Watching Yao over the past 2 weeks really concerns me. 1) His elevation is reduced compared to December 2) His shooting % is below even average NBA big man expectations (39% for January) 3) His ball handling skills have fallen and turnovers have increased 4) He seems to be gasping up and down the court. I pretty much see every home game live and I have been surprised at how winded he has been getting early in the game 5) His aggressiveness is spotty. It is obvious he is hitting some sort of wall, but how to manage it is the question. I think this is more than a rookie wall. he is down right exhausted with the bump and grind combined with no time off in the last year. This is going to get worse I think, especially as the playoff grind starts happening in Feb and March. Just look at what happened last night (blocked twice by Raef???? and 5 turnovers in 22 minutes????) Should Yao be sat a couple of games, risking some short term short-handedness or do we ride with it and limit his minutes now and then, like we used to do with Hakeem? I think sitting Yao for 2-3 games, resulting in 1 week of time off, might be most beneficial and not that painfull to the team.
I agree with you and have pointed this out in the past only to get jeered. There previously was a point where he could have sat for two full weeks while only missing four easy games. Coming up there is a back to back with utah, and then I believe we go to Minnesota. If he were to miss those three games it would free up 13 days of nothing but rest and recuperation for Yao. At this point, I think his play on the court has become a distraction to our offense. You can't get steve and mobley to drop the ball into the post if your post player is too exhausted to make a strong move. Cato has been playing terrific and I believe he could do an admirable job of filling in for Yao during a brief absence.
Agree with your assessment of Yao's performance In January. I am not happy, nor am I surprised. I still don't quite understand what a "rookie wall" is. But just a reflection of my own experience, energy and stamina is the biggest problem when you play in a bigger league with more games and higher intensity. You never know when the body will wake up again. I think it all depends on the type of body nature. External factors don't have much effects here. Watch Amare Stoudamire, and I doubt he will ever have such a long "wall". I don't think sitting or resting or not playing is the answer. Once your body is in a game mood, it's very unpredictable if it rests too much, wall or no wall. This is because, viewing a season as a cyclical physiological period, it's very tough to pick it up to the game condiction again once you let your body loose. The possible remedy I can think of is to adjust playing time pattern so that the body can adjust to a different rythem and muddle through this "wall" period. I am calling for 24 min playing time for Yao since the begining. One possible reason I didn't say and may cause some controversy is that a Chinese yellow body, to a degree, IS different from a Caucusian white body or an African black body. It's nothing to do with racial discrimination. It's just a common observation in the sports world. AND it's my experience. So, to maximize Yao's contribution to this season, play him Q1+Q4 or Q2+Q4. Cato has proved he is more than capable backup center. The hope is Yao may be able to play more aggressive if he KNOWS he will play less time and his body can wake up to the bill.
I could be wrong, but I don't think so. It's just based on my own experience. Maybe with state-of-the-art training methods, his body can quickly return to game condition after a long layoff. The main risk is that he might not be able to contribute enough for a playoff spot.
