I am not one of the posters that say that we try deliberately not to give the ball to Yao- whatever the explanation is he just gets blanked out of our offense. There is a big difference between Looking to give him the ball- and giving him the ball. Agreed that is not possible all the time- but the fact is that the entry passes are either too slow to develop- in effect giving a lot more time to the defense. Yao will be less tired if he is the sole attraction on the floor. I am sure in terms of minutes he is not lagging most big Players- in fact he is a tad bit ahead of Howard ( orlando). While minutes dont exactly measure tiredness- we could be a lot more efficient with our big man. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/stati...g=pg&qual=true&season=2007&seasontype=2&pos=c It is obvious opposing teams will adjust- but I dont think triple teams will happen that often if we had a consistent scoring threat that is left free. That was good in theory- sadly it is not working in reality. He may be just 6 inches taller than a typical center- but if you study Physiology- that is lot height and weight to move around.
I live in LA. So please don't ask me how many times I have seen the Lakers play. There are a lot of players in Lakers better than Alston. Do they have possession of the ball? They do. Do they shoot like Alston? No. Are you clear now?
Yes, that is why JVG has to step in and demand the players to do it. Yao will not confront teammates about not passing the ball to him because it is just not his personality. That is exactly my point.
This sequence just proved that How important to get Yao involved no matter whether he was double teamed or triple teamed. Yao touched the ball, good thing happened. Most of the misses were due to players doing their own things. I stated in the other thread that if someone needed to shoot 3s, it should not be Alston, it should be Battier. This sequence should change your own mind. BTW, tell me which chances are higher, Yao's TO or Alston's misses. Very simple question.
it is annoying to see yao have a man pinned and him not get the ball. however, one explanation i have is that the entry passer isnt confident that either 1) he will get the pass to yao in a catchable spot (yao tends to have problems with passes that are a little off and dont hit him in rythme) 2) the entry passer is affraid that if he lobs a pass in (which is usually the only way to get it in to yao) that the defender will get around yao and maybe steal the pass. Those are just a couple of 'worries' that a passer may have. It doesnt mean they are right, however
All good points but my question would be.... If you know this is a problem then WHY DON'T YOU PRACTICE IT UNTIL YOU HAVE MASTERED IT? I never mentioned anything about ball hogging in my post. But rather the inability to successfully get Yao the ball. I believe it stems from a lack of confidence on their passing ability into the low block. As far as getting Yao the ball wehre he wants it, that is the freaking whole job of the point guard isn't it? If a guy is holding position in the low block its the passers job to make sure the ball goes where the post player wants it. If you go back and watch the games that Hakeem played in he would extend his and and ask for the ball right here, then like clock work the passer would hit him rightin the hand. Its not that bloody hard to do.
Steve Francis Cuttino Mobley Bob Sura Mike James Jon Barry Rafer Alston All of these guys, at one time or another, have been accused of 'not getting Yao the ball'. While some of them clearly have a scorer's mentality, and of course there are times when Yao isn't found when he could be, at some point you have to realize it is a little more than that. GATER and A3PO are dead on here. Nate Freakin' Robinson stuffed Yao. And some of you guys are saying to just 'lob it up' when he is surrounded by guys 6'3 to 6'10 much less 5'9. Not too mention this isn't the Hakeem era where zones are illegal and the defender has to commit one way or another. It's just not as simple as some of you guys are trying to make it.
All good points but my question would be.... If you know this is a problem then WHY DON'T YOU PRACTICE IT UNTIL YOU HAVE MASTERED IT? I never mentioned anything about ball hogging in my post. But rather the inability to successfully get Yao the ball. I believe it stems from a lack of confidence on their passing ability into the low block. As far as getting Yao the ball wehre he wants it, that is the freaking whole job of the point guard isn't it? If a guy is holding position in the low block its the passers job to make sure the ball goes where the post player wants it. If you go back and watch the games that Hakeem played in he would extend his and and ask for the ball right here, then like clock work the passer would hit him rightin the hand. Its not that bloody hard to do. i agree. but like you said and i mentioned in my post, i think it is a lack of confidence, either in the passers ability to give yao a good pass, or yaos ability to handle the pass. But whenever yao is in the block and the passer stand there and holds the ball above his head for 2 seconds i almost lose it. The passes have to come faster. as for the hakeem, i agree, but hakeem also didnt have to worry about someone coming over to double before he even got the ball. unfortunately, the games changed
So you prove my point. The Lakers other players normally shoot the ball when they have a good opportunity without worrying about being over 10 shots per game. There are times when Kobe shoots every time down the floor (see the 3rd quarter last night) but that is not their normal flow on offense. As long as Tracy struggles, the Lakers have superior options on offense supporting Kobe than we do supporting Yao. If "T-Mac" ever returns, that all changes. So finally the discussion has shifted to where it should have started: The other players have to step up when teams deny Yao. It isn't always about getting Yao the ball more, especially in the 4th quarter. That said, when Rafer or anyone else misses a wide open Yao they should counseled forcefully in the huddle. ESPECIALLY when Yao works hard to get open.
I'm not an expert at basketball, but it seems like the Rockets need players who can drive to the basket. I saw VSpan drive to the basket when Yao was being fronted. He was able to drive past his defender and the guy fronting Yao under the basket, then make a safe pass to Yao. I see guards and other players from other teams "drive and dish" with great success. Wouldn't that help break down both the zone defense and the double-teaming of Yao? Layups by the cutter or pass to Yao close-in should lead to high percentage shots and fouls--leading to free throw attempts. Why won't Rockets players drive to the basket, especially when their defender is doubling Yao or sagging off of them because they know that the jumpers aren't falling?
There are 2 main multiple problems. 1)Occasionally bad entry passes or players pass up on trying. 2) When Yao's fronted or beat for position the Rockets can't get him the ball. The Rockets new offense when Yao is being fronted is to have someone else set a pick for the guy trying to make the entry pass. This makes it tough to get Yao the ball, because there are 2 other Rockets and 3 defenders within 5-10 feet of him. As I've said before the Rockets gotta put someone at the high post. Most of the Rockets plays for Yao either suck or are very predictable. At times the Rockets fail to capitalize on getting Yao the ball when he's open, but it seems like the biggest problem is Yao getting post position. At times it's Yao's fault, but the plays the Rockets run for him don't help him at all.
I thought Jon Barry was pretty good at getting Yao the ball. I think we just don't have a good entry passer on this team. Robert Horry is probably the best entry passer in the league right now. He is good because his size, he can see over the defenders and get a good angel for the pass. I think we need someone like that, a PF or tall SF that has a good timing on pass. T-Mac fits that bill, but we need him to be a scorer, not a passer.
And this has been the situation ever since Yao came to the Rockets. The acquisition of TMac was supposed to change that but the TMac we are seeing today is not the same TMac that played in Orlando. What hasn't changed is the inability of his supporting cast to exploit this defense and force adjustments from the opposing team. This is something that I have been waiting years to see from this team. Once the Rockets start doing that, they will truly become the dangerous team everyone here wants them to be.
No, you misunderstood my point. Kobe gets as much double teamed or triple teamed as Yao gets, Which means other players get as many open looks as Alston and co, but they still don't shoot as much. Why? Why? Why? because they know that Kobe is the guy deserved to do that. Even Odm don't shoot many when kobe is on the court, but when Kobe is absent, he is the guy and he shoot a lot. Odm knows his role, but Alston does not. JVG needs to teach him a lession. It is not him to be a hero. I have been watching a lot of Lakers' games. I can tell you Odm is the best role player and he does what he is asked for, not much, not less. Alston is is role player. JVG needs to make him realize that or get him benched. Have some discipline, please. At this moment, Tmac has to learn his role too, be a great player, not a great scorer. He is capable of being 20/7/7, which is nothing less than 25/5/5. Here is my few cents: 1) keep feeding Yao regardless, his TOs is a lot lower than other misses. 2) if someone need to take 3s, it is not going to be Alston. He is the one to do the assist. He needs to know his role. if He does not, he is no good at all, so bench him. 3) Head should be in with Tmac, not Alston with Tmac. Both Alston and Tmac has horrible 3s right now. When Tmac with head, Tmac is doing the playmaking(PG), head and Battier are ones shoorting the 3s. 4) when defense become critical, KillBill should be in place of head. He can drive and defend. Most importantly, Yao has to take 20+ shots. Looking at how many games we won when Yao scored below 20 pts, you will know what I am talking about.
I'm rewatching Suns/Rockets right now, and this is just pathetic. This team passes on entering the ball into Yao because Thomas pushes him a foot farther out than Amare pushed him out five minutes before, and the result is a Shane Battier, 25-foot heave. He's not Shaq. If he gets the ball 11 feet from the hoop, he's ok, because that's better than Battier having to rise above for a 25-footer. Rafer looks Yao off on an open screen/roll to drive to the hoop for a running, wild miss ... Rafer badly botches the inside pass, Yao should have had a dunk ... McGrady looking away from Yao on a screen/roll, pulling up for a missed (and contested) 20-footer off the dribble. In the fourth quarter, Yao gets ... *an in-and-out miss *a three second call (left foot was barely in the lane, Yao's fault, but Rafer took forever to get him the ball over Nash's "stifling" defense) *a missed tip off a needless Head three-pointer *a missed jumper *Yao hits T-Mac for a give-and-go 14-footer that T-Mac passes up (passes to Alston for a missed three-pointer) *The ball in the post, passes out to Alston for a re-post, gets better position, only to see Alston launch a horrible three-point miss. So, the offensive line reads - 0-3 from the floor, one turnover, no assists. Of course, he literally touched the ball for about 12 seconds in the ENTIRE quarter. JVG takes him out with the Rockets down 12, with three minutes to go. T-Mac hits three treys to finish the game with a "respectable" showing of 9 of 26 from the floor, but it hardly makes a difference as Houston is just +1 during that run, shooting and making lucky, horrible, shots. Yes, teams are coming with different defensive looks for the guy, but these Rockets have to know that these things don't matter. Yao in the triple-threat (ok, double threat) position 11 feet from the hoop is still better than Alston/McGrady working their own magic from 25 feet. This team is 10 and 5, and yet no other squad outside of Chicago as frustrated me as much.
Don't you ever think who should shoot the ball the most when Yao is dennied the ball? Does Battier get as many open looks as Alston and Tmac? Why Battier is shooting alot less? Is Shane a worse 3 pt shooter? Is Yao really dennied the ball? seriously think about it. Don't try to find any excuses for people like Alston who has no reason (zero, none, zip.....) to take that many shots per game. People really need to come up with a reasom like "Yao broke his arm, Battier broke his leg" to justify the number of shots his took. You seems to emphasize team offense, but if it is team offense, should he take 20 some shots?
lex13, in prior discussions after the end of last season, some of us argued that slashers were just as important as shooters. I think that is obvious now. This is Snyder's strength. HillyBoy, even with the 10-5 start, I'm so disappointed in Tracy I almost can't contain myself. With the attention Yao is drawing, Tracy should have a field day taking over games late. His passing is great but the sad fact is it's happening because (much of the time) Tracy cannot get the job done himself. I'm with JVG when he said Tracy should finish some of those drives instead of passing out for 3s. Against Detroit, Tracy got manhandled late by Rip Hamilton when the game was on the line. Hamilton pushed him, shoved him, got in his face and shut him down. This should NOT happen. Sorry folks, I am definitely not on board with the new Tracy. You can toss that fish back. My hope is the old Tracy shows up for the playoffs. johnxi, late in games, I don't think Kobe gets double and tripled as much as Yao. Part of the reason is Kobe's teammates can score better. Another reason is doubling and tripling on the perimeter is complete suicide because two passes should result in either a layup or a close in shot. The only way Yao will ever get 20 shots/game is for Tracy and the other players to be efficient when they have open opportunities. However, if you count Yao's FTs as 1/2 of a FG attempt, he is just over 21 shots/game for the season. A couple of those FTs are for technicals.
Yep. We need people who can penetrate and either (1) make the layup/teardrop, (2) hand the ball to Yao for a dunk, and/or (3) kick it out for a 3. Penetration often means moving Yao out of the low post, unclogging the lane. But if you're going to move him out anyway, why not try the high post offence with Yao as the point center? See the Trailblazers when Walton was there: all they did was win the championship with that style. I don't want Yao in the high post all the time; he is far more deadly down low than Walton could ever dream of being. But when the other team is doubling and tripling Yao and our open 3s aren't falling, that is when we should move him up there. This would at least confuse the defending team, if nothing else. We desperately need a Plan B for when JVG's Plan A is stinking up; this is when a bit of high post could help a lot. I think Yao has the tools to be hugely successful up high. And I suspect Walton saw that too when he predicted that Yao would revolutionize the center position: Yao would be the first 5 to be equally devastating high or low.
With regard to rebounds, I think it's because Yao doesn't jump high enough. He doesn't have time to really tighten his grip on the ball, which is why he gets it poked away so often.
That's not quite true. If Yao gets the ball in the high post, he could be quite effective as a point center.
