just can't understand why there's ppl who only take stats to measure how a player played..... they just can't realize that there's lots of things that stats wun show..... especially on the defensive end..... u are not going to get a block or steal easily, but u can force others to take bad shots...... well... there's bascially no point saying all these.... since those ppl who only knows how to looks at stats wun ever understand.....
I guess Yao Ming just did what the coach asked him to do: Get in the paint, draw the double team and find the open guys. If the coach asks him to score 30 points every night, I believe he will.
If you didn't see the game, you cannot begin to understand how great Yao played last night. Yao was the MVP of last nights game... He and Cato are the catalyst of our amazing defense and Yao is the biggest and best floor general on the team. I think he has quickly become the best passing center in the league and he is probably the smartest player on our team... Stats cannot define Yao's dominance last night... but if you do want to look at one stat than you can look at are plus and minus scoring while Yao is in the game... I think it had to be at least +20 while yao was in the game... Again if you didn't see the game you cannot begin to understand how great Yao played... He was amazing., He was clearly by far the MVP of last nights game!!!!... He is redefining the game and the Rockets offense and we could have won by more if everyone makes their wide open looks and everyone (KT) understood, with the exception of fastbreaks, Yao should touch the ball almost everytime downcourt. The kid is a phenom and thats an understatement.
"In the second half, Yao's passing was phenomenal and then Steve got it going," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "But I shouldn't have even brought up those things. Defense won this game for us. I'm as proud as I could be about a team."
ummmm, old man rock, settle down, i love yao, and thought tha game was superb, but your getting a little outta hand. he wasn't that good. you make it sound as if yao will soon start walking on water, and trning water into wine. he played well, but he played a team game, and that is what is needed. don't put too much pressure on the kid.
You guys remember the behind the back pass Yao did to Hawkins right at the basket in the 1st Q? That was sweet! Unfortunately, the defender behind Hawkins knocked the ball away or that would be a highlight. Only two other true centers can make that kind of pass - Vlade and Sabonis.
Yao had a solid all-around game. He did what he had to do to help the Rockets win. This is the most important thing. His offense was a bit off and his shots weren't falling, but his impact was undeniable. In a brief period during the thrid quarter Yao showed an ability to change the game without taking a shot. That is something that only some of the great ones can do. It is true that he still can not do it consistently, but you have to remember that he is only a rookie from a foreign country. He has shown more than enough for us to be optimistic about his future in the NBA.
Yao missed one shot that should have fallen and if he would have just hit one of his FT he would have had 9 points, 5 boards, 3 blocks, 5 assets, and played strong defense. Don't just look at points scored, he is the one who started the great 3nd quarter with his inside out side passing.
Tommycatluvsme:- For a person with no birthday, location, no job and no interests you are realy stepping out into an area where you will be realy put in your place! Just don't get too stupid on us, please!
Very well said. This was his best game of the season. As a matter of fact, I watched several Rocket games this year, the second half was by far the best Rocket performance and Yao was the MVP. He netted 0 in plus minus in the first half even though we were down by 10 at the half. He was +20 the third quarter and +4 in the fourth quarter. In the second half, he dominated both the offence and defence ends of the court. In the offence, he did not score because he was so team-oriented out there. Most of the time, he attracted two to four Sonics players around him. Then holding on the balls until there was a wide open man. Immediately he passed him the ball. That was why we scored over 70% in the third quarter. In fact, he should more assists than what was shown on the stat had it not been his teammates' missed shots and very tight statistian last night. On the defence, he was really a wall in the paint. It must be over twenty times that he had blocked, stole, altered or deterred Sonic shots. That is the reason why Sonics could only score 24 points in the second half. Could you believe that, 24 points for Sonic in two quarters. Many of those points were in fact scored while Yao was at the bench. Yes, the stat did not show that. I remember several plays he stripped and body checked the ball out of Sonic's hand, but they did not count that as steal or block shot. As a matter of fact, he came in the fourth quarter and that stopped the bleeding immediately. I remember he did a beautiful play at the critical timing of the fourth quarter when Rocket was up by only 4. He stripped the ball off Payton along the baseline to his teammate who started the fast break. The teammate did not score, but he got the offensive rebound from the heads of two Sonic player under the basket. He went up with an intention for a dunk, but his arm was hooked. So, he laid in a very difficult call without a call for foul from the ref. What did the stat show, nothing. Not a steal, not a block shot, and only 2 points. The next play, he was holding off four Sonic players who was defending against him faking to go to the basket on the baseline; but he suddenly turned around and passed the ball to Moochie beyond the 3-point line. Moochie was wide open for ever because the big man used his back to stopped all Sonic players from getting to Moochie. Moochie has nobody around his twenty yards circle and he nailed a three-pointer to seal the game. Would you like to see that performance rather than individual dribbling for a stat of 15 for 35. I must be honest with you, I would rather a player play like Yao last night, a team is no. 1 attitude. If we play like that all seaon, Rocket will be an immediate contender.
I think Yao needs more touches, at least once everytime down the court on the half court offense. Only good things happen when he gets the ball inside, he can shoot for a Real high percentage (70%) which is about 30% better than anyone else on the team, so he should shoot more, or he passes to wide open jump shooters or passes to the cutters down the lane. Only problem is to learn how to get the ball into the Big Guy without throwing it away, someone like Horry or Mario used to do for the Dream. It must take some talent cause we haven't done a good job of that in a very long time, also learn how to space correctly, when we throw the ball into Yao it seems like we're too conjested, we need to make quick crisp passes in and back out and then back in again and see what happens, but I do think it requires two passes normally into the post and then make the move, so theres a patience curve that most be overcome also. Just my 2 cents worth. Peace
Cleveland lost; the Rockets won. Gary Payton's shot wasn't falling last night, early on he was 0 for 6 and they benched him. But he kept shooting and missing. Eventually he was 3 of 16 for the night. Ming changed his game to accommodate his relatively poor shooting ( 3 of 7, which rounds to a near NBA average of 42.9%) and DIDN'T TRY TO SHOOT HIS WAY OUT OF A SLUMP. Instead, he passed. His rebounding -was- poor last night, as mentioned in the game thread, but all other aspects of his game looked good. His line?: 6 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and a steal. very rounded game. Dave.
That was the key thing -- he didn't force things when the shots weren't falling. And isn't it great that 42.9% is considered poor for Yao -- that percentage would have been respectable for everyone else on the team. Hell, their percentage would have to fall into the thirties before they realized that this wasn't their night. Anyway, he found other ways to contribute and created shots for his teammates on an off-shooting night -- something that the other Rockets typically fail to do, and we bash them constantly for it. And those weren't minor, glass-is-half-full contributions. Without them, we don't win this game. So again, he's leading by example. Let's hope the other guys follow his lead.
