Yao is more efficient than Francis. Big shock there. Francis shoots more than Yao. Another shock. pgabriel: Francis playing more minutes than Yao does indicate a stamina advantage... but unfortunately for Francis, the fact that he shoots slightly more per 48 minutes than Yao indicates an even greater degree of selfishness... as if he has significant "I'm the Only Star on the Court" time, he can satisfy his need to dominate the ball there. This is clearly a point that you cannot win. Why can't you just concede that Francis has shot too much in relation to Yao?
Let's further this discussion. Even assuming Yao is on the floor, he may not be able to shoot when the defense plays zones or surrounds him with double and triple teams. Who doesnt want Yao to shoot more assuming he can. Teams do not double guards 20 feet away from the basket so guards may have more opportunities to shoot. It may be appropriate for them to take more shots. On the flip side, some of those shots Yao takes and makes, he creates completely on his own through offensive rebounds. In other words, many of his shots come from his own efforts and not passes directed towards him which should be the ultimate goal given his high FG%. It's inconclusive whether Yao's teammates are just not feeding him the ball enough or if the defense is not allowing this. It's probably a combination of the 2. We do not have the best passing team (as stated by the players themselves and Van Gundy in several Chronicle interviews and articles). AND given Yao's enormous size, teams will not let him just "hang around the basket" for easy scores making it virtually impossible for anyone not named Jason Kidd to feed the ball inside for scoring opportunities.
But on the whole? Are you saying that Francis was particularly unreasonable early on? When did he become less selfish? Lawyer questions aside, I want to make something clear...I have, many times, defended Steve. I think he's trying. I have also believed that he should take more shots than he did last year...I just think he should take less than Yao, and that his should come off the inside out game, not off the iso game, unless Yao is out of the game. Then I think his taking over, in conjunction with Cat and to a degree Mo is what is called for. I have been swayed a bit this year by Steve's SuperBowl decisions, his clear cut avoidance of the inside out game, at times, and the fact that Cat has improved. I used to think the fga's should go, in clear deliniation, 1) Yao, 2) Steve///and then a big drop to Cat at 3, etc. on down. I still believe that you build around your stars, and that Yao and Steve are 1s A and B in that regard. I just am less sure of the difference between Cat and Steve in pure scoring, and am considering the possibility that Cat could be second option some nights, and be close to Steve in fga's in general. And while he is exhibiting an ability to get his shots within the system, instead of against is like Steve often does, I;d have no problem with him even shooting more than Steve. But while Yao is on the floor, the offense should run through him, and even if he doesn;t take the most shots every game, he should get as many touches as possible o allow others to get superior shots off of him.
Yao is 10th among NBA centers in terms of minutes per game. The guys ahead of him in minutes per game who are a primary scorer and actually play a low post game are Duncan and Shaq.
Still doesn't look right. You're saying that every minute, Yao takes 2.76 shots? Are you sure that statistic isn't minutes played divided by shots? (In other words, every 2.76 minutes, Yao takes a shot).
For those of you scoring at home: Yao mpg: 32.3 fga: 11.5 shots per minute: 0.356 Francis mpg: 39.9 fga: 14.6 shots per minute: 0.366 Of course this excludes the impact of free throw attempts and the like.
Okay, so this is a silly, technical, nit-picky argument, and not really an important one, since I think we all agree in spirit, but: 2.79 is not shots per minute. That's how many minutes it takes, on average, for Yao to squeeze off a shot. For a "per minute" statistic, the minutes need to be in the denominator. Sorry, pgabriel, I'm not trying to be a statistical hard-ass---just wanted to clarify.
You're not being a hardass, you just proved how stupid I am in math. You're right I should have known those figures were waaaaayyyyyyyyy too high. Yao 612/1711=.357 Francis 759/2075=.365 So Francis is a ball hog. my bad
so, they have pretty similar shots per minute, or minutes per shot. For the year Yao is averaging 17.2 shots per 48. Through 7 games in Feb. he is averaging 20.81 shots per 48. The Laker games skews the stats a little, but his shots are increasing. By comparison, Tim Duncan is averaging 22.5 shots per 48 for the season. Over the last 2 months, Yao is getting more shots than Steve, which is a good thing. Francis shots per 48 was 16.116 is Jan. and 14.53 through 6 games in Feb. In CY2004, Yao has turned a corner. A light bulb has gone on in his head, and he is a much better player. He is commanding the ball, and guys are seeing that, and giving it to him. Early in the year, he was passive, and people are not going to give you the ball unless you act like you want it.
Hey, no worries, no one likes math! You know the funny coincidence, that calculation for Francis ---- .365, almost exactly gets to his shooting percentage! (and yes, everyone, i'm aware of today's triumphant news that Stevie has finally cracked that mythical 40% barrier. Steve Francis and Chuck Yeager, two peas in a pod.)
Exactly, this whole "Steve and the rest of the team doesn't pass to Yao" argument is stupid. The guy is demanding the ball more and being assertive and the team has responded. Anyone who can't see that just from watching the games just doesn't want to give Steve any credit. Nothing to see here, move on.
