Not his turnaround, mind you. That's been completely ineffective. I'm talking about his face-up jumper - the one where he DOES NOT dribble or try to back anyone down. Memo defends Yao similar to the way Dampier does - very physical, where he crowds Yao, bodies him up, and has elbows in Yao's back. Yao has struggled with Dampier nearly his whole career except for this year, where Yao started going to his catch-and-shoot. No back downs, no turnaround fadeaways. Just a simple face up and a quick simple jumper. I've yet to see Yao really try that this series. I dunno if he's afraid of getting it blocked or what but Yao's face-up jumper is usually quick enough and doesn't allow his opponents any time for anticipation. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? Yao's already been blocked so many times when he tries to bull his way into the paint from the highpost that his face-up jumper can't be any worse. Plus, it doesn't require nearly as much of the shot clock to execute and there's little chance of Yao getting blindsided by Kirilenko. Not to mention that he'll create more spacing for himself so that he'll have more opportunities later in the game to seal off Memo deep in the paint. What do you guys think?
i agree, if he can consisntently hit a face up on okur, okur will have to startin buyin pump fakes and juke moves. Hope he goes back to it
i was wonder why also. he has a good mid range game, he should use it once in awhile instead of spending all his energy in the post. thats what Dream did. when Dream was in the post, he did the dream shake. when Dream was in the baseline he did that fade away. when Dream was near the line, he would shoot a 15 footer.
I agree. We have not seen those faced up J from Yao at all this series. He needs to try some. He also has good success with the deep post right in front of the rim from passes from Tmac, let's try more of those. As for the regular post-up on the sides, he can still try them but the Rockets need to figure out how to make use of the fact that Kirilinko leaves his man (Tmac) completely once Yao makes his move. Tmac needs to cut hard to the basket once Kirilinko leaves him and looks for the pass from Yao for some easy lay-ups, a few of those will make the Jazz stay at home. Okur also claimed he learned Yao's tendency in the post. Yao turns to the middle for the jump shot too much. He needs to turn to the baseline a little more.
Okur only did that a couple of times and Yao went away from it. The thing is, both times Okur did it, Yao 1)telegraphed his moves and 2) had no other options. I remember distinctly that Yao didn't pull up quick enough but kinda just sat in the high post like a lump while his teammates couldn't get open and the shotclock was near 0. Nothing else for Yao to do but shoot that shot and Okur knew it. In game 6, I'm talking about having Yao shoot that jumper earlier in the possession, rather than Yao slowly backing Okur down only to get stripped or blocked by Kirilenko on the weakside.
I realy think Yao's been over-coached. I know JVG and Thibodeaux have received a lot of credit for Yao's development, but I've been saying his game has been lobotomized for 3 years. For many here that's not a big deal, but Yao used to be an exciting player. Now he's just like a frustrated robot.
I think you're right too. Yao's mid-range game is completely gone after JVG took over. He used to shoot a high % 15ft jumper under Rudy-T. Imagine if Yao's allowed to do that how many easy shots he'll get for himself and for his cutting, driving teammates when the lane is open.
see how Okur shoots the 3?!?! thats Yao before we ruined him. I used to hate when Sabonis nailed the 3 on us. Now its Okur! I dont see why the coaches get bent over Yaos fabulous midrange game. They should teach the other clowns to rebound instead of compromising Yaos game. Hes the best shooter on the team.
How many of you guys think Tmac takes too many jumpers and complain that he should take it to the hoop more? Now some are complaining that Yao should shoot more J's? Tmac is taking the lower percentage shots, so someone has to get closer to the hoop and get the higher ones. That's Yao's job now that Tmac is struggling. You might think that JVG is killing Yao's midrange game, but during the regular season one of Yao's main weapons was his turnaround from 12+ feet. These games are close and contentious. Yao mixing in jumpers at this point could really backfire because we need scores. Have you seen the Denver/SA series? Duncan's gone away from his J, probably because his team can't afford for him to gamble on those.
Yao's lateral movement has been suspect lately, so if he faces up on Okur, he really only has 2 options. Shoot or Pass, and getting up in his face makes neither very effective.
Uhhh, Yao is already better than Sabonis or Okur have ever been in the NBA. Why the HELL would we stop doing what we've been doing? Once Yao has mastered the low post, then we can start putting in plays for the midrange shot. But for now, he doesn't put the ball on the floor effectively, and still doesn't protect the ball well enough to avoid getting stripped in the post. I can't believe someone just suggested that we let Yao take 3's like Okur. You know who next best low poost option on our team is? Juwan. You know who's comes after that? I don't. Jazz: Boozer, Harpring, Deron, Millsap. Ex Blazers: Pippen, Wells, Rasheed, Brian Grant, many more. Needless to say, I disagree completely.
Yao needs to start using the step-thru move more often. He'll be shooting free throws all day with Okur and AK47 jumping all over his back.
Because he gets pushed every time when he shoot his jumper. I mean other teams push him as well, but Utah gets away with pushing him with both hands, and that's why his shots has been off this series.
Foul Shots. Over the last five games: Yao MING FTA: 53 Mehmet Okur FTA: 7 Yes, 7 foul shots for Okur while Yao gets 53. And you ask why should we be 'developing' Yao's midrange game? Why bother with them when you're going to get about 10-14 free throws each game which are worth 5-7 jumpers anyway?
