Yao: "It's about who has better mental toughness"

Use your hooks, Yao.

 

dunk yao. finish strong.

 

Yao himself is not mentally tough.

 

Hey Yao, slap T-Mac upside the head...or leak whatever is wrong with him to the press so we can frenzy upon it!

 

Yao shot above 50%, yet seemed to be non-existant in the game. Yao, it is about toughness. Period. No need for "mental" in the sentence. Just give us Shaq toughness next game and we will be happy.

 

Yes, Yao hasn't figured out that physical toughness is required as well. He generally doesn't bring that to the table, instead settling for dainty putbacks and turn-around-fade-away jump shots the majority of the time.

 

These comments help us focus and butters up the Jazz. Folks were thinking it, and I'm glad Yao has said it. Talk, the media, and pyschology are all components of playoff basketball.

 

yao is not really the problem here.

 

The way I see it, the matchup between Okur and Yao on our end is almost like a heavyweight battle. If you guys notice, every time Yao catches it, Okur (or Williams on the double team) almost immediately gives him a slap on the forearm. Even though it might not affect Yao the first few times they do it, it surely weighs on him throughout the course of a game, and especially a drawn-out series. This is where the physical toughness plays a part. One thing Shaq does very well is gain his position in the post while at the same time punishing the guy guarding him. That's also where guys like Okur have an advantage....they are built stockier than Yao, so they are able to gain leverage on him in the post, and give him body shots, while making it difficult for Yao to gain position. It's hard for us to sit here and say Yao needs to be more physically tough because we all know that whenever he tries to establish his presence, the refs almost ALWAYS step in and call an offensive foul. Yao has got to be one of the most shackled players in the league in terms of not really having the freedom to play the way he wants, while at the same time taking abuse from guys he should be able to retaliate against.

 

thanks for stating the obvious yao. why don't you do something about it? why not get a tech after that ref called the complete bull**** offensive foul? why not get more than 9 rebounds? why not finish some layups with dunks? why not bring some intensity?

I love yao to death but his performances have not been acceptable. he is one of two stars and we expect him to perform. I am not just talking about scoring or his "numbers". I am talking about protecting the ball, hustling for rebounds, and not getting punked on D. his "numbers" have been solid but he simply has not had the game impact that his "numbers" show.

 

I think Yao is worry too much about Okur’s flop. Also, what happen to re-post Yao? I don’t think I have seen a re-pose for the past 4 games. May be is because our post entry pass are too bad. I think post entry pass is another area we can use V-Span.