Yao is not involve in a majority of the playcalls anymore. Yao is not involve in a majority of the playcalls anymore. It's not about the foul....it's about running more plays for Yao and make him a bigger part of the offense. Get his confidence back. Since the trade, JVG has completely ignore him. Almost all the plays are through Tracy McGrady. Sure that's a good strategy, but if you don't expand Yao's offensive repertoire, he's just another player out there. Now all Yao does it run pick and roll, watch people shoot and try to get rebound (which is his weakness). And when he post up, they can't get it to him. I mean how about more plays that involve him shooting outside??? I mean not EVEN ONE sticking play that has him shooting outside. He's such a good shooter that i have no doubt he will make it. Just run more plays for him to make him part of the offense is all i am saying. The man is completely not involve in the offense whatsoever. For example, when Stromile Swift dunk on him, Yao have no say in that matter, he can't pay back cuz the offense ain't running through him. He can't say...ok that's it, give me the damm ball and let me go at Swift. I can see there are couple reasons he's not playing well. One, he's not involve in a majority of the offensive play calls. Two, he's not helping himself by not playing well. But at the same, if he's not getting involve, how the hell you expect him to get his confidence back you know what i am saying??? So go figure.
He had a ton of plays called for him but the Grizzlies were fronting him and bringing a cheating defender on the backside to take away the lob pass. Zone defenses are killing Yao more than anything else. DD
Part of Yao's problem though is he is physically weaker then the people defending him. I don't think he's really proved that he can consistentally get position down low, and when he does he has problems holding onto the ball. He has to work on putting his weight into the man defending him and not having the ball stripped.
I agree. I've seen it too many times, and I am tired of seeing it. I'm just tired of seeing the same garbage over and over again.
Nooo, that's just one play...which is "posting up". I am talking about play calls that create space for him to shoot from outside. Some of Yao's playcalls are obvious and predictable. Almost all of them are post ups. How about more cuttings and pick and roll and pass back to him for a 15feet wide open jumper. He is such a good shooter that i think it's a waste out there if you don't let him shoot from outside. I think he's the 2nd best shooter on the team 15 feet away. But JVG handicapped him and take away his jump shooting. He's worry about who's going to rebound the ball if Yao is not inside. But then Yao is NOT going to get a "missing" rebound anymore cuz he's not a good rebounder...so why not let him shoot and be a deadly shooter from outside. I think when people talk about how Yao is unstoppable...they should not only talk about what he does close to the basket, but what he does 15feet away. He's just as unstoppable with 15feet from outside. I mean who's going to block his shoot...really.
lack of a presence from yao seemed to be a problem when the third quarter began. seemed as if jvg wanted yao to get involved, so instead of staying with what got them the four consecutive wins... they opted to bring the game to yao instead of yao letting the game come to him. i think he would have gotten his eventually... or if not, at least squeak by with a win in this one. it just seemed as if more effort was put in trying to get yao involved instead of trying to win the game.
rept, Fair points, Yao could be used like Brad Miller and hit that 15 footer, I would love to see more of him at the high post, as a shooter and a passer. DD
I think that the jumpshot should have been emphasized more since Yao's height makes him almost unblockable. I just don't know if this low post stuff is going to work anymore. The whole league knows about Yao, and everyone has quick centers now who can front.
Dude you are like my long lost twin or something. I agree with everything you are saying. I watch the games with some friends and my brother and they are all yelling at Yao and calling him a "wuss", etc. I am not trying to make excuses for Yao. He is not playing well right now. But the Rockes aren't exactly helping him play better either. I am freakin tired of watching Yao get good position right under the basket and the majority of the time the guards fail to get him the ball for an easy dunk. Instead they swing it around. Too often Yao has position outside the paint and the guards will be looking right at Yao, but wont pass it in. They will pass it to the other side. Yao will get position on the other side, but now its too late into the shot clock, etc. etc. etc. And the biggest thing this would do is demoralize a player. Soon enough any player would be thinking...."f#%k it! I am not getting the ball so why even bother". I dont like hating on players that are trying hard. I believe Yao is trying about as hard as he possibly can. Its not as if he has the work ethic of Kelvin Cato. The dude is 7'6 and some people are yelling at him to dive for loose balls. I highly doubt he has the agility to go around doing those sorts of things. Yeah he is not a great rebounder, but maybe we should hire someone like Moses Malone, Kareem, Russell or Walton. All of those guys have volunteered right? And I am guessing they would be better asst coaches then Mr. Gold Club. In Yao's defense it seems like he is getting better at blocking and is trying to get more aggresive. I am tired of hating on Gundy for everything. Gundy has gotten better in alot of areas, but he does not know how to properly utilize a big man like Yao. Yao's strengths: Shooting Passing Yao's weekness: Strength Stamina Speed Seems to me as if are forcing Yao to constantly battle it out inside and finally when he get position we dont get him the ball. Why cant we run high post like Rudy did in the rookie year and get him some open shots from the outside. It would also help his energy level by not constantly being fouled and fighting for position inside. Then we also double team with Yao sometimes, when everybody and their mom knows that Yao is not fast enough to get back to his man. We should definitley mix up the plays that are called for Yao. Low post as well as high post. And let him wander a little closer to the basket on defense instead of making him run around outside. Well thats it for right now.
Charvo, Certainly if teams front Yao the Rocks should mix it up more and put Tmac or J Ho, or Mo T on the block and Yao at the elbow.... Let Yao be the passer or the shooter. Rocks03....that was a GREAT post. DD
I agree. We can't do this seriously though until Yao gets his jumper back. Now that his arm brace is gone, I am hoping that a week or two of practices will be enough for him to recover his old shooting accuracy.
DaDakota : Well, then we need a new coach !! If rocket s continue playing like they are doing now, and can not get into second round playeroff, Yao will say no to extension, which will force JVG out autamatically. I think JVG allow Tmac plays his magic way just for saving his job during short period. Yao is even not second optional now. JVG is using yao'sweakest part, and ignoring his strongest part now. We will see how far Rockets can go with this way.
Rudy used Yao in both low and high post. JVG wants to convert Yao into a Shaq clone even if all of us knows that Yao is a finesse player. We also had this argument last season. Yao started the season playing strictly under the basket and he was miserable. His game did not flourish until after he was allowed to shoot some 15-18 foot jumpers. Yao is easy to defend if he is only allowed to work in the low post. The guy has lots of other weapons on the offensive end. Why does the coach have to be so stubborn and not to fully utilize his players strength?
If they front him, shouldn't he be getting more offensive rebounds? It would seem that he would have a head start boxing out his defender. I don't fault him for having bad-scoring nights. If the defense is geared to stop, that will just happen sometimes. It would be nice, however, if he could pull down 11+ boards consistently and contribute more in that regard.
If JVG wont utilize Yao like he needs to be then you are correct. We need to see more pick and rolls where Yao is open for that 10-15 ft jump shot.
When they front Yao, reverse the ball to the top, have Yao seal his man and pass the ball off the backboard to Yao for an easy dunk. Someone call JVG...and tell him to review the old Moses Malone/Kevin Kunert or Billy Paultz backboard pass play. DD
The problem wasn't JVG, it's Tmac and Yao couldn't coexist in the rockets, I believe the rockets have to make decision either trade Yao or TMAC soon or later, JVG's half court offence and defence is great concept of the championship, We could execute it because we don't shooter and defender on current rocket squat.
