The one thing Yao can learn from Howard is how to better seal on his man. Watch how Howard sealed out Varejo on 3 of his scores in OT. It was pure aggression. Yao doesn't need to do it all the time but when we absolutely need a bucket, he should do whatever it takes to keep his man behind him. Now if the defense does a sandwich then even that won't help. That's when we need to go in another direction and exploit the over-committed defense.
yao and dh are totally different type of players. yao has to be the offense focal point to be effective. Otherwise, yao is useless. he can't do what dh has been doing, picking up loose ball under the basket for dunks due to his athletism. well, dh has to be the sidekick on the offensive end. it is the reason magics have not been trying to go through him to start their offense. on the defensive end, dh uses his athletism to block shots and to rebound. yao uses his uses his size to shade the basket from opponents. there is no need for yao to watch dh.
Without being the focal point of the offense, Howard is averaging 20.4/15.8/2.4 blk/ 60.8%. Yao is not in the same league as Howard.
Yao doesnt get the same sort of respect that Howard does around the rim. Defenders will flop around Yao and asking Yao to jump/lean into them is a great way to get Yao fouled out. In game 3 against the lakers Yao got an offensive rebound and Gasol had Yao's arm held. Yao wrestled free and jumped into Gasol and was called for an offensive foul. Gasol was right underneath the hoop with his back to Yao.
They don't call half the stuff on Dwight than they do on Yao. In OT, Dwight was constantly slapping down Sideshow Bob's arm in the post. All he was trying to do is defend the entry pass, and Dwight slaps it down 4-5 times in a row. I remember cause when I saw it, I was like, can he do that? Truth is, Yao is not aggressive enough, and when he is aggressive, doesn't command the respect. It's pretty much guaranteed will be called for offensive fouls if he uses his full strength like that. Also, Dwight is an athletic FREAK that can keep up with any player on the floor. It's amazing what he can do on sheer athleticism and he has a nose for the ball. That's something that can't be taught. It's also a plus that they surround him with 3 shooters that can hit damn well from the 3 point line. Justin Guarini has no chance to body up Dwight like Boston. He's just too strong and fast.
If you noticed, Yao was getting fronted/doubled throughout most of the game vs. Portland and had people doubling him in LA when he put the ball down. The reason being is because teams aren't afraid of Scola, Artest, and Brooks beating them. Portland forced those guys to come up big and they paid the price. LA's arrogance hurt them because they underestimated Brooks's speed, and Scola's scoring ability. Kobe also left Shane WIDE open for most of the series. My point is, Yao did what he had to do, which was be productive when he got the ball, and even when he didn't have the ball, teams paid so much attention to him that the rest of the Rockets were getting great shots off. Yao was still getting his rebounds, still being a presence at the rim, and shot very well from the field. With Dwight Howard, the Magic loaded the team with very good 3 point shooters around him. Its not that hard to guard Dwight Howard, IF you have a center big, strong and physical enough to make him work. Its not like guarding Shaq, where no matter what you did, he was gonna get atleast 30, 12, and 2 on you...Atleast that much. Yao, Perkins, Nene, Marc Gasol, Pryzbilla, Shaq (older), Brendan Haywood, Kaman, Maxiell/McDyess/R. Wallace are all guys who can either shut down Howard or contain him just by playing physical with him and making him take bad shots. Yao and Shaq are the 2 guys who also make Howard play defense on the other end. Nene and Kaman do that as well, but they aren't as good at it as Yao and Shaq. What I'm simply trying to say is that, the 76ers and the Cavs simply don't have anybody physical and strong enough to even make Howard work to get his points. All they could do is foul. If you saw the list I provided, those guys are all 260 + lbs. with the exception of McDyess and R. Wallace. Dwight Howard is strong, but he isn't out of this world big and strong like Shaq was. The thing with Howard is, he's had favorable matchups this playoffs. We saw Perkins do a nice, solid job of containing Dwight Howard's scoring and simply making him work for most of his points. They didn't have to double team him very often. The problem with Boston this year was lack of depth. With any star player, you usually have to have depth to stop them, and that caught up with Perkins and Boston. Now lets say we see a Denver vs. Orlando finals, then we will see how Howard does vs. Nene, Kmart, and Kris Anderson off the bench. They have depth, strength, physicality, and athleticism which all 3 of them could match Howard, and give him a hard time. If we saw an LA vs. Orlando matchup, Howard would have his way, but the rest of the role players can be matched by LA's versatility. But simply put, Howard has had the favorable matchups these playoffs, and when the Magic have gone to him, he's produced. They have great perimeter shooters who will make teams pay for doubling Howard, so he gets to go 1-on-1 vs. inferior and weaker defenders (minus Perkins), and get deep post positiona and get dunks, layups and point blank hook shots. Yao never has that luxury without a healthy Tmac. It just doesn't happen very often that a team will go an entire game without either doubling/fronting/sandwiching Yao some point throughout the game. When he's been able to go 1-on-1, he's had great games (Game 1's of each series). The problem is, teams know that if you take Yao out of the game, they had a MUCH greater chance of winning with AB, Artest, and Scola leading the Rockets in scoring. I think Yao is playing fine, but until he gets the help and health, the Rockets won't see the production Yao is capable of, because teams know how good Yao is, and will do anything possible to force someone else to beat them.
when you are talking about the bball, you need to watch games to understand how each player plays and how he gets pts. just looking at #s doesn't help you to understand strenght and weakness of a player.
everything in this thread ignores the fact that Yao has balance issues. yeah, hypothetically speaking it would be nice if he could do half the athletic things that dwight can do, but if he tried, he'd probably fall over and/or hurt himself. balance issues mean that: - yao has to gather himself before he jumps. dwight doesnt as much. - yao usually operates with a two footed quick jump, for the stability, and has some trouble landing softly when he jumps, so its an injury risk asking him to add that pounding to already brittle ankles/feet. - if yao were to get himself moving quickly in the paint, he'd be called for a LOT of charges, as he cannot avoid contact/change directions/slow down/stop moving like dwight can. - yao's game is built on mechanical routine - i.e. muscle memory. that's why he's so efficient. asking him to become an improvisational player is asking too much.
If you watched the game you will notice dhoward plays in games while yao does not. The magic live and die by the three. If they are hitting their threes then they are a hard team to beat, because I much rather give up 2 than 3. At the end of the game the ball will be in hedo's hands. Yao is bigger than howard and probably has a stronger base, but he just doesn't have the impact on the defensive and rebounding end like howard. Not much yao can learn from howard.
more like gasol than howard. and the thing he should do like gasol is go quickly to the basket before the double team comes, or shoot it. yao waits when he receives the inbound pass, or the coaching staff instructs him to do so, (don't know which). Sometimes the double is right there when he gets it, but many times he waits for it to come and then passes out. I know there is value to this as we get an open man with an open shot. but we just don't have the shooters that you can count on to knock them down consistently. Yao needs to go or shoot quickly and quit stalling the offense. But like I said, maybe not is fault.
While we are on this, I have some suggestions of my own. I'd like Brooks/Lowry to watch Chauncey Billups, just do what Billups has been doing, drive by people, hit some shots, make some good passes, and oh, play some good defense. I'd like to see Scola/Hayse/Landry to play more like Gasol, Anderson, get more rb, block more shots, and use more post moves to score some easy layups. And I also like to see Artest/Shane play more like Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, and L. James, just dominate the game. If Yao can do what Howard is doing, why cannot the other Rockets do the same same?
Sage, I respect your view. But I think Yao should do just the opposite. Yao needs to be LESS dominant. More pounding, more contact, more jumping will mean more injuries. If he can't stay on the court, he can't dominate anyway. While he should still be mainly a low post player, I think he should come out to the high post more. Shoot more midrange jumpers. Big Z has a long and fairly productive career by staying outside a lot. Yao is more skilled and has a more dominant inside presence. There is no reason why Yao can't do it and be a good center on a championship team.
Defensively, yes, observe Howard. The guy is a monster on defense. He does most things right. Offensively, ignore him, I say. Howard does demand the ball, but usually when he gets into the middle of the lane, if he's outside of dunk range, he just heaves it towards the basket. More times than not, it's a horrible point blank miss (almost looks like a Chuck Hayes shot). His offensive game is not very good, outside of dunking. Yao's not as fast nor as athletic as Howard, so spinning into the middle of the lane or around the defender for a dunk can't really be done with as much ease. In addition, dunking with 1 or 2 hands or laying up doesn't matter, as long as the ball goes in the hoop.
Defense and rebounding? Yes, go watch Howard, Yao. Howard is the best rebounder and the best shot blocker in the NBA Offense? Close your eyes when Howard has the ball.
Yeah, well Howard needs to be watching Yao when they play against each other. Get out of here with these lame cracks on Yao and dumb comparisons as. Yao's not aggressive, we get the damn point but he still will whoop Howard playing against each other like he always does. Get out of here with that damn mess.
