be, the Rockets will never win a championship just by dribbling the ball down and throwing it to him every time. Even the Lakers don't do it with Shaq. The Spurs don't do it with Duncan. They mix in other parts of the game. Teams are too talented, coaches too smart, and athletes too string and fast to get by on one play. I understand Yao fans' frustration. They want to see their favorite player have the ball. Nothing wrong with that. As a Rocket fan, however, I'm more concerned with the win.
I read Jeff's post and I think this guy knows basketball. (at least better than most of the posters on this board). I read Macbeth's post and think this guy knows how to write. (At least better than most of the posters on this board.) Jeff gave a pretty close description of what was going on in the game I had watched. While Macbeth gave a description of some imaginary game I didn't see or some hope of a game he hoped to see. The fact is getting the ball to an inside man is very difficult and it takes a lot of work. The Rockets under Rudy spent hours and hours of practice working on ways to get the ball to Hakeem. Hakeem stated this very clearly when he came back to Houston saying they (the Raptors) have no concept of how difficult it is and how much work it takes to get the ball down low and when they practice they only focus a short time on what is one of the most difficult things in the league to achieve and expect to get results. Well it doesn't work like that. Getting the ball down low is what coaches spend hours and hours teaching their defense to stop. It's the number one focus of Defense don't allow them to get inside position. That's why they block the passing lanes put pressure the entry passer double team the low post man. You don't see them double teaming the outside shooter unless it's MJ. Make them beat us from the outside is the number one defensive philosophy by NBA coaches. Getting the ball inside is a very difficult process that takes lots of practice from all parties on the court. Yes there were lots of times he was down low but he wasn't in good position or it wouldn't have been an easy pass. Or they made the difficult pass and Yao turned it over but if you watch the game again you will see that there were only a couple of times that Yao was really open and the player with the ball was in a position to pass the ball to him and he didn't. That being said, those times should never happen at all. For any player that passes up an easy opportunity to get the ball to Yao should be reprimanded or at least made aware. Just like JVG told Boki to take the open shot, he needs to tell everyone to make the open pass to Yao. There should never be a time when Yao has clearly got position and the guy with the ball has an opportunity to get the ball the him and he doesn't do it. So no matter how eloquently Macbeth may state it, Jeff is clearly more accurate in his analysis and understands the game better.
This isn't completely responsive to MacBeth's position, though. Isn't the real problem that any resistance to getting the ball to the post when it's possible still exists? Yes - you're right in that many teams concentrate on denying the ball to Yao in the post. Yes - it's going to take a while for the offense to figure out how to get around that. You're absolutely right here. But that isn't relevant until there is no resistance on the part of the rest of the team to give the ball to Yao when it's possible. One of the most common phrases I see is something along the lines of "most of the time they're not passing to Yao because he's covered." Of course, this impliedly concedes that sometimes they're not getting the ball to him... because they don't want to. In fact, this actually works further against the belief that sufficient progress is being made on this front. Hypothetically, if Yao were getting the ball every play, you could better understand the occasional "aw, screw it... we do this every time... I'm going to take it at the defense myself this time." But when the guards often can't get the ball to Yao, it becomes inexusable to not to do so when they could.
How do you get they do want to from they don't because he's covered. That makes no sense. Maybe they don't pass it to him when he's covered because they don't want the ball to be stolen.
You're not reading well. I'll rephrase. The fact that posters say that the usual reason the guards aren't getting the ball to Yao on any given play is that he's not really open. That necessarily implies that sometimes he is open, and they simply choose not to pass to him.
But they do pass him the ball when he's open, its not like they never give him the ball. I still don't understand what you mean, are you implying that posters are making up excuses that aren't true. Do you believe Yao is always open. I still don't get how you get from point a to point b. If you are saying the USUAL reason meaning that there are other reasons, maybe you are READING too much into what people are saying.
I never said they didn't give him the ball at times. I'm not saying people are saying things that aren't true. I'm not saying he's always open. I'm saying, that if the normal reason that players don't give the ball to Yao is that he's not open... this in no way diminishes the fault of their not getting him the ball when he is open. Most posters do concede that this occurs (explicitly or implicitly). And the suggestion that he's not open often actually increases fault for not getting him the ball when he is - since the excuses for not doing so are lessened (ie, not wanting to give the ball to Yao every play. Get it now? Incidentally, "Reading in" necessary implications of language is never "too much." If one doesn't mean the logical impact of one's words, then one needs how to learn to write better. Although to be technical, I suppose there aren't necessarily only two reasons why they wouldn't give Yao the ball... but him being not open or them not wanting to give him the ball seem most likely.
That was going to be my next point. Maybe they had an open shot, maybe the play wasn't run for him, etc.
wow... haven: do/did you study formal logic or something? Your posts are logical to the point of scariness, and I mean that as a compliment.
