The league has figured Yao out, or Rick is a bad coach

both of these guys do not have an outside game.

 

the league caters to guards and therefore limits the effectiveness of true centers

 

you can say the game has become more perimeter-oriented. but i think that's a good thing. the players are now becoming more skilled each and every day. for the big men to do well in this league, i think they eventually have to develop a midrange game.

amare knew it and developed a great jumper. he never had one in his first 2 years.

chris bosh developed one. duncan and KG always had one.

the point is with versatility, it allows you to be able to combat any defense you face.

it's like if dwayne wade never developed a jumper and all he does is drive like in his first few years. he wouldn't be as dominant nowadays even if the league is guard-friendly.

 

each of the bigs you named is a power forward. All but two are soft.

Versatility is good, but calling every foul on the perimeter, while allowing hacking and doubling off the ball down low destroys the interior game.

Remove the zone, call the game in a balanced manner from both and interior and exterior perspective, and the cream will rise to the top.

keep it the way it is, and the dominant low post player will fade into oblivion.

personally, and admittedly biased from years of watching dream, i prefer true post oriented offense to euro ball.

 

Rick is a good coach.

 

agreed, in principle. but what you said there is not true. actually that's what adelman's gameplan was and it didn't quite work out in game 2.

notice we shot 50% and still lost. it tells me two things. 1, we were utilizing the space yao created from the defensive attention he commends with quite some effectiveness (see the 50% shooting, higher than normal); 2, that wasn't enough to win the game since our role players are not good enough and we don;t have another reliable 2nd option (which, is unique right now in the west playoffs).

therefore, whatever we do to counter the fronting, yao still has to get more touches.

 

see my post above.

 

yes, my point exactly. glad i am not alone.

 

yao can shoot 18ft jumpers alright, and he's been shooting them a little better lately. but if that's your solution of defeating fronting, it will be a fruitless one. our team then becomes a jumper shooting team. with our current makeup, any team in the western playoffs can beat us handily.

 

The first game i ever watched Yao played on TV was the first game against Shawn Bradley and the Mavs during his rookie season. Yao scored like 26 points in the 1st half. In the second half, Don Nelson used Najera on Yao and Yao scored like 4 points in the 2nd half and the Rockets lost. As usual people blamed Francis and Mobley for no passing the ball to Yao in the second half. Fact is, Don Nelson maybe mad but he figured out Yao in 24 minutes and used Najera to front Yao and denied him the ball. But it was only the last few seasons, teams started to use fronting defense on Yao regularly. Maybe after Yao averaged 25pts per game in one season and teams reliazed playing behind Yao is like commiting suicide. That was why i thought Rick Carlise should be fired after the Mavs lost to the Rockets in the first meeting this season by playing Dampier behind Yao and Yao exploded. But Carlise adjusted in the last meeting this season and used Bass to front in the second after Yao again raping the Mavs in the 1st half.

Hate him or like him, i agree with you that T-mac and Yao complimanted each other well. T-mac got the passing skills and court vision to pass Yao the ball under any scenarios. Plus T-mac can drive and excellent shooters to relieve Yao's pressure. Too bad, their first few seasons together were plagued with injuries and so so teammates. I strongly believed last playoffs, with a healthy Yao we could have beaten the Jazz. This season with Artest, a motivated and healthy T-mac plus a prime and healthy Yao, we have a legit shot of beating Lakers in a 7 game series.

Problem now is and always will be for Yao, how do he beat the fronting defense. Like other posters said, there is no way increase his foot speed and strength at this stage of his career. Playing Yao high post 50% of the time is good idea but Yoa's midrange jumper is overrated. Regardless, yao's pressence alone open the floor for Artest, Scola and Brooks. That's why i feel we still can beat the young blazers even Yao is being fronted.

Go Rockets go!

 

who said shoot them all game? if yao makes 2 in a row, his man will have to start coming out a little bit. that opens up the floor for everybody else. then yao can go back to work in the post.

look, adelman is one of the brightest offensive minds in HISTORY of the NBA. and after 3 coaches including RA, and we still have this problem??? really, it's not the coaches in regards to yao.

 

but the problem is, lebron AND kobe will get theirs if they need to. sure they'll pass out initially b/c they do want to get their teammates involved.

but when the game is on the line and you need buckets, lebron AND kobe will have the ball in their hands making plays.

yao can't even get the damn ball to make plays in the last game.

 

why? it's unlikely yao will hit those jumpers all night. the blazers would just tighten the interior and let yao shoot these j's. any team without an inside offense is unlikely to win a series in the west.

and opens the floor for everyone? for what? we only have wafer who is a decent slasher who can finish (lowry is not used enough). and we are not capable of runnig a princeton offense sacto style.

 

In fact illegal defense was first allowed to limit Shaq's domination back in early 2000s when Shaq dominated league.
Illegal defense affects Big men more than guards because big men like Shaq and Yao need the guard to pass them the ball whereas guards like Kobe, Wade and Lebron will always have the ball in their hands.
Now with the stupid hand check rule, it is even easier for the guards. The NBA has completed changed into a Guard league!

 

i suppose shaq can also do nothing, if others front him. or even double-team / triple ..

i would say teamate must do something to balance the big guy at time of suffering when lot of muscle are around him....

 

Please Clutch for the sake of this site start banning people for a week who start a thread that is the exact same as one already created. You should also ban people who say the league has figured out Yao despite him having probably his best season to date.

 

50% is great in the NBA. You're not making an argument for more touches for Yao. Many teams would kill to have 50% shooting for a whole game. You are making an argument for more defense which I totally agree with.

 

i did say we used the openings yao created from the defensive attention he got quite well in game 2 (and thus 50%). but if you take ab's desperate 3's in the final seconds away, the % will be in the 40's. i know yao's average is in the mid-50's, but he's been shooting the ball well lately. 3/6 was below his average.

defense was indeed a bigger problem than our offense in game 2. part of it was they hit some ridiculous shots, part of it was yao in foul trouble and the loss of deke so that we couldn't deter them at the rim enough.

 

No, they didn't. They slowed him down but they didn't stop him. Hakeem still averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds against them, that's not stopping someone.

 

you maybe right on the numbers, but i can't remember. i only know he had some single digit scoring games. do you have a source?