i think that people are making yao trying to be too agressive too early. he surely doesn't have the strenght yet but he will get there. but what i've been seeing, hes been trying to be agressive which is good but where is his finess? i haven't really seen him use his finess latley like his up and under move, fakes, the lil dream shakes or anything. i think hes trying to be so agressive that he has forgot all about his finess moves. what do yall think?
We need Yao to develop his power game quickly. You can only get so far in this league with finess. Yao is making tremendous progress in becoming more physical. When Yao fell to the floor getting crossed over by Marbury early in the season, he did nothing to quiet down Suns fans. Last week when Kobe dunked on Yao, he went right back at Lakers with a dunk of his own. I like the way Yao's game has been evolving.
His finesse is being double-teamed. His finesse is being swatted back in his face. He needs to find his aggression and then rely on both when needed. There's no reason someone 7'5" should have his shot blocked as many times as Yao does. There's no reason why someone 7'5" should miss a 2 foot shot - he should slam it home and make the defender think twice about trying to block it the next time.
When Yao starts spinning quickly to the basket or bangs into a defender to dislodge him ala Shaq to make room or when he starts trying to split double teams... when these things occur more than him shooting fadeaways...then I'll think more in terms of Yao's "power game".
You know what's odd? Watch the first game vs. the Mavs where he destroyed Bradley. He was bullying and bulldozing Bradley and combining that with quickness to destroy him. This game, he didn't try using that power game until the very end of the game.
Yao's aggression is going to be very timid UNTIL the refs start respecting him and quit calling total BS on him.
The NBA is a league where finesse is not welcomed. Pau Gasol was a pretty crafty player when he got in the league. After one year, his spanish coach criticized Gasol for "technical regressions in almost every category of his game". He becomes stronger but at the same time loses a lot of finesse. That's just what happens in this league.
I'm not sure what you think we're going to do this season. You make it sound as if our objective for this season is to make it to the Finals, if we don't, then we are failures. That's not how it is at all. The Rockets want to win, yeah. But if you ask any Rocket player, coach, or anyone in the Rockets organization and probably most Rockets fans, it is JUST to make the playoffs. If we don't go anywhere and get blown away 4-0, then we're still as happy as we can be because we know what is in store for us in the next couple-few years to come. Ming's physical game is about at it's peak for this season. He is getting there, over the offseason, you're going to see a more buff and quicker Ming. He'll get about 17PPG, 11 boards, and 3 (yes, 3) blocks a game!
To get 3 blocks a game, Ming needs to jump higher. Right now, he can not jump high enough and his arm is short. That's why Kobe and Finley dumped on him. You would not expect Kobe and Finley dump on Bradley. By the way, the reason Bradley got dumped often is because someone bumped him away first before dumping on him.
It's not about jumping higher. It's about timing and positioning. He doesn't have to jump high to block shots, even with shorter arms he's still 7'5". If you watch the replays, I think Yao's hand was high enough to block the dunks of Kobe and Finley, but his timing was off.
That's different. That game the defense didn't focus on him at all. He was like a garbage man in that game. I seem to remember that he got a lot of offensive rebs because of the lack of attention from the opponents.
It is clear to me that you do not know that the art of shot block has more to do with skill and timing rather than height and vertical leap. Ask Hakeem also.
You know, it never ceases to amaze me how people find things to complain about no matter what. The guy has had a double-double (or close to it) in every game for the last week.... Yet, here we are questioning his agressiveness. It's always the cup half empty. Last year, everyone on this board would have given their left nut to have a post player that was capable of averaging Yao's numbers. Now, we have him, he's a rookie with a HUGE upside, and we're already complaining. I find this humorous, actually.
When you're tired, the first thing to go is your touch. It's no coincedence that Yao misses that baseline turnaround almost every time now. He's doing what he has to do to stay effective. Good for Rudy to make Yao play in the trenches. It'll make him stronger next year.
Do you think it has to do with a certain adrenal gland that gets activated for some games (1st meetings) and not others? Yao might think, "Oh, it's just Bradley..." and then forget that Yao's legionary statue grows week to week. Thus, Bradley (or any other center that have been posterized by Yao) prepares like no ones business! Also, it seems as thought the "game plan" from the opposing coaches is, "Be physical with Yao. He struggles with physical play." Now, if that's the game plan for Yao for the next 10 years. I think they have a surprise coming. But, of course, Yao has to be ready for every game. Especially if he did well against the teams' center the previous meeting.
He's working on other aspects of the game. He's being pushed around. And the game is faster. Until the game slows down for him, he's not going to have time to worry about the finesses game just yet. Don't worry, he still knows how to do all those other moves you talk about. It's like riding a bike. You never forget.
I don't know where people get the idea Ming has short arms. He may have short arms relative to his height. but I think his wingspan still easily ranks top 10 in this league.
I think that Yao Ming is still feeling the effects of the Rookie Wall. He hit that wall HARD and has pulled out of it to be productive, but he isn't playing as crisply as he had at times earlier in the season. I imagine that after getting some rest this summer, he's going to come back rejuvinated and bringing the power and finesse together to dominate the league . . . again.
