Will Bill Worrell shout these words out often over the course of next season? -- If Adelman will be the new coach? Personally I hope Yao can play a mixture of High/Low post, with 30/70 or 40/60 split. Espeically when he and TMad run that high PnR at 3pt line, if there is a 3pt threat from Yao, then TMac may have more freedom driving to the basket...
You might hear it a couple of times, but I doubt it will be a major part of the game plan. I'm sure he could knock it down. I remember Hakeem knocking a couple down as well.
I'm really torn between this. I think if he plays high post, he'd just be a Dirk Nowitzki with out the abillity to go by people. Plays in the paint wins games, and that's where he absolutedly dominated earlier in the year. On the other hand, I'm a little stressed at how much effort it is to post Yao up in the "right possesion" so for him to spot up in the high post might not be bad. I really thought he turned the corner earlier this year, he had decent stats in the second half and the playoffs, but the offence just stagnates when we try to run a series of post plays through him. i say if he can play like he did earlier this year, continue to let him punish people in the post. If he lost a step due to injury, have him spot up in the high post, let T-Mac (or got forbid) Rafer attack the hoop and kick it back out if the opposing center comes to help. P.S. I actually don't mind him fading away and stuff when he posts up. Even Hakeem had the same detractors that said the samething about the Dream shake.
I really hope Yao can face up the rim and shoot some jumpers in stead of drive the ball in the paint, turn around and shoot those fade aways, it's energy exhausting and the effect is almost the same as those face up jumpers. When he gets in the paint, he should use his hooks or dunk the ball, his layup is not reliable.
The probem for TMac on PnR now is that when Yao sets screen, the center on the opposing team ALWAYS move to trap TMac hard to keep him away from the paint. I just thought maybe if Yao is a threat at the perimeter (not necessarily always beyond 3pt line), then TMac will have less pressure driving...
Yeah, I think that's the most what I believe also. But ask yourself this, if we reduce Yao to a jump shooter in the perimeter, what makes him superior to any other 6' 8"+ guys that can hit a jump shot. I.E., what can he do on offence at that point that Steve Novak can't do if we expect him to be a jump shooter. Also, if you look at guys like Amare, Duncan, and Boozer, they're dangerous because if you body up or respect the jump shot too much, they just go by you. I don't know if Yao have the quickness or that I'm comfortable with him putting the ball on the floor. Yao is unique because when he gets the ball deep in the post, he literally can't be stopped. It's just that it never seems to be easy to get him the ball deep in the post, even after going through multiple point guards, shooting guards, and small forward. Which can lead to the conclusion that Yao attributes to the problem a little bit or atleast that we probably can't expect the situation to be better. So while I'm willing to see how a face up approach would work, but unlike some other posters, I'm not sure if it's necessary Yao's "strength". He might do it well, but I don't think he'll do significanlty better than a lot big guys with some sort of jump shot, i.e. it's taking away the advantages Yao has over his peers.
if yao plays like he did earlier in the year than we wouldn't be discussing a new coach. our problems don't involve him not taking enough 3's.
At worst Yao on the high post would be a taller version of Brad Miller. Brad doesn't have any speed either.
I don't know why people would want Yao to play the high post, I mean, the most important factor for me are foul shots: Brad Miller (the year he played 79 games, 15.0 pt average, 05-06): FTM-FTA 280-338 Yao Ming (last season, 48 games, 25.0 pt average): FTM-FTA 356-413 Even when Yao played 31 less games than last year's Brad Miller, he still scored 76 more points off FTs. Imagine he he had played around 79 games, Yao would have attemped over 700 FTs over a seaosn, and making them 85% (595 fts) of them would let him score 200 points more over a season than Brad Miller.
Sweet! Yay! Lets take the biggest most dominant and powerful force in basketball and put him 25ft out when he couldn't even convert from 13ft out against the Jazz! Yippee for Adelman. All is saved.
Nobody wants Yao permanently on the perimeter. We just want to mix it up a little. The Rockets offense was so predictable that it was very easy for a well-coached team to prepare for it. Overplay Yao and force some turnovers to reduce his effectiveness, close out hard on the three point line, and trap Tracy on the pick and roll. If you had some Yao in the high post shooting and passing it around, the Rockets would be a lot less predictable and consequently harder to defend.
The problem is that Adelman has never shown much of "mixing it up". He plays a lot of high-low. Yao can play high-low and be effective in it, but he's a lot more effective with his back to the basket. Bad fit, just a bad fit.
I never said to just PARK Yao at 3pt line. But right now, he DOES come out and run PnR with TMac quite a few times in the game. Do we have agreement on this point? All I am suggesting is that add another dimension in those play to give Yao some chance of shooting long jumpers.
