Gasol has the habit of keeping the ball above his head when he makes many if not all of his moves and the ability to grab the ball at chest level and immediately go into his hook. If Yao instituted some of the same mechanics he could cut his turnovers and catch his defenders off balance. Also, earlier in the season Yao leaned on his opponent when doing the hook. He made it just as often and got many more foul calls, i think that is something that he should resurrect and bring into the playoffs.
The way he is playing, turn around jumpers jump hooks and offensive putbacks, i dont care where hes holding the ball when he puts it down the hole man..
May be, but it's called growth. Hakeem had no real offensive game outside of 8 feet when he entered the league but he developed one rapidly.
I agree, unfortunately your criticizing Yao (in a totally fair way IMO) which means that this thread will end up w/ one star or something like that
Yao just has to learn to get the ball within 10 feet and make a decision quickly. Him holding the ball is his biggest problem once he gets it. If he either turns and shoots, one dribble and shoot, or passes immediately to repost....he will be deadly for as long as he plays. Yao gets into most of his trouble after catching the ball and then trying to dribble to back his man down further, because he is slow and that gives the other team's help defense time to respond, and then he reacts too slowly. I would rather him shoot a turnaround jumper everytime he catches it within 10-12 feet because it is not likely to get blocked and he will shoot over 50% consistently. That will open it up for him to get lower position and then go for his one dribble dunks or baby hooks. Is RA listening?
yea...and yao need to learn how to not get double team by sucking like gasol...that can always cut down the turnover i gurrenteed it
Yao's turnovers are down dramatically, over the last ten games he's averaged 1.8 TOs from the previous 10 of 3.2. Its not an accident, less dribbling, holding the ball high and passing to the open man sooner when the double comes. Also, I was watching a Phoenix game when a defender came to double team Shaq on his blind side one of his teammates yelled SHAQ so loud you could hear it on TV. The Rox need to do that for Yao, I don't think they let the big fella know when a defender is coming up on his blind side.
Plus Deke should teach Yao how to put his elbows up when he gets the ball. I saw Landry doing it last night against the Warriors too. Then maybe Yao won't have his purse stolen off his arm so much. In the Kings game, Yao had the rebound in his hands a couple of times, put couldn't come down with it. A couple of elbows to the chops, (whether a foul is called or not), will stop that crap instantly!
clearly the 'earn' was a typo I have noticed that Yao's turnovers are down, but i think he can still improve....for example, he can get lower and wider when sealing his man for the entry pass.
gasol does the little things that avoid turnovers that yao still does, but then again, yao is a giant compared to gasol. yao's hand eye coordination is amazing for a man his size, as well as gasol's .
Im not taking anythiing from Yao, or his coordination, but he still could do a few minor things to improve.
Everyone can improve... but Yao gets more out of what he has then 99% of the players in this league. Tell me one player 7'5" to ever have the game that yao has. It is ridiculous to compare him to Gasol. Yao is 6" taller. Would you compae Kobe to Gasol. Stupid stupid stupid... and this doesn't include the fact that Yao is just overall a much more valuable player to this team. Gasol is good but Memphis was never going anywhere with him as the focus. Only now when he is second fiddle can he shine. He is much quicker and agile than Yao oh but did I mention Kobe is much quicker and agile than Gasol. Stupid thread of the year!
the op had a point. yao has been doing a lil better lately though. and he should be able to improve from here on.
lmao @ old man rock First of all you say Yao is 7'5 and that he is 6 inches taller than the 7'0 Pau Gasol.....nice base for your argument. Moving on. So Yao cant be expected to simply hold the ball higher like Gasol does because he is six inches taller? Wow I suppose Brooks cant be expected to run the team as well as other point guards in the league because he's so much shorter and Chuck Hayes cant be expected to defend other PFs because they are so much taller.
if chuck was 6'11, he'd be a freaking beast. some players can still shoot over him or fade away from him, but give him more length, it'll be that much tougher than now. if brooks was 6'4, although he'd probably be a little slower, he'd have more power and would be able to shoot over opponents easier.
ok, and if Allen Iverson was 6'6 he could have arguably averaged 35 for his career. regardless you missed the point of my post.
