If we expect Yao and Franchise to carry us to a championship, they must be able to raise their game to playoff type performances. Playoff basketball includes heightened intensity, more physical play, and less fouls called. In the post season, refs are less likely to bail you out with phantom calls. And if they do, it's because youve already established your dominance within the game. Refs are fairly consistent. 1. They reward more aggressive teams. The harder you play and force the action, the more likely you'll get the benefit of the doubt. 2. They call fouls based on the ebb and flow of the game. If you go on a run, you'll get calls on both ends of the floors. Refs are momentum people. 3. They give preferential treatment to better players. 4. They generally reward the home teams and make an effort to even out the calls throughout the game. Yao needs to establish his dominance early and aggressively. If he plays with intensity and shows he can dominate from the start, the calls will fall into place the rest of the game. If players consistently strip him of the ball and he starts missing easy shots because of some minor body contact, the refs aren't going to bail him out. Even assuming you get hacked on every play, you're only going to get to the line 1/2 the time. It disrupts the game way too much to stop the action every possession (The Miami game was an aberration). Yao got his 9 foul shots and that's probably close to what he would receive in a playoff game with this type of physical play. What Yao needs to do is play better with contact and this experience will help him adjust to playoff basketball where it's significantly different from the regular season. Im hoping the Rockets will get a mentor to develop Yao's game. My #1 choice would be Wes Unseld. I believe having one of the shortest and most physical centers in NBA history tutoring Yao would be the best thing that could ever happen to him and his development as a dominate force.
From the title of this topic, it looked interesting. But let Rudy do his job. Critisize when the 'finished project' (in 3-4 years) is complete, and then judge. RUdy has 12 years of head coaching experience and 34 (?, i might be off on that #) years with the Rockets organization. He is a good coach. 2nd youngest team in the league. Besides Glen Rice, the most NBA-experienced player on the team has 5 years under his belt. Give this team one hell of a break to battle it out with all the good teams in the West. Damn.
He's defitely going to have to work on his frame to take us into the championhip. I believe the only reason Amare is doing as well as he is because of his body.... Griffe and Yao have much more skill but just lack the bulk and body that Amare has.... Someone needs to pump some beef into our boys. Whatever diet francis was on that bulked him for the second season needs to be shared with Yao and Griffin those boys need MEAT!
just as an addendum to this, i think yao is in training mode this season, especially this game, he looked to post every single time, back to the basket, the thing is NBA teams know how to defend a big center with his back to the basket, that's what shaq does and yao cannot outshaq opposing defenses. He is at his most effective when he faces the basket and makes quick moves to the basket, mixing that with jump shots, i see this posting as more the rockets coaches trying to get him comfortable, once he learns it and gets to his full arsenal he'll be much tougher to stop. setting aside the horrible spacing from the rockets, did anyone notice at the end of the game when van exel was posting moochie up, the spacing fromt he mavericks was immaculate, rockets need to learn lesson from mavericks.
Riet, Great post - you're right on. Another chapter in Yao's early learning notebook - BUT I LOVED HOW HE RESPONDED. After being a little shellshocked by Bradley in the first half, he just kept working and working and trying new things. He is learning not to back down - it's just not in him. You can just see the wheels turning in his head. Despite his rookieness (new word!), he's by far the most intelligent player on the team and a quick study. And why they don't hire a tutor like Malone completely baffles me - maybe it would signal an admission that his coaching is somehow not as good as it could be D R
We do not have the 2nd youngest team. We are about 8th youngest team. The seven youngest teams in the league from youngest to oldest are Denver, Cleveland, Chicago, Golden State, Indiana, Memphis, and the LA Clippers. Indiana is the only one with 2 all-stars, Brad Miller and Jermain O'neal, maybe 3 if you count Ron Artest who may have made it if the league wasn't afraid he would go injure somebody in the all star game. We are doing better than all of the younger team except Indiana which has 2 or 3 all stars. All 7 of the younger teams have team avg assists of 19.66-23, compared to our assist avg of 17.981. They pass the ball more than we do. Steve francis(26yrs) is getting worse. Every season, his assists has gone down, he is at 6.0 from an assist avg of 6.6 in his first season. He is averging 0.2 assists as each season passes by, if he continues his current pace, in 4 years, his assist avg will be 5.4 apg. His turnovers only improved in the second season 3.31. In his 3rd season, it's 3.88 turnovers. This season, it is 4.0 turnovers. He leads the league in turnovers this season. At least we are better than the other teams, except for Cleveland(2nd youngest team).
trugoy:- I was wondering about that! I wonering if its what the Coaches are asking him to work on? Because when he started to go to the basket it was like night and day! It looked like he was given further instruction! Is he playing like a Robot, I wonder? Before this season he played more like a free spirit, shooting from all over the place. It has to be the demands placed upon him by the Coaches!Dont you think? RIET :- Last night the refs were not calling a number of fouls under the basket committed by the Mavs on Yao Ming. There were so many hit on his hands, arms, torso and face it realy showed up the couldnt care less attitude of the Refs.
This is my point. Guess what. This is playoff officiating. If we anticipate that during Yao's career we're going to make a serious run at a championship, he's going to get hacked and theyre not going to call it every time. That's just the way it is. Even if they foul him everytime, the refs will only make so many calls. If you watch the playoffs last year, Duncan and Shaq get hacked a lot and don't always get the calls. However, during the course of the game, they establish their presence and will get the benefit of the doubt more often than not, especially during crunch time. Also, if you become a dominant player, the refs will be less likely to call fouls on you. Other than the Laker games, Yao's noteriety has helped him stay out of foul trouble. Everytime Yao sets a screen, he's moving. That's technically illegal. Also, oftentimes, Yao will go over the back of a defender on rebounds. Right now, the Refs are already protecting Yao on the defensive side. They'll still call fouls on him but not nearlly as much as most rookies. To get superstar treatment, you have to be come a superstar first. Not vice a versa.
Good post trugoy. I noticed that too. He's forcing the action inside rather than taking those jumpers and fadeaways he's more comfortable with. This is definitely a good thing. In the second half last night, he looked like a man on a mission. If he plays like that against players who aren't 7'6", he's going to dominate.
So my choice is to believe you or all the NBA commentators that say they are? Perhaps you should go back and do the math on the age of the starting lineup. Or an 8 deep rotation. Juwan Howard is 30 and Nene Hilario is only 4 months younger than EG. Aside from Howard, Ryan Bowen is older than any Rocket starter except Cuttino Mobley but he is only 2 months younger than Cat. Why would the age of Denver's Peja Savovic or Cleveland's DeSagana Diop (who has played a grand total of 167 minutes) be a factor in anything?
