Yao is the main problem

Everyone's a coach.

 

I think the problem with this idea is that the team doesn't focus that strongly on getting Yao the ball. When he does get it, he's reasonably efficient. He has problems, but surely you don't think he's actually a liability?

If you're arguing that he's not prepared to be "The Man" on the team, I probably agree. But that's simply a problem with potential strategy, not the current one nor the Rockets' offensive woes.

I actually think the last few lines of your post caught one of the biggest problems. With Cato, the Rockets essentially only have 4 players on offense. They need someone who at least resembles a threat.

 

Great post DD. I do agree. I would like to see JVG move Yao out around the free throw line, or 10-12 feet away from the basket. This would open up driving lanes for SF, Cat, JJ and we all know that Yao can hit the 12 ft jumper. Getting him out of the middle until he is more ready to dominate is a great idea.

Yao does get pushed around be centers who he should dominate.

 

I’ll agree that a major reason for the offense sucking is Yao play, but I don’t think the answer is to go back to the guard oriented offense. May help out in the short term, but Yao’s going to eventually have to go through these growing pains. Plus, the guards are going to eventually have to learn how to play with a big man as the focus of the offense. Why not just get them over with now?

Just start Taylor and have him share the offensive load with Yao.

 

I think DD's post about Yao sums up what alot of people have been thinking but didn't want to bring up for fear of backlash. Hopefully Yao can correct the problem and become the dominating force in the NBA we all want him to be.

 

Just look at the team's record when Yao is out of the lineup, or in foul trouble. You will figue it out.

 

DD is on to something here. We all notice his lack of ability to catch the ball in the low post. A lot of us started to bash the guards for passing up on Yao now it seems the real problem is coming to light. What I wanted to point out is what the Hell is PEwing doing to help Yao with this matter. I never really liked the dude but everytime I see him talking with Yao on the bench I start to think that the guy is not too thrilled to have the job that he does and maybe isnt really too intrested in helping Yao become a great center in the NBA. This is all speculation of course. Bring back Mr. Mean and let him teach the front line a thing or 2 about playing near the basket and using your body for positionin whether it be on offense or defense.

just my 2 cents.

Go Rockets!

 

Bold comments DaDa. But u r right on. The problem is this. 2 years ago, we won 45 games w/o Yao, w/ the tandem of Steve and Cat. Now, our whole offense revolves around Yao. Just because Yao passes out the ball once he gets it doesnt mean the offense is not going through him, cause it is. Its inside/outside most of the time. And THAT is the main problem. I dont think he deserves that yet. First, cause he is still young. Second, cause he doesnt have the conditioning to keep up all the time. Third, cause it is severely hurting Steve Francis's game, who, in my mind, is still our most talented player offensively. And fourth, and most important, cause he is NOT AGGRESSIVE. Until he can become like Hakeem (ok, maybe not that aggressive), but close, and DEMANDS the rock every time, even if he misses a shot, hey, give it to him every time! Revolve the whole offense around him!

I have heard enough about how Steve can get his points when he wants and how instead we should get the ball to Yao. Apparantly it aint working. So find a way to freaking get Steve going. Bring back more iso's, high pnr, etc, whatever, to get Steve going. I still think Yao will get his 17 and 10. Either from the free throw line, or post ups.

I think we can get the most out of Yao in 32 minutes of action. Which brings up another good point DaDa brought about moving Cato to the bench. With Mo starting, Cato can play the backup center and PF, and still play 25 minutes a game. We had HUGE first quarters from MO 2 years ago, and this is the best he is playing since.

The solution could be utilizing more guard play, cause we still have one of the best backcourts in the NBA, when fully utilized. Get them more involved. I say, balance out the offense more and bring back some of the guard play from 2 years ago

 

I'm going to restates something that the great Charles Barkley said a while back about a similar big man that was having problems down low. Some of it may be Yao's fault, but a lot can be seen as his teammate’s fault. Usually our guards spend about 8 sec's trying to get the ball up the court. In that time, Yao is fighting for position. Then it takes another 5 or so secs to even get the ball to Yao. By this time, Yao has been fighting for position for 15 seconds. If you have to do that every single time down the floor, your big guy is going to get tired, and is probably going to start shying away from trying to get good position.

If we could get Yao the ball within 10 seconds of the shot clock, I think we would see a huge difference in his game.

Cato seems to also be an interesting problem. Last game, he had one of his best overall performances of his career. I would not bench him quite yet, especially when our only other PF is Mo "black hole" Taylor. I think a big reason Cato is able to get a good number of Off reb. is because his guy shies off of him; letting him get good position for rebounds. We also saw him run the floor, while dribbling!, after steals and actually score; something that Steve and Cat have had the hardest time trying to accomplish.

For now, Cato has to be a starting PF. If he can play more like Big Ben, and concentrate on rebounds and put backs, we won't need to worry about his poor shooting.

 

Fair points DD. Yao is one of our star players. He has to play like one. As does Francis. The lack of consistancy with our star players is causing a lot of problems. We need to know we can count on Francis and Yao to bring their "A" game every night as most star players do.

 

15 months ago, the range of possibilities was Sam Bowie to Olajuwon. I think the Sam Bowie part can safely be ruled out. The range IMO now looks like Rik Smits to Patrick Ewing. In an era of few big man and Shaq's better years being behind him...is that range all that disappointing? It's not to me, but I can see how it would be to some.

 

DaDakota, do you think Rockets are Steve's team? If Steve is on the court, Yao will never be a leader for this team. I am intent to bash Steve here. In the past several years, Steve was the core of this Rockets team. Cat, Cato, Mo and Moochie are all Steve's guy.
Let us look at cavaliers, Lebron became a real leader till Ricky Davis left. For the Celtics, Paul Perice became the real leader till Walker left.

It is unfair to bash Yao right now for not have the desire to lead the team. Yao lead the Chinese NT till this summer he returned from Rockets.

As a rockets, we need patience for Yao instead of bashing him.

 

I think there is a difference between wanting to and being able to. I don't think that Yao wants this team to fail, I think he's working hard, but his body is just not up to it yet. I don't think we can judge how hard it is for him to bang bodies night in and night out against the bigs of the NBA. When you're that tall, your body is going to have fatigue issues, especially since Yao is skinny. At this point in his career, we can't expect him to be a Shaq.

When you're in the trenches night in and night out, you will find that shorter guys will do anything to keep you from rebounding, using their hands and legs in a million different, cheap-ass ways. That's hard to adjust to. Give Yao some time.

I mean no one expected NBA championship this season right? I expected playoffs, and I think Yao and the rest will take us there.

 

so you resolution is to bring back the old guard play? what did that lead us... lottery.
every one knows the only chance this team has for a championship run is with yao, not with the guards. if you only aim now and this season and don't want to go through the rebuilding process this team will never go anywhere. i agree that yao is soft, slow and fumble a lot. but don't forget his potential and the team's goal is NOT above .500 or get into playoff only kicked out after 1st round. we should find a way to improve our big man and in the mean time give him time to improve. nobody's going to become a dominant star overnight.

 

qrui, i said bring back SOME of the guard play from 2 years ago. U know, balance it out a little, eh?

 

Wow, the major reason for the offense sucking is Yao play. But we should not go back to the guard oriented offense.

Why? Because Yao play suck. Guard oriented offense suck even more. What option does that leave them? They simply suck?

I don't think so. The offense suck is not because of Yao nor Guard oriented offense. It is mainly because they are indecisive and can't pass and get the ball to the right person at the right time. They are a POOOOOOOR passing team with little trusts between themselves.

 

Yao will never be a leader until he sheds his soft image. Yao is a good player but the offense should not go through him. Steve Francis should be allowed to create for him because the only shot Yao can hit is the 10 ft jumper that Steve creates for him. Van Gundy needs to realize that Yao is not Hakeem and that the dump it down low offense will not work with Yao. This team does not have the players to run that boring offense. Yao is weak and slow and is afraid to be something else than a soft puss. He needs to start blocking shots instead of trying to draw a gay charge. Dude is 7'6 and stands there trying to draw a charge, come on go for the damn block you fruity b*stard. Yao is embarassing ( some times)