I believe Tracy want attack the basket, but his legs don't. He can't drive all the time in a 48 minutes game. And he is older, fatter, and slower.
Yao is a bad jump shooter if he is a guard. Yao is much worse than a bad jump shooter if he is a center. Look at how many Yao's shots are blocked. Yao plays smaller than Alson. If you have time, check out how many Yao's shots are blocked in clutch time. >10%, another pathetic number. How many Yao's shot are blocked in playoff? >20%? Conclusion: Yao is a very bad jump shooter. He does not have a jump shot skill. I mean in real game.
pick and fade for a jumper isn't a BAD play call on occasion, but it does eliminate his height advantage and certainly isn't going to improve his rebounding being further away from the goal. Yao is the best offensive player in the game from 8 ft and in, and average at best outside that area, which is the primary reason he doesn't get more jumpers via set plays.
Hmmm Yao averaging 50% for FG isn't a bad thing but Tracy averaging 28%-35% from the perimeter = GAME OVER!!!
he's our best rebounder too and if he gets tired he can't grab a key board on the defensive/offensive end. look at game 7.
See I hear those numbers all the time but the fact is that there is not enough data to validate those numbers. The only time Yao shoots from outside of 8-10 feet is in panic mode when the shot clock runs down. The guy is on the block 95% of the time...... He needs to be playing SOME high post and face up game, let Tmac get on the block some. Wouldn't you have liked to see Yao feeding Tmac when Derek Fisher was guarding him? JVG's offense is as predictable as the sun rising..... DD
yao gets plenty of opportunities for a face up jumper. he could have done it all series on okur but rather chose to go with the fadeaway
Jeff's point bear repeating. You don't just turn around and "face up" if you can't drive (and you're slow to elevate and have a slow release). The defender can stand one inch from Yao and deny him an open look and effectively render him uselsess. I suppose you could run Yao off screens - which would requrie somebody to camp out in the lane for 15 seconds as he lumbers across the keyfor a turnaround J. Talk about a waste of size.
Sam, The point is that for 5 years he has been playing on the low block almost exclusively and they count that fadeaway as a jumper. Maybe we should count his FTs as jump shots since he is 15 feet from the basket and faciing it...he sure does ok there. I am saying that the data is irrelevant if he is not setting up in the high post or taking some jumpers from the elbow etc...which I believe is what we are talking about. Yao has been exclusive to the low box, time to add some variety to his game. DD
Carlos Boozer talked about facing up during an NBA Fundamentals show, and the key thing is that the defender has to know that you can have the triple threat. Yao, if he faces up, only have 2 threats, pass and shoot. He's too slow to drive the ball in, whereas faster players like Boozer can outrun/outjump his defender to the basket. Yao can't, and his ball would be likely to be stripped by guards if he does try to drive.
If Yao is 15-18ft away from the basket, the player defending him still can't leave him alone to cover somebody else. Usually, the guy defending Yao is the center or PF, who is probably the best blocker and rebounder in their team. Therefore, we'll have a much better chance to penetrate, cut and rebound.
Yao's height is a big advantage, as long as he can keep the ball above his head and shoot the ball, defender just can seldom stay at the height to keep him from shooting or passing.
If anybody remember when Yao was coached by Rudy, when the Rockets played against Lakers, Yao always had chance to shoot some open jumpers and scored the jumpers efficiently.
Not true, there's probably hundreds of faceup jumpers on his record. Great, then in that case let's get Steve Francis and have him shoot 15 footers since he shoots 90% from the line.... Even if he was a good jump shooter he'd still be 15-20 points below his in close FG%. And you keep ignoring the main point. Why put a guy in the "triple threat" spot when hecan only perform two threats at most - and is eminently strip-able before that time. Waste. If I were an opposing coach I would love Yao in the high post. I could single cover him all game long and have a guy right up in his face. I wouldn't even have to use a real center. I'd put a small forward right there.
No one is saying Yao should use face up jumper all the time. But if you at least attempt some and make them at a decent percentage, people will have more things to worry about when guarding you. Anyone who has played basketball knows when you are less predictable it gives you an edge. Right now if you is outside at 15-18 foot range the defender can just ignore him.
Exactly!! Teams would concentrate on Steve and Cuttino cause they were such ball hogs. That leaves a wide open Yao every time.
