Oh yeah, I definitely need a jump shooting Tmac to take over in the last 5 minutes as he has shown in the game 7s.
Sorry to pile on Yao. Great person, wonderful attitude, good leader. I always appreciate his effort and mental approach. But there's truth to this. I wonder if anyone has tracked how efficient we are in possessions where we seek out Yao in the post. It's not just Yao's fault, it's also the inability of guys to make good decisions and get off a quality shot when the defense loads up on him. But when the first and second and third option of the offense is "try to get the ball to Yao in the post", I don't think the results have been very good overall.
what kind of freaking logic is that? when you're doubled off the ball, it doesn't matter if you're 7'6 and 310lbs or 6'6 and 250lbs. it's always hard to get position or get open. when mcgrady is doubled off a pick on the perimeter, all he can do is to pass the ball. and i'd imagine it is true for all other wing players. when we force-fed yao AND DID NOTHING ELSE in offense, terrible things are bound to happen. plus there are a few times yao got good positions and had a 1-2 seconds window last night, and our guards still hesitated and didn't throw the ball to him.
The game was painful one and when we lost that 10pts lead in the 4th I knew we would not recovered. The whole team was shocked and lost their nerve after that. Scola missed, Yao missed, and it's all because of the consecutives errors made leading to opponent fast breaks. I don't believe these players cannot see the 76ers gameplan, they were doubling and sealing Yao off and it looked like a WWF fight inside the paint and ambushing for steals. These guards instead of initiating an attack efficiently and hold their nerve, they passed the ball around in a nervy and sloppy way hence their ball got stolen, not once, not twice but 3-4 times. AB, Head and Rafer must sit in 4th if they as sloppy as this.
Come on man, you saw the game. Not many people would have risked an entry pass the way the defense was 1.) mauling Yao and 2.) specifically denied the entry pass. I kept calling for them to switch to a pick and roll with Yao. At least he'll touch the rock and go from there. Spending the shot clock until 5 seconds left trying to get it in to Yao is the worst offense I've ever seen. I think they only tried the pick and roll maybe a few times down the stretch, maybe only once and Rafer turned the ball over. Try again, it works better than swinging it around the perimeter until you force up a shot.
huh? Dont know what you are watching, I have rarely seen Yao get doubled BEFORE he catches the ball, he is however doubled right AFTER. The problem has been when we cannot even get him to touch the ball because the guy is fronting him and Yao is unable to get good position (again, he is doubled if the ball lobbed to him to counter the fronting). I am not blaming him for not scoring I am blaming him and the coaching staff for not getting in position to even touch the ball. If your best player is taken out of the game and not even allowed to touch the ball in clutch, how can he create for his teammates after he gets doubled, how can we win? How can he lead?
good point, but in the past whenever we tried pick n roll with yao and Tracy, Yao always bungled the pass. Buttery fingers!!! But that was in the past, Yao has improved his catching (i think) maybe we should try it again.
Exactly!!! Give him the ball in the flow of the offense. (something Tmac is soooo good at, like the high pick n roll from the dallas series) Someone promote this rookie to a member quickly..he actually has brains
sometimes a hard double, but more often a fronting man with another player loosely at the back. that's why they were so reluctant to throw a lob. almost always doubled right after like you said. so our facts are basically the same. but your conclusion is yao is to be blamed for that? i just don't get it. so what's your solution to the fronting, other than what has already been discussed (swing the ball, run p&r, etc.)?
Thats my point its not Yao's fault Rafer chose not to roll with the offense and force feed him...The guards messed up and then decided to have Yao pick them back up and the problem is Philly new that and overplayed Yao big time. Instead of swinging the ball around for an open look or drive they went back to the JVG offense...Bench rafer, bench head, give brooks and james some time to make things happen if the starters aren't going to
pointless thread. So what Yao missed his last three shots. Look at the career stats. Even Michael Jordan could have missed his last three shots. How many centers you know they throw the ball to in crunch time? The highest percentage shot is a dunk so unless Yao receives the ball under the basket, his shot has a less than 50:50 chance of going in.
Everyone bashed Yao but I think Yao is wasting his time to stay with the current Rockets. The team that has no heart. Do not get me wrong I would like Yao to stay but he might end up like Karl Malone or Barkley with no ring. Look at the Lakers how many super star they have one right. Now they are on the top of the West why because they do not talk they walk. Talk is cheap.
Under current NBA rules, a team can take anyone on an opponents team out if it wants to. Can T-Mac be effective with 2-3 people guiding him? I don't think so. Last night, when the 76er doubled, tripled Yao in the fourth quarter, the Rockets should have taken advantage of that to play other players more, instead of keeping on trying to feed Yao ball directly. It's the coach's fault.
Say what you want about Yao, he shows up every night and competes and gives it his all, he isnt a quitter and he does care about his teamates. To me, that is a sign of a true leader...unlike that quitter T-Mac
Low post big man plays always involve much more team effort than those guard plays. You need to set up the big man by giving him the ball at the right timing and right location. On the other hand, a guard already has the ball in hand to make his own choices to start with. And making the situation worse is with the current NBA rules, a key low post player at the crunch time is more often than not already sandwiched by two players before he even touches the ball, and add the poor refereeing Yao usually receives to the equation, until Yao one day dons a red underwear outside his pants, expecting him to consistently be a major source of scoring in the last min is simply silly. Yao can only do that on once in a while (yes, there are a number of games he is a major factor in the last min, some people have such selective memory), but no more than that. The OP also implies a lot Yao is primarily responsible for those losses, and this is BS IMHO. Yao has created a 3 on 4 or even 2 on 4 situations for his teammates, but he coach and his teammates can't exploit that. This is their problem. Maybe, or just maybe, if Yao can refine his hook shot, or develop a bank shot, he can be a bit more a factor in those situations, but his teammates got to learn how to get him the ball at the right time and right location first (not when he is not close to the basket and hugged by two defenders and then they stand to watch the wrestling show).
