Yes, it could all be a coincidence. And this still might be too small of a sample size...but man, looking through Yao's stats the oddest trend pops up... 0 Days Rest (not counting today's win...which only continues the trend-3 games) 61.5% FG 95% FT 22.3 PPG 9.3 RPG 2.3 BPG 1 Day Rest (5 games) 50% FG 73.9% FT 14.6 PPG 9 RPG 1.4 BPG 2 Days Rest (2 games) 39.3% FG 75% FT 12.5 PPG 11 RPG 1 BPG It seems like Yao plays better on the tail end of a back-to-back...which really reverses everything from the past few years. And he plays worse with each passing day of rest... Coupled with the fact that we know that Adelman has restricted Yao's practice time, I've made a theory about that...Yao isn't suffering from a lack of stamina...in fact he's probably in the best shape of his life with the weight he's lost and the recuperation. No, he's just simply going cold in between games; once he gets a feel for it and a couple of touches, he's right back to being good old 20/10 Yao. There's probably other explanations too. Just really kinda weird seeing this from Yao though it really does get you thinking that maybe Yao is just a good month or two away from dominating the league (once again).
jvg said yao needs repetition and rythym to play well, the more rest he gets, the less rythym he is in... so that sorta explains.
It will be interesting to see if that holds up throughout the season. Very strange. Maybe its' because Tracy is typically less involved in the offense with 0 days rest, so Yao gets more looks? Just a guess.
That sounds about right for Yao. That's why I'm worried about him unless he can find a happy medium. Too much work? Out half a season. Too little work? A pathetic Yao. Games like tonight? Just the good old Yao we all know and love.
i went lol when jvg was saying houston is in a big dilemma they want to rest yao, but also want to keep him in rythym...
That's why i don't agreed when Adelman rest Yao too long during game especially when the game is in dangerous of losing like tonight. He should play Yao according to game situation, not by a pre-determined rest intervals.
We've got enough mysteries goin down to keep the Hardy Boys driving around in convertibles for the rest of their lives.
i guess this is pretty much the same, but a different way to look at it....Yao plays badly on the first night of back to backs, feels bad and is itching to make up for the bad night and the next night he comes out smokin'.....so i think its more of a motivation thing, playing badly motivates him to bring it harder the next game
he is big and slow, so he needs practice and rhythm to get it going. but over work will cause him to break down. so ya, he'll just need some time to figure out the new method.
sample size in games is too small to draw any hard conclusions netherless interesting let's re-evaluate after 28 games: ~ a third of the season
