Here's an old pre-draft article by Ric Bucher that most woul've read. http://espn.go.com/magazine/bucher_20020520.html Yao isn't the shooter Miller is. I think if a new coach comes in he'll recognise that.
Thanks, I never read this before. But in the same article you will read: But it seems some of his old habits just wont' die...
Versitility is the key. Let's run Yao at the high post sometimes, at the low block others. See which defense is being presented, and utilize Yao in the best spot to exploit it.
Personally, I see there's not a damn thing wrong with Yao's game. He can do it all low post or perimeter. What I have seen from Yao all these years is the steady growth, maturity(physically&mentally) and domination. A few of you clearly see this, but a lot of you dismissed it. Yao was not the same dominant player prior to his broken leg. He was a step slower when he came back, his speed and agility was basically still rehabbing, and add to that the assortments of new injuries he picked up, particularly the troublesome left toe. You guys still remembered a couple seasons ago, when Yao took care of that left toe, his plays skyrocketed and got you all excited. The unfortunate part of this whole equation is our team is built around and Tmac and Yao, so any missteps from them could cost us a season, as you have all witnessed it during the first round exist. Our top priority next season is still the same , we had talked about it for years but still had not done it: a starting point guard and a starting power forward. You look at all the teams still in the playoffs, all their starting point guards are solid except(Cleveland) and their starting PFs are legit. It always amazes me when people around here are satisfied with Rafer as our starting 1. To me even though I can't stand Gumby and wanted his ass gone yesterday, I'm still apprehend about the new coach coming in, will he make us better or worse? time will tell . As for Yao, I have never doubted him and I never will, I know what he can do, you give him a complete team, sit back and watch him play, I guarantee you will like it (and the results too).
im sure yao has the ability to knock down some three's i mean he did knock one down i think against sacramento during his rookie year. it doesn't mean that you have to stick him out there and have him WAIT for a three, it just gives more reason for the defense to guess and come on who the heck is going to block him besides another extremely tall and/or gifted player? no that block i mean foul by robinson was blown extremely out of proportion. its funny people tend ignore the fact that nate's hands came into contact with yao's face..
you'll see how many games he dominates hangin out by the three point line. you win championships with a big man in the middle
brad miller couldn't bang in the post if he tried. yao isn't getting parked beyond the 3p line. he might offload more passes to cutters but it won't change where he's had most success getting his post.
Its much harder to start your career as a jump shooter, and then move inside. Lets be thankful that this regime did a great job in developing Yao into a consistent/all-star low-post threat. When he first got here, he could hardly gain position, let alone hold it. I do support some variety in the game... high post/spot-up shooting/etc, but let it be known he should still spend the majority of his time in the low post (if the new coach has any sense at all).
I just can't understand how can he guard Yao so successful? He is not strong, not very athletic. I really want to whack that f**ker out.
You underestimate his strength... and Jerry Sloan kept his team focused enough to stick with the game-plan at all times.
He fouled him a lot. The jazz just foul all the time - then flop on the other end to make it look like it's reciprocal, then they hope that the refs get used to it being a "well just let them play!" type game, and then choke on their whistles late in the game. I'm totally serious. That's one of the reasons why I hate their stupid franchise.
The only reasons I'd like to see a SMALL amount of high post play from Yao is so he doesn't use all his energy pushing and getting pushed in the low block, that tires you out quick. Also, he can be a sort of a playmaker from the high post at times. His strength is getting low position on the block, where the majority of his play should be.
I think you had a good point. But they called a lot of offensive fouls on Yao, so that seems to beat the "let them play" part...
I believe that is the consensus of most folks here. Like I said early, Yao already comes out to set screen for TMac quite a bit, just build on top of that play...
You still need to acquire bigger/stronger players who can finish at the basket if you want Yao to be a playmaker... right now, its T-mac, and that's it. Teams will key on him, and force the undersized Alston and Head to try and finish. Harpring is pretty much the proto-typical player for that system.
Of course. Maybe Kirk Snyder could make use of that driving/cutting ability with Yao in the high post. He can finish better than Head and Rafer.
