Why Yao is not attacking Shaq?

I agree.

I think he's scurred of Shaq sometimes. Part of the reason why he's not attacking is his mentality but also part of it have to do with JVG not keep on feeding Yao. In the 3rd quarter if the first game, Yao made 1 shot early and JVG just stopped feeding him the ball for some reason. He kept calling plays for our guards to throw the ball away.

 

I've been wondering that myself lately.. part of it is probably the guards or JVG and part of it is the way Yao's been playing. Yao needs to attack the basket that doesnt mean dunk everything in sight (which might be nice) but go for layups and short hook shots something closer to the basket. I like it when the team attacks the basket and gets penetration because it causes all kinds of havoc for the opposing team. When the guards drive right at Shaq it moves him out of position and lets Yao get more offensive rebounds same vice versa (when Yao goes out to block a shot his man seems to get the offensive boards).

I hope Yao picks up his game and takes right at Shaq I wish he would pull a Duncan and throw his arms right into the defenders to get calls against them.

J

 

I don't think it is the lack of play calling for Yao but more so the lack of ability to get Yao the ball when he has position. If JVG had his way Yao would get the ball on every possession like Hakeem and Ewing used to.

 

I think it's three things.

1. Shaq's defense. Shaq's been playing Yao very tight. If you watched the last two games, Shaq almost never left Yao on defense. He's also been borderline fouling Yao when Yao goes up for a shot, really crowding him. Moreover, Shaq has a tendency to slap Yao on his right wrist whenever Yao shoots and he seems to be getting away with it.

2. Yao's scared. Watch Yao play on offense for a couple of possessions you'll notice he looks nervous and afraid. The physical play has made him very, very hesitant. He can't even get his shot off really. With the wrist slapping going on above, Yao has become very hesitant to shoot.

3. Yao's tired. In the second half, Yao didn't even bother fighting for position or calling for the ball. He seemed to be saving all of his energy for defense.

 

For that to happen, Yao needs to get position everytime down court, which he very often does not do. It's sign number one that he's tired in a game. He also needs to demonstrate that he can protect the ball from being stripped when he's doubled.

Yao, to me, looked like he ran out of gas early in Game 1. In the April 1 game, he didn't have Cato around, which meant a full game of Shaq, and he likewise ran out of gas early.

Evan

 

This may very well be the case. It takes a lot of energy out of anyone who has to guard Shaq. In fact, on the radio talk shows here in LA, they talked about how Shaq was really tired after the first half because he had to guard Yao all the time. End result: Shaq only scored 4 points in the second half.

JVG probably should put someone else on Shaq tonight and allow Yao to concentrate more on offense.

 

He tried a couple of times, but Shaq was too physical for him.

If you follow Yao closely, you'll know that his move is rather predictable. He needs time & space to gather himself before he starts any of his moves, except the fadeaway to baseline. The problem is Shaq wasn't give him freedom to start his move. This is evident in the second half when Shaq basically took the ball away from his hand.

O'Neal was easied off a bit in the second half on both ends, mainly because he expended too much energy in the first half. But Yao was worn out by then as well. So I think JVG will use Cato on Shaq more tonight to keep Yao fresh on the offensive end.

BTW, you call expect a lot of foul calls tonight after the league received so many complains after the first game, which is not a good news for the Rockets.

 

Let's be honest. It's the pick and roll. You can't force feed Yao when he's 20 feet from the hoop. Plain and simple. Which is why Cato should be out there instead of Yao. Bottom line. It's the pick and roll.

 

Good post, this says it all. Yao is taking too long to get into position, and for the most part, is still too far out from the post. And it really isn't his fault, you're not going to come out and push Shaq around, its not going to happen.

I think JVG and co. need to look to get Yao involved outside the post. Yao is capable of doing a lot of things, he can hit the 10ft jumper (which Shaq doesn't want to defend), he can pass. But JVG is limiting Yao to the post, which would work against other teams, but not against Shaq.

Gucci

 

I Hope not, then the Rockets would get swept if this happens. Mo needs to get the ball more than Yao. Yao against Shaq or MO against Malone? No question what the better match up is for the Rockets.

 

Mo T is a good matchup. But Yao has 6 inches on dumbledorf. He can take Shaq and has proven it. When he does. We win. When he doesn't we lose. It's a fact. So let's ride that and see what happens. You ride the horse that brung ya.

 

He didn't get enough support from his teammates like first 3 games. I guess that's because he didn't shoot well in the 4th game. I don't think he like to setup screen that much. He does it because he don't want to be completely excluded from offensive end.

 

That's true when Shaq gave him room to maneuver. But in the last two meeting, Shaq has taken that freedom away from Yao, all he could do was fade-away to the baseline.

I don’t have a problem to “ride the horse that brung ya”, like what the Lakers are doing, or the old Jazz way, e.g., this is what we do, you have to beat it to beat us. The problem with that approach is you have to have a SOUND, and CONSISTENT SYSTEM , so you can always execute it under any circumstance. Unfortunately, we don’t have it. That means we have to take a different approach based on whom we are going to play. Against the Lakers, our advantage is penetration to the middle, then dish to open spots when help defenders come. Obviously, it requires a level headed Francis & Mobley for that approach to succeed, which is not that optimistic based on the past playing this season, but that’s our best chance to beat the Lakers.

IF we can get past the Lakers, then we can rely on Yao more offensively!

 

Uh, Yao isn't really capable at driving to the bucket. He would get the ball stripped or get called for charging more than he would do anything worthwhile.

Yao's game and skills are totally different than Malone's.

Using your logic we should ask Mike Wilks to come in and dunk over Shaq, just like that.

 

We all know Yao has 5 inches over Shaq, but his reach is probably just one or two inches taller due to his shorter arms. The other problem is his habit of bringing the ball down, that's why he got stripped a lot in traffic. Yes, Shaq is older, but he is still too powerful for Yao to back down, two quick for Yao to drive around. The simple fact is Shaq is quick & more athletic than Yao even at 32!

I do agree that we should use Cato, or Talor on Shaq more, and bring Yao over to block his shots when Shaq starts his move towards basket. The problem with that approach is Malone is a very good shoot at 18' UNTIL LAST GAME, and he is too quick for Yao to guard outside. That's why we saw Yao was on Shaq at the begining of the game, then switched over on Malone after he missed tons of the open shots. We might see Yao on Malone at the begining tonight, but will have to switch over to Shaq once Malone hit a couple open shots.

As I said many times before, Yao needs to use more LEAN-IN shots, less fade-away shots. When you are taller than anyone else, you should use that advantage to shoot over people. There is no way anyone can jump to block you when he has 300+lb body on him!. Shaq is a master with that quick-jump-lean-in shot.

 

You know what? **** Yao. I'm so mad at him right now... I mean, how many stupid mistakes could he make? Keep it simple. It's one thing to be a 6'3" dribbling pg, but for a 7'5" center, the **** just isn't that complicated.