Yao is Playing 75% of Minutes, Not 50%. [Perspective]

Great point, we are only talking about 8 less minutes a game, and by the end of the year he should be back to normal.

Nice perspective...repped.

DD

 

good point! i overlooked that as well!

 

I don't care, 50% Yao, 75% Yao, One Armed Yao, is better than no Yao!

 

Excellent point. I shall be using this in my daily arguments with r****ded Spurs/Mavs fans.

 

I definitely overlooked this aspect. Good post.

However, do you think limiting game time by 8 minutes per game will really make that much of a difference? Did they do any analysis as to why it is 8 minutes per game and not 12 or 6 or did they just think 24 was a good round number?
I personally think they could have cut training time instead of actual game time. But who knows? Yao might be more effective in short bursts and put up similar stats to his 08-09 production of close to 20 and 10.

 

"One of these things is not like the other things."

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Great analysis! A new angle to look at things. I like it.

 

yup, thats what i was telling my roommates...good call to publicly post it..lol

 

Not just one.

 

Great post

 

I had this exact thought yesterday.

Is 8 minutes less than normal really that bad when the quality of those minutes is likely to increase? There were too many times back in the day when Yao would struggle during long stretches on the court. That would lead to fast break points for the other team, mishandled entry passes, and getting burned when he couldn't properly "show" on the pick and roll simply because he was exhausted.

Not that he won't get tired at times, but it should be noticeably less of a problem. Less tired also equals less foul prone, which was another one of Yao's limitations in previous seasons.

As you pointed out, 24 minutes per game is a limit and not an average. His true average may drop below 24 while that limit is in place, but some of that will be a reflection on the success of the team. He will be used a full 24 when needed, and he will sit when not needed (during a blow out). So in a way, an average of 20 or 21 minutes would be effectively just as good as an average of 24 when it comes to the bottom line.

I agree with the idea of playing Yao 18 minutes through 3 quarters and saving him for the final 6 minute stretch. My question is how we can get him into the game more often at the end of all quarters, when the team is in the penalty and he (according to Morey) becomes the most effective offensive threat in the league? As of right now, he seems to be playing the first 6 minutes of quarters so he can run with the starters.

Could Yao be more effective with the second unit? It's worth consideration, in my opinion.

 

Nice post... i also wanted to add to that...

For some reason, many assume that Yao wont be in the game in the closing minutes of the game during crunch time. This is pretty obvious to me.. you need your big guns down the stretch.

I'm sure the coaching staff already has a plan in place to play Yao in the 1st 6 minutes and last 6 minutes of each half. Things will become difficult using Yao down the stretch ONLY if there is an overtime period.

I think we'll be just fine. I expect both our defense and offense to be at least top 8 in the league and we'll finish at least top 5 in the West.

 

CCR,

Also, if the team is winning after playing those 18 mins through 3 quarters, maybe you don't have to even play Yao in the 4th......saving him even further stress.

DD

 

Great analysis. We need more of these. Repped.

 

Exactly.

 

Repped as well, excellent point (although I cringed when I saw Al Harrington included with the rest in the list) However, just like Adelman said, let's not pencil in Yao for 24 minutes a game right away. Its unfair to Yao. He's not playing back-to-back either, right? How many of those do we have this year?

 

Off the top of my head, we have right around 17.

 

I like this perspective. Also, I think Yao is the kind of player where a little goes a long way. He has unique abilities that make him a matchup nightmare for opponents. But he also has unique weaknesses that make him struggle a lot against certain kinds of players. Now, since there's no pressure to play him starter minutes, we can focus on having him on the floor only when the matchups are advantageous.

 

You should have made a JCDenton graph for us.