Which player will benefit the most from Yao's return?

LOL Chuck is that you? Dont be shy we love you on this board but creating this screen name? come on..

haha

J

 

I would say the whole team, but i chose T-Mac. Just because other teams will have to choose than between t-mac and yao. Like against the Mavs, they just go double triple him. With Yao in there thats not gonna happen. Offcourse Head, Rafer will benefit when shooting more and more practice threes ( open threes ). Chuck also etc.

 

Wouldn't people freak if I were Chuck. Nope, I'm just a fan who has followed him from college to pros. If you come into clutchfans chat during the games I am always there... well most of the time there.. unless I go drinking, I mean go to watch the game, at BW3's.

and I think he does set the best screens. Tmac likes them.

 

Yao is averaging 2.1 assists per game this year. If Luther got all of Yao's assists, that's two more buckets per game. Not a big difference. However, Luther doesn't get all of Yao's assists. Yao looks for Tracy a lot more than he looks for Luther.
Luther benefits a lot from Tracy's assists. Tracy will look a lot more to Yao when he gets back. If anything, Luther's shot attempts could go down when Yao returns.
Hayes obviously benefits the most for reasons already stated. The pairings among Yao, Hayes, Deke and Howard are most efficient from both offense and defense are Yao-C w/ Hayes-PF and Deke-C w/ Howard-PF. That way we always have scoring, shot-blocking and rebounding on the floor.
Tracy benefits the next most. It won't show up in statistics, but Tracy has been running the offense in Yao's absence. Yao coming back will make Tracy's job a lot easier. Teams won't be able to double Tracy nearly as heavily in the fourth qtr. Perimeter shots for Head, Shane and Alston should be even more open, but the scoring will primarily be done by Yao and Tracy.

 

But the problem is Hayes and Mutombo are too offensively challenged to play together in the second unit. So Hayes may get the starting job by default, with Howard and Mutombo (and Jake) as backups.

For reasons others have already pointed out, I also think Hayes will benefit the most. But I'm still concerned that come playoffs, playing next to Yao will not be enough to cover up his deficiencies.

 

I agree. His screens are solid, while Juwon's are weak and often cause turnovers. This is one of many not-so-obvious benafits that come from Hayes getting more minutes.

I can't wait!

 

Mutombo -- though not a choice in this poll -- will benefit greatly from Yao's return. Once Yao returns to (pre-injury) form and can play 32-36 minutes a game, Deke won't have to pace himself or worry about foul trouble. He can go all-out for 10-15 minutes a night (without concerning himself about stamina or foul trouble) and start banking his energy reserve again from the fountain of youth. Mutombo has been awesome during Yao's absence and we'll need his contributions during the playoffs. Few, if any (Miami Heat?) teams have a backup center as good as Dikembe.

 

Wow, I can't believe everybody missed the obvious. It's McSpan.

With Yao, more blowouts, more minutes for McSpan to showcase his array of moves and dazzling passing that make McGrady wishes he was the McSpan in the US.

 

I'm not sure who would benefit the absolute most, but I agree with the three who are leading this poll as the three most likely candidates.

 

The best Rox player to pass the ball down low to Yao is Battier, especially the re-post, even though he didn't get many chance to do it.

Rafer's assists won't go up that much because of Yao's low post move after receiving the ball. On the other hand, Tracy's assists will go up due to his ability to create space for Yao and to feed Yao for easy layups/dunks. Still remember his back court pass to Yao that gave Yao a fast break dunk? Was it against Heat?

Tracy will be the one that benefit the most from Yao's return - He will have fresh legs in the 4th Q to close the deal. Yao is the monster of 1st - 3rd Q and Tracy is the King of 4th quarter.