Quite right. Just remember 1st year when Yao came to Rockets, he spent 10 games to adjust NBA ccompetition. Last two seasons,new coatch,new teamats,new system really need Yao to adapt. Give the guy some time he will burst out.
Doc great post.... atleast now i know there are some peeps in here that understand how to analyze a situation...most of these guys react game by game....oh 'Wesley is a great addition'....'Howard needs to be given respect'..... IMHO ... we are not going anywhere this year ... this team has a lot of problems... 1) until the PF situation is not cleared up Yao is going to have problems... who's the weak side shot blocker???... Mutumbo???..please he's good for 10 minutes a game...plus he's a center... Howard/Taylor too short and soft .... get eaten up night after night. 2) Wesley/Sura/Ward/Barry .... i think are the worst group you can get for a backcourt... Sura is tough though he is known to make bad decisions/TO ...plus his whole career he has been inconsistent and that's why he has never stuck with a team....Ward...what can i say ....he's old... done with...finished...no D...nothing.... Barry... well he's good for his role....and Wesley...another knucklehead...TO/bad decisions and a shooting % not to be proud of... Plus all these guys are'nt going anywhere soon since they all have contracts for atleast another year....so ........ 3) Coach... just does'nt fit this team ...though it could be the players he has.... 4) Bench...nothing there. 5) maybe i'm wrong and all that's needed is a PF ...and a couple of good role players... can't get everything you want.... so maybe its not that bad.. i go with #5 ... sorry i had to say all that .....it helps to get a better point of view by stating all the problems.
Doc Rocket, A couple of question, that I hope that you will answer. 1. Yao has been plagued by two problems all of this year. One is foul trouble and the other is inconsistency on the offensive end. Tell us why is this happening - is it coaching induced or.....? 2. Is Yao being coached in the right way? Here I do not mean how he plays, but rather, are Ewing and company giving him the right advice/training to become a great center. -Tariq
Without a doubt Ming has loads of potential, but so does Steve Francis, and after six years in the league he is still chasing it. My question, Doc Rocket, why has Ming regressed (shooting, moves, etc.) and does anyone ever really overcome their culture? In other words, the kind of conditioning that both Francis and Ming have experienced is hard to extinguish.
But if Yao even gets over "half" his problems... he's still a top 3 Center... and maybe even a top 5 player. Steve can become the most cerebral PG out there... yet he'll still be overmatched on some nights becuase he's a tiny guy out there who needs to dominate the ball to be good. In other words, don't compare Yao to Steve... they're totally different players, and it will be much easier for one to dominate rather than the other.
Too many restrictions on Yao now: 1. Being either a Shaq or Kevin Kato on offense. No face up game. 2. No consistent outside shooters when Yao is in the Shaq with-my-back-to-the-basket mode. 3. No reliable method to beat the fronting defense. 4. Reluctant teammates who'd rather play a more up tempo game than a slow it down inside-outside offense. Can't blame them, this team isn't built for low post play. 5. No calls. Has to play against 5 defenders. That's one double team and 3 zebras. 6. Not enough stamina to maintain the high intensity of low post play plus offensive rebounding on offense, then run around on the court on defense, for 30+ minutes. 7. The best tutor to Yao is Yao himself. Let him figure out the game on his own and give the shaft to Ewing. Bring in additional coaches on Yao's request. Free Yao!
Steve was once considered a top 3 point guard as well, but really was never able to take the Rockets anywhere, because despite being a top 3 point guard, he was still only a top 15 or top 20 player overall. Despite having the advantage almost every night, he was still prone to letting a scrub outplay him. And we ended up wasting 5 years waiting on Francis to take his game to the next level. I feel that Yao is kind of in the same predicament. Yao simply being a top 3 center is just not enough if we want to win a championship. Those great centers of the past that won championships (Hakeem, Shaq, etc.) did not win simply because they were top 3 centers, they won because they were top 3 players, regardless of position. That’s what Yao’s going to have to accomplish. He has to become a top 5 player. Can he eventually surpass Duncan, Garnett, Dirk, JO’Neal, LeBron, Kobe, etc? That’s what I’m concerned about. Him being a top 3 center means very little to me.
Two of my fears with regards to Yao, injuries and rule changes. Lots of really big guys end up with foot problems or other serious injuries (ala Sampson). Also if the NBA is really and truly changing the rules to emphasize a quicker pace and tempo for the games, and if they are emphasizing speed over strength then it could be tough for Yao to become as good as he can be. He will never have "cat-like" quickness, but it certainly can be improved. In fact, when alot of people were calling for Yao to get bigger in the upper body I said I thought that was not a good idea for him. Size is not always synonomous with strength, and in fact for a sport where relative strength (strength relative to bodyweight) is important, extra size will be detrimental. I fear that unless the training methods used for Yao are altered he will continue to look a step slow. In fairness to Falsone, he is somewhat limited because if a SC uses an alternative training regimen with a player and that player is injured in the weight room, it will ulitmately cost him his job. That to me is unfortunate. Often times SC's end up employing safe, but far from state of the art training methods to prevent "potential" injuries to players, but this will prevent some from reaching their full potential as athletes. Yao is an excellent example of this. While he may never be Dream, I have seen enough from him to know if he is trained properly, his speed, quickness, balance, co-ordination, and explosiveness can be improved markedly. This would require a dramatic change in the way Yao is trained, but the results would be potentially phenominal. Having said all of that I would still listen to offers from other clubs because B-ball is so much of team game that a solid team employing a sound offensive and defensive strategy will be better than a team consisting of 2 exceptional talents and 3 mediocre players. A trade I would "potentially" explore would be Yao, Taylor, Spoon, and Ward and a future first to Memphis for Gasol, Wright, Posey, and Watson. I would then use my 1 st round pick on the best available big man. T his would give us a solid team defensively, with the potential to be explosive offensively. This would give us a line up of Wright, Gasol, T-mac, Posey, and Watson with Howard, Mutumbo, Sura, and Wesley on the bench. This team could score easily in the half court with Tmac and Gasol and could become an explosive running team. They would also play good defense due their length and athleticism on the perimeter. Additionally, the Grizzlies are the top shot blocking team in the NBA so I think our interior D would still be solid. This trade also leaves Memphis with an excellent team of Yao, Swift, Miller, Wells, and Williams with Taylor, Battier, I forget the name of their foreign center on the bench. This would give Yao an athletic shot blocking 4 to cover for his deficiencies and a ton of perimeter shooting to create space. Just a couple of thoughts
To Nick, Panda, and New Jack, some very interesting insights, I wonder what Doc Rocket would have to say on the issues that have been raised.
Gasol is a better rebounder and at this point offensive player than Yao. He is also a decent shot blocker, and I think Gasol's D would improve tremendously under JVG. Posey gives you a perimeter defender to lock down the opposing teams best wing player thus allowing Tmac to focus more on socring. Wright is a decent rebounder and can knock down an opne shot, plus he has more lateral quickness than the average 5 which means he could take his man away from the basket. Watson is an underrated PG. Plus this would give us a tremendous amount of depth. I do think this team could be competitive for a championship. Kobe and Odom both have character issuses that Tmac and Gasol (atleast to my knowledge do not). I also must say I am not advocating trading Yao, but I do have some legitimate concerns about how the league is changing the rules and his long term health.
Doc your the only on this board that makes sense . Everyone else i think is to young to understand or lacks the patience. I am sick and tired of all the negative B.S. the team made a major trade it will take time to find the right pieces. gee it only took hakeem how many years to win it's all about chemistry guys . P.S. i didn't realize Mcgrady was this good wow! Listem yao needs a banger at power forward to take pressure off him he really has no one to help him on defense inside i find he tries to do to much thus this makes him tired very fast . When do you see oneal the man moving that much . Guys try watching some classic games of kareem no defense getting stripped all the time but he had a awesome hook Yao has awesome turnaround jumper we will develop other moves aslo with the zone now the big guys are hurt the most. there is no more isolation before a double team comes you hit the open man now you can throw the whole team at him the rules are different . the world has no domiant big guys they changed the rules to get shooters in the league and help out slow guys
