I don't recall anybody ever starting a thread about this, so here we go... How is it that somebody who's 7'5"-7'6" can only muster 6 rebounds in a game where he's guarded by a 6'9" player in Kurt Thomas most of the time? Sure, Michael Doleac guarded Yao sometimes, but geez... Yao may need to jump Mobley and Francis in an alley to get the ball more often, but he can get the ball on his own if he'd just box out and go after the ball - especially on the offensive end. He just seems to be too passive of a rebounder, IMHO.
Because he is lazy out there, he has never had to hustle for rebounds or shots in his life, and now he is playing with guys that are more physical, and almost as tall, and much quicker. He has to UN-learn bad habits. Hopefully he will be more active next year....he could dominate, but he has to WANT to dominate. DD
Yao does not have good hands right now. There are so many balls he gets his hands on and just can't quite control, and loses them to the other team. Hopefully he will improve that with experience.
Two words..................................no hops! What good is being 7'6, if you have a 2-inch vertical? That's the reason why he doesn't jump center court anymore. His shot shouldn't ever be blocked, but it does on a regular basis. I hope the trainers are working on his vertical as we speak. I heard somewhere that Clyde the Glide (during his prime) could dunk on a 12 1/2ft goal. I doubt Yao could even come close to that, hence the poor rebounding. I really believe that Yao's height is a little misleading at times.
Um, I don't think Yao is lazy at all. Tired, maybe, and a bit slow, but he seems to give a good effort. Now his rebounding fundamentals, that's a different story. Yao hasn't boxed out consistently all season, which is bad news if you're also a little deficient strengthwise. And he still doesn't "...take it off the glass" enough, so to speak, he needs to be much more aggressive and explosive in rebounding. "Lazy" is a poor choice of words.
Live, I mean he does not HUSTLE all the time, or go after the ball with a vengence. Perhaps lazy was a bad word, but to be a superstar in the NBA, the desire is every bit as important as the skills. Look at Ben Wallace or Dennis Rodman, they just played harder then everyone else, when you get a skilled player that does that, then you have Jordan, Hakeem, Bird, Magic...etc...etc.. Yao has the skills, does he have the desire. Too early to tell. DD
I think you can measure desire in a variety of different ways, one of which is you continue to play even though youre clearly tired or hurt. Yao looked like he was in major pain yesterday but battled on. I didnt even know he had injured his elbow in the Boston game. Him and Francis played their best despite injuries. I don't really care about the rebounding stats. Frankly, If Yao boxes his man out so EG or Francis gets the reb, Im fine with that. Remember the first few games where he used to tip the ball instead of grabbing it. How annoying was that. He's cut that down a lot. Now he's trying to grab rebounds with 1 hand. As he matures and gets stronger, he should be able to win more rebounding battles.
I agree that 6 boards is too low but you have to also look at the style of play of his opponents. Kurt Thomas and Doleac had like 6 rebounds combined last night! They were simply trying to take Yao out of the play. More specifically, making sure Yao doesnt get a rebound while not trying to get rebounds themselves. As for the Boston game, they were shooting tons of 3s which are hard to rebound for a big man.
Don't people say Yao is a phone-booth rebounder at this moment of his career ? He does not have much lateral movement. If the ball bounces out of his reach, he is just not quick enough to get it.
Yao right now is not DRIVEN to get rebounds. He is learning the tough way what it takes to be an effective rebounder in the NBA. His Shanghair Sharks techniques don't work here. Lots of times he's in the right position, but his hards are not up, he gets pushed too far under the basket, or his reaction time is slow. That has to do with anticipation, boxing out, strength, quickness, and the mind set that every rebound should be yours. I think he has good hands and, over time, will become an effective if not a great rebounder. D R
I agree... Yao is not aggressive enough on the boards... This will change next year when he adds some weight, learns to get physical with Moses teaching him the US way and getting more confidence... I predict Yao will be much more involved next year and have a break out season...
I agree Yao is has a problem with the boards, but have you noticed he seems to tip a lot of balls that he clearly should grab with both hands. I think with improved upper body strength and positioning he will pull them down.
i just think his legs are dead after years of non-stop basketball. i'm sure he would have more energy and explosion if he could rest for a summer, but alas.....
guys dont allow one game to fool you. Against boston he had 3 rebs and earlier this year he had like 19. stay patient
I've often wondered why Yao would have these 6 rebound nights. Watching last night's game, I honestly was not disappointed with his rebounding. Aside from maybe one or two rebounds he tipped, I didn't think he necessarily should have had more. The team as a whole seemed to rebound ok and Yao often seems to let his teammates grab boards that he could conceivably grab from them. I really felt he only missed 1 or 2 rebounds that he should have had. Just because your tall doesn't mean you'll be a great rebounder. Often times Yao just isn't in the right place for the rebound. If it were only an issue of height Yao could easily get 3-5 more/night, but he'd also get over the back called on him all the time. Ben Wallace and Dennis Rodman are far better rebounders than Shaq because those guys get great position and are so quick to the ball. Dennis Rodman was a master at knowing where the ball would bounce off a miss and would study tape to try to predict where the ball wouldn't bounce depending on what part of the rim it hit, etc.
if he grabs all the rebounds he tips to his teamates his avg could be in the mid 10's already, not to mention he never reb against his teamates. talk about class.
man, P1S2 in the house. Hey, we have a big cc.net game coming up with that pickup game you originally tried to organize back in the day. email me for details....you should get a ticket and play some ball with us. Click my email button. and you're right. Yao's rebounding as flat out been a disappointment.
Right, I think already mostly covered, but here are my two points (and cents): - lateral movement is his biggest problem. If the ball isn't within arms reach, he won't be able to get it. - he actually rebounds pretty well already. Remember, Yao's averaging 2.5 offensive rebs a game. With 35 minutes of playing time, that'd be 3.03 offensive rebs a game... which is actually MORE than Tim Duncan. So all those criticizing his rebounding must keep that in mind. In fact, if he was playing 35 minutes a game, he'd only be 6th in the league... behind Wallace, Duncan, Jermaine O'Neal, Brian Grant, and Shaq. That's not bad for a rookie with poor upper body strength. - his relatively poor rebounding numbers, compared to the others top in the league, comes from poor DEFENSIVE rebounding. Why can he rebound offensively but not defensively? I think he's just playing more fundamental team basketball when going after the defensive boards: everyone puts a body on an offensive player, and then grab the ball if it bounces to you. In the NBA, that means Mobley/Francis/Griffin sucks up the ball by going after them aggressively. Play based on athletic ability, instead of team fundamentals... then again, I guess that's not exactly news. And I guess for Yao's sake, hopefully he'll adjust.
Yao Ming looks to me like he is using the legs of a heavy weight boxer that is in the 15th round and has to be helped off of the stool to go out for the last round. He just looked exhausted in the game last night. I think Yao Ming has shown that he can be a great rebounder but has yet to show any consistency in that area. I think when he gets stronger and better conditioned then he will be a consistant and dominant rebounder.
