Now I'm not going to even start comparing Yao to the Dream, but I'll just share something I've noticed so far. So far watching Yao it is evident that he cannot really jump at all. I don't expect for him to be able to leap and bound at 7 ft 6 but when a shooting guard, i.e. Desmond Mason, countless others, go into the lane and Yao is standing there I want to see a block. Numerous times this young season I've been on the edge of my seat about to yell about how nice that block was, when i see a 6 ft 3 inch guard take it in and put it RIGHT over Yao's fingertips. I'm sitting here at half time and I just watched the Dream's highlight reel. His leaping ability and agility was so evident in that piece that it just downright makes Yao look silly. Hakeem was a good 6 inches shorter than Yao, but Hakeem was in there swatting everything that came by, not to mention his countless fakes and "Dream shakes." I hope that for Yao's sake he'll be able to take care of this because right now hes flat out getting embarassed. Also though, I was very high on Yao and I still am; I believe he'll become a good if not great player with time, but i really want to see a little more athleticism shown, especially with people a full foot shorter than him driving into the lane.
I doubt Yao will ever be the defensive master that he as been made out to be. From what I've seen so far, Shawn Bradley is more athletic (it pains me to say that). Yao's impact will be when he gets his jumper down and can draw a big man outside with him. I could be wrong though. All the reports from draft camps said he was very agile and moble, but I sure haven't seen any of that.
Just curious.... Did the Rockets keep pre-season statistics in 1983? How many games did Hakeem play? What were Hakeem's stats? I know or guess that he average 20.xx points and 10.xx rebounds during his rookie season
My take on Yao's lack of defensive presence... The problem is Yao is being too timid to get close enough to block or alter the shots. He hasn't figured out the NBA rules yet, and is obviously concerned about getting into foul trouble. I think Rudy should just tell him not to worry about the fouls. If he fouls out in twenty minutes, so what? It's not like he's playing 30 minutes anyway. At least he won't be playing tentatively. Coaches usually tell players who aren't shotblockers to just put their hands straight up rather than trying to actually go up and really contest the shot. I noticed this is something that Yao has been doing to avoid fouls. This is not the right thing for him. Yao is a shotblocker and as such, he should be trying to contest the shot by getting a hand on the ball or forcing the player to alter his shot. The vertical leap or lack thereof should not be a factor with Yao. When the other player jumps to shoot, Yao needs to quickly get in the right position to try to block the shot. If he gets there in time, Yao's hands/arms will already be there to meet the opposing player on his way up before he's reached the pinnacle of his jump. This is how Yao will use his height to alter shots. The other guy has to take the time to jump to get to Yao's level...Yao is already there. So far, he has not taken advantage of this. From what I've seen, the player has already jumped and released the ball before Yao really makes an attempt at blocking it. This completely takes away his huge height advantage. He's just a little late right now. The thing with Hakeem is he had the instincts to be a great shot blocker. Sometimes it almost seemed like he knew when the ball was going to be shot before the shooter even did. I think Yao has similar instincts, he's just needs to stop worrying about the fouls.
