The Offense of yao Ming

wow...

 

He's your highest percentage scorer giving you 17 ppg and you want what? It pains me watching Taylor dribbles and clanks among the trees. Don't get me wrong Yao is not nearly perfect. But I'm also realistic, I'll not start calling Yao the go to guy unless he can score consistently with authority. However, look around the team I fail to see anyone who is qualified as a go to guy. Taylor??? Huh????

 

Well if we had competent guards that could throw him a pass off a pick and roll, or throw him a lob, or just plain throw it to him the few times he runs his ass off to beat everyone down the court...then we wouldn't have to clear out for him. As it stands now, we are waiting for players of that caliber...

 

Alas, where would we be without the big guy?

If you believe that Stevie is being handcuffed, then would you support moving him to the 2 guard? Me personally, I would rather see it done that way.
As Calvin Murphy also believes, Steve is a finisher and isn't the best playmaker. Steve should play his strengths, which is scoring, not playmaking.
BUT, we should have good plays to get him open, as you suggested with JJ and Cat. Get Steve and the rest of the Rockets open with good plays, be it picks, backdoor, whatever.
One on one, no matter who it is, doesn't work for long.

 

wow, i disagree with many of your observations, maybe i am missing something but so far after watching every single game last and so far this year, this is what i have observed;

you say "The offense of dumping it down to yao and then clearing the floor to watch him work is pathetic. Yao is no where near ready to have the entire offense revolve around him. There is nothing pathetic about throwing into your center to start your offense, in fact, we do not do this enough, although, we improved on it from last year, I feel we have guys standing around the three point line and Yao finds them when he is double teamed but i am not quite impressed with the strength of our cutters, meaning, we do a lot of cutting, but dont seem to be that good at it...These things however, have no consequences to whether or not Yao is ready to have the entire offense revolve around him...

i think i disagree with your point that Yao has no strength backing people down, Yao has gained considerable strenght this year. And i do not think there is any merit to say his is tired this year, this is simply not the case...it was last year, but it so far, knock on wood hasn't been...

I do however, agree with you that we see him settling for his fadeaway jumper, which isn't a bad thing, but with his new found strength, maybe he should do the up and under a couple of times more each game...but his decision to go with his jumper is not because of strength, watch him this year, he doesn't slouch over, he runs the floor better and he is helping a lot on defense, this point can't be emphasized more as it seems in the early going, people like speedy claxton, raul lopez, mike bibby are just blowing past our guards...Yao is well conditioned this year, the same can not be said for Motay....

I agree with that Yao should take a summer off, to strengthen up. Maybe after 2004 Olympics he can. I dont think Yao is anywhere near soft as you claim, dudes in his second year, and remember a lot of people are out ot get him...i saw yao get blocked by chris bosh straight up, but thats all that i remember, kirilenko blocked Yao from behind when Ostertag was guardinghim, so that is not a block straight up, if people are gangblocking you, even the best get blocked...that play was actually cato's fault, because he did not box out...

your second paragraph proclaims that steve is handcuffed by the offense...Van Gundy is not saying Yao has to shoot the basketball, from day one he said our best players are steve, cat and yao...but Yao must at least touch the ball first, why is this still a hard concept for people to understand? if steve were to make sharper cuts steve would get more easy passes...this tandem would be awesome doing pick and rolls, which i only saw two this year, but they were brilliant...your example of nash and bradley and davis and brown? are you saying that brown and bradley are anything like Yao? are you serious? not even dallas fans would say bradley is better than Yao, from here, i would suspect either you are a troll or a Yao Hater...and because of that i think you are going to have a difficult time here, because Yao is our franchise center....Bradley like Yao? unbelievable...

 

Wow I guess the thread starter really likes going to the lottery every year cause that's exactly what happens when the guards are the number one option.

 

Yo dude i completely disagree wit you, especially bout mo talyor imean dont get me wrong mos a great player, but yao will/is awesome.

 

Although I disagree with you on other points, I have to agree with you on this one. I noticed this the last few games, especially in the Seattle game. It's like ISO nightmare all over again.

Again and again it happens.....the ball is passed into Yao in the post. The floor is cleared and (assuming no double-team), the rest of the team just stands around while Yao goes one on one with his defender. Again, I repeat, the team just stands around while Yao goes one on one with his defender. I know this is part of the inside-out plan, and I know that Yao is expected to take on his defender if there's a reasonable mismatch (and there usually is). But Yao at this point is still not dominating, and he usually loses his position and ends up settling for 15 footers. But I digress.

Again, I repeat, the team just stands around. Sure, they stand on the 3 point line, I guess waiting for the dish out. But the problem is, they're just standing around! I mean WTF?!? In the Seattle game, I saw NO movement off the ball. It happened again and again. Ball into Yao. Team clears out and waits on the 3 point line. No one attempts to cut back door or cut through the paint or set a pick. Sometimes one player will try to make a basket cut (usually Jim Jackson, the only player with brains out there), but for the most part, everyone just stands around, waiting for Yao to take his inevitable fading jump shot. It was so frustrating just watching the Rockets waiting on the 3 point line, waiting once again for the man with the ball to put up a shot. Counting on him to make the shot.

I agree with game plan of giving Yao the ball in the low post. But isn't part of the game plan to also have cutters and players moving off the ball towards the basket, as well as those ready to shoot the 3? Yao has absolutely no chance of dishing out the ball if everyone else is just standing behind him, guarded by their man. And shouldn't the players not only be moving to receive a pass, but constantly moving so that we can make the extra pass or two to the open shooter?

That's the problem with this Yao oriented offense. Yao still hasn't proved that he can dominate and go to the hole. And the other players don't move off the ball enough, whether it be cutting towards the basket or along the 3 pt line. We're just not moving off the ball, and not making (or setting ourselves up to make) the extra pass. And it's mad frustrating.

 

you hit the nail right on the head, about the guards not cutting, i wish more fans would take note of this, the Yao oriented offense is not working that well, NOT because of Yao, lack of execution and people not cutting, and our spot up shooters are not doing a good enough job knocking down shots, JJ was hot earlier, cooled off a bit, CAT should take some heat for this, he needs to make more shots off Yao's passes,

I implore you however to consider again, what you said about Yao not ready to take on the role of being the Man, i think he is and not only because of his increasing numbers, he is more aggressive this year, but not enough for us yet, he is just starting his second year, i see only evidence which shows he will be consistently better every year...

also, i just want to point out one thing, Yao is often said to be not agressive, doesn't dunk enough etc...but you know, how many more centers is more agressive than him? that gets his numbers? Shaq is the only one i can think of, and people make too much of his aggressiveness and dunking, he is the most aggressive center in NBA history, but not even he dunks every single position, in fact the layup is a solid weapon in his arsenal, it just seems that even fans are expecting Yao to dunk every trip, which is not possible, because he will be hacked and go to the line...by the way, his increase in FT attempts is one indication he is more agressive in the post this year

 

Yao is no doubt more agressive this year, and you're right, it is only the beginning of his second year. And he will be the Man. But only when he finally frees his mind block. That's the only thing that seems to be holding him back. He's got the skills and the size/weight. He's got the equipment, he just needs to read the manual. Until then, he is still playing like a pansy. I know he's a finesse player, but this is a tough league and to survive he needs to adapt and evolve.

The layup is a solid weapon, but when your layup gets swatted and you probably could have made the basket if you had dunked instead, then you should dunk it next time. I'm not saying I expect him to dunk everytime, I don't. I do expect him to take the dunk if the opportunity is there and the situation dictates it. Laying up through traffic is just asking for your ass to get rejected.

And, I do think he should get hacked more. Send him to the line. I rather have that than 15 foot fade-aways everytime. I'll take Yao's FT% over his FG% any day. Also, getting hacked more will build more respect for him from his opponents and the refs, who seem to often turn a blind eye whenever Yao is fouled. Perhaps the refs will start to call more fouls, deservingly so since Yao gets mauled so often.

 

in fact, i want Yao to be more agressive too, i just think that he way further down the road than even Houston fans may give him credit for...

one concern i do have is exactly what you stated about his mindblock...this is a concern to me, wasn't it written somewhere that after taking two shots in a row he feels the need to pass it, even when under single coverage and he has good position...how much is this him being a considerate Chinese or him being trained to give up the rock in his training days in Chinas national team? or how much is this JUST HIM?

I remember at one time (or maybe several times) shaq called out his teamates in Orlando, and just a couple of years ago at KoBE, give me the DAMN ROCK, the only weight problem i have is waiting for the rock...remember that? even shaq went through a period where he felt he didn't get the rock enough, he had the 'disposition' (in JVG's words) to dominate...

My point is, what concerns me, is i dont think Yao would ever call out anyone or say publicly he should be getting the damn rock, even if he had the burning desire too (hopefully he will continue to develop this desire) he would not openly say, give it to me, i am going to cram it, which history i think tells us happens to NBA stars on the brink of superstardom, Shaq, Kobe, Pierce, McGrady demanded in public that they should get the ball everytime...i seriously think, this is Yao's missing link to becoming one of the greatest, sometimes i wish i can just wring his neck (with a ladder handy of course) and tell him you are not doing anyone any favours, what you perceive as being fair and nice is not worth a 25 cents in this league, you either eat or be eaten...

 

I agree with alot of you when you say that he can be a great player. I also think that being a finesse player can work for him, I mean look at Dirk, the guy plays the most rugged position these days and though you may not like him, you guys have to admit that he's deservingly a superstar, Yao can be too. He is not a finisher yet, and as such that should not be his role now, to finish, I understand exactly what some of you are saying...; the ball should go through him, it should start with him, he has the court-vision to take advantage. He'll never be Hakeem, but didn't players like John Stockton and Magic Johnson dominate just by scoring moderately and passing extremely well? The two are two of the games legends. We need to play team ball, and even at point I feel that Steve can have his cake and eat it too, sure he can score, he'll get his regardless and I know that he and Mobley are capable of playing winning basketball, they have before. I'm not sure that it's just a matter of time, but Yao needs to get rid of said, "mental block"; and also our other players need to if nothing else, see the benefits of playing offense through Yao as the starting point.

 

I wouldn't mind Mo getting some more touches in the paint. When he's got that hook working, and the drop step, it's hard to stop him. I think something Yao could learn from Mo is to be decisive in the post. Mo will quickly go to work while Yao seems to hold the ball for an eternity.