Every time I see a Thabeet video, I just start laughing at the "Thabust", "get this man out of town", "this man can´t do basic stuff", "if Memphis quit on him, that is all we need to know about this kid" kind of crowd. Thabeet is as raw as they come, this guy is one of those doing now, what he should have done early in his career. He didn´t because he started playing b-ball late, and coaches never took the time to work with this kid, coaches only wanted him to be a defensive presence. And for the people saying how huge this guy is, I just remember a dunk he made, and someone described it as a "gorilla dunk" in the d-league thread, because all we saw was a huge man going to the rim and everyone just afraid about how big he was and how confident he went to the rim. Granted it was the d-league, but what Thabbet has to understand is that he is as big on offence as he is on D, so there is no reason for him to think he is huge on D, and play the good D he does, and then play small on offence. The only thing that can stop this man from growing BIG, is his mentality. I don´t think he is comfortable with what he has as a lot of people think based on reports and interviews, but there is definitely concerns on my part about how much is he willing to work to keep improving when he is not with coaches pushing him to the limit. And as for Hill, you can see, not today, that he is playing more physical with his back to the basket. That is what you need for him to do, get away from this Bosh way of playing, and start to bang down there. I think he is still skinny compared to other guys, but the main reason why he gets pushed so much, is because he doesn´t get physical, you need to be aggressive and don´t shy away from contact
The more I see these interviews and practices, the more I think this is the team we going to roll with. Im all for it. Lets Go!
What I like about McHale is he seems to have the patience to teach Thabeet and partly Hill the basic stuff. I think RA just didn't have that, to him those were things you should just be able to do. I'm just guessing but by explaining to Thabeet what that fake does seems to me a way of reaching out. Make him feel comfortable. This year is make or break for both Hasheem and Hill to me so if they are no-shows during the season, that's it. I'm so happy Scola is still here!! He is the ultimate hard worker which will hopefully rub off on the other bigs this year. Making him the captain along with Lowry would make perfect sense.
I recall a story about Hakeem under Rudy T, where they were shooting Free throws and Rudy was like "OK, everyone knows how to box out on Free throws so...".....and Hakeem raised his hand and said "I don't coach".... Now I am not comparing Hasheem to Hakeem in ability, but in the lack of having played all that much and learned the fundamentals, and Dream got to play for Guy V who taught him the drop step etc... Hasheem got Calhoun who taught him how to play the middle of a zone...... Hasheem is raw, yep.....but he has the tools, if someone takes the time to teach him they just might find out he is better than all of us hope. Again, don't want to derail, the story about Dream popped in my head as I read the comments. DD
To be a strong post up player you have to get your hips low. It lowers your center of gravity and makes it harder for the defender to move you off the spot. What he is doing (being taught) is correct. It also allows him to explode up when he turns and shoots the jump hook. You can't play too high (body position) in the post. You will get moved out too easily. It will just take time with him. He looks like he is willing to work at it so hopefully we start seeing something from him (please dont expect Dream type post play from him). He is a very big guy. Seems to be petty agile also.
And Scola stays on the court shooting baskets. Man, I'm going to be so bummed if we end up moving him.
Thanks for the comments. I edited the original post to include video of some of the comments from Kevin Martin and Luis Scola after the practice.
thanks for the videos! you know, after watching all of these videos, you really have to like this team going forward, especially this year. this group has a lot of chemistry, really likes each other, lots of talent, and i really think mchale is the perfect coach to extract that talent from our young guys, especially the bigs. mchale is young(ish) and has a fresh approach on coaching, but at the same time you respect him and listen to him because he is a legend and a champion. his personality and attitude is really conducive our young guys improving and establishing themselves in this league. as much as we need a real center, i'm kind of succumbing to the idea of just signing delembert outright and not losing anybody. i truly think between chase, t will, and morris we will find our 3 of the future, and with the length of both delembert and thabeet in the frontcourt, we will be set at the center position. and we all know we're stacked at point guard and power forward, and martin/lee is a great sg tandem. anyway, i like this team. lets see if we can make some noise in this shortened season go rockets!
Have u ever played post or watched guys playing post? You're supped to make yourself shorter and wider. That's why yao used to get moved out the post despite his size. Go watch dream and moses get low and wide.
Thanks clutch! I really appreciate it. I sure hope we don't move Scola he's the heart and soul of this team.
They just signed him off of waivers yesterday, he's probably going to be here in a few days. I wouldn't pack up and go within hours of hearing I got signed, he's probably getting ready to move here.
I understand that, but there is a point where too low it too low. Like you said, the point is to become immovable, but you also have to be able to move right after that, and laterally, not just explode vertically. If this were a jumping drill, then yes, he could explode up, but it's not. In fact, he's actually turning/twisting laterally first, and going up second. Practice squatting down at different heights and try to turn quickly. Lower isn't always better. You're locking yourself in at some point. If you compare Hasheem's hip angle to Yao's, you'll notice Hasheem stays well under 90 degress during most of the move, while Yao hovers closely to 90 degrees. Why? Probably because Hasheem can't counteract the defender's force from behind. It's the difference between leaning/pushing against the defender (~90 degrees/upright position) and the defender pushing against him (less than 90 deg/bent over position). Practice posting up against someone stronger. Ask them to push you in the back. You'll bend at the hip forward, closing that angle well under 90 degrees AND you'll drop down (squat down) lower. The drop is your body's way of stabiliizing itself, which is the proper physiological reaction, but not a necessary one. If he can find stability in a more upright position, like Yao, then there's no need to drop lower. Problem is, he can't find it. Height isn't an excuse, since Yao, who is taller, should have more problems with it. Finally, look at the top of their heads. If you could shoot a light right from it, Yao's would have a more forward trajectory. Hasheem's would shoot more backwards. Why? Hasheem is over extending his neck back, trying to look up and find the rim. Why? Because he's dropped too low. I realize it may look like it's due to their position in the paint, but it's constant throughout their movements, whether they are going left, right, 3 feet away, or 10. Again, we can practice this ourselves to see that's how the muscular system reacts. The lower you drop, the more you have to extend your neck. It's the body's way of trying to maintain visibility. If you drop too low and don't extend more, then you'll be looking at the ground. Can Hasheem become more like yao in that regard? Maybe, but a good portion of that change will come from training off the court. Basically he needs to become a better athlete. Of course his physical dimensions and body composition are different than Yao's, so maybe he can't improve, even if he tried. But I think it's worth a shot. And no, I'm definitely not expecting Dream's post play from Thabeet. Something closer to Deke's is more appropriate. A hook here and there and hit the short jumpers. Thabeet should have a bit more range than Deke had though. <object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TRmOhVQsrCI?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TRmOhVQsrCI?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
I never said he should not make himself shorter and wider. I said he's going too far with it. Too much of anything is never a good thing, unless the one and only point is to have as much of that thing as possible. It's like saying big men need bulk and never putting a limit to it. If they're trying to win a strength/size contest, then the more the better, but they arent. At some point they must stop, when it's adequate for playing ball and/or their position. Hasheem isn't trying to win an immovable object contest. He's just trying to plant himself long enough to make a move. Getting too low and wide may keep others from moving you, but you'll also make it harder to move your own self.
