I thought of the energy issue too. But the thing is he often would revert back to a good rebounder and get a few rebounds in a hurry in the next few minutes. Just like last night, he seemed to be more energized in the 4th quarter.
So what Yao do layups ...this is a game about numbers, having more dunks doesnt win u game.. jesus give the guy a break god damn!!
It'd be nice if he dunks it every time under the basket. I am sure the fans will like it. But I think he is just trying to protect his feet and his ankles. It might even be professional advice from the doctors. He just had a foot surgery not that long ago afterall. And IIRC he had problem with his ankle in a preseason game too. Dunking less may be a tradeoff for a longer career.
The thing about Dunk is .. you gotta balance ur feet 1st.. and ur bent ur knees and find a perfect position next to the basket.. all that takes about 1 second longer than just a layup for Yao... why would u want to take the risk for that 1 second that could give opponent chance to block u or foul u?
There really isn't proof he's dunking less, either. It's only been four games. He's had 3 dunks out of 34 field goal attempts. About 10%. But last year only 8% of his field goal attempts were dunks.
i remember a couple of seasons back the last game of the season in pre-warm ups...Ewing and Yao were going at it one on one. It was incredible to see two great centers from different eras banging against each other, and I have to say that it impacted my basketball memory even more than watching Yao vs Shaq I live and in person.
I'll say it again: Yao needs to learn how to dunk with his left hand. A couple of times he's been fouled (without finishing the shot) or blocked because he still uses his right hand even when attacking with his left. He's got a left-handed hook/scoop shot so I don't understand why he won't stuff the ball with it too. I'm not worried at all about his rebounding. He'll definitely average double digits for the season. We've only played 4 games.
You have no idea how excited I am about Ewing not being here. Now if JVG and Alston will join him, things could get rolling.
This whole 'dunk' thing is getting carzy. If Yao had dunked 50% of his attempt, I am pretty sure people here will still not happy and ask Yao for a lap dance instead. The guy did his best and is making solid shoots here and we won. What else you want?
Yao is tall BUT he can't jump. He has no elevation at all. Notice even when he dunks it barly clears the rim? That's OK, in fact, it's good Ball IQ because it doesn't get you any more points if you do a monster dunk or a finger roll layin (as long as it's not blocked). And if Yao has to "effort" all out to have a few more dunks in a game, that just means he will get tired earlier. Not a good trade-off. Getting the points while being guarded and unstoppable is just as devastating to the other team as a open look dunk. As for the rebounding, it's Yao and he is not known as a great rebounder. He will not lead the league in rebounds. Simply because he has the classic block out mentality and that means HIS man will not have a good rebound day. The other players he is not blocking out has a better chance at the ball if it doesn't bounce to Yao directly. If Yao had hopps and attacked the rebound, he would get 20 a game routinely. He gets rebound because he is tall and his hand are at the rim when he reach up standing flat on this feet
Yao sucks at rebounding this year..i've noticed a huge difference from this year and last year... his whole technique is different
