Yao has to make a decision. He must decide if he wants to be good or great. In the 3rd and 4th quarter of last night's game, he showed he can be great. He also did that against Sacramento. But it requires fire and effort. He has to be willing to fight for position, to grit his teeth and fight in the lane. shuffle, slide, keep moving. Yao, they can't stop you. Only you can. In the first 2 years, I think Yao lost some motivation to fight for position because Steve and Cuttino didn't always make the right decision or make the entry pass when he was open. This team is different. The veterans are looking to Yao. They swing the ball from side to side, with the ball up, head up, lookin to make the entry pass. Yao needs to recognize that. He needs to respond. Yao lacks the lateral quickness of Shaq, so it's easier for defenders to front or 3/4 him. But he can do it. It's pure effort. He needs to prove that he's willing to fight that double team, to split the seam. He needs to prove that he's willing to impose his will on the game from the jump ball on. I've been disappointed in his inconsistent effort. I don't care if his arm brace causes his shot to be off. It's his legs and heart that matter. Yao, you can do better. You've got an entire city and an entire nation waiting. Do it. Now.
if you want him to do all game what he did against sacto and minny.....i think you're going to run this guy into a brick wall half way through the season. even shaq takes time off during the game. and steps his intensity up when it matters most. you cant ask men of that size to redline the entire game. thats the quickest way to burn them out, or injure them.
This is a work in progress, be patient. We are just seeing them scratch the surface of how they will improve. The TMac - Yao combo is going to be awesome. Yao will continue to exert his influence, gain confidence and have huge games, for more than 2 qtrs. at a time. TMac, if he stays healthy will make us leathal. It's coMING.
Yao is improving every game from an agression standpoint, or maybe im just looking harder every game? I seriously think we can get yao the ball in the post every single posession with ball movment and patience. There is no way the defense can deny a 7'6" giant the ball without the whole team on him or Clutch on his ladder with the big noise sign blocking him. This team will be amazing in the near future, the inconsistant team we had last year will be forgotten entirely by all-star break.
If there is a wave about Yao ming's production, it will be like a square wave: Peak to peak is about 40 pts and 20 rbs, offset is 6 pts and 2 rbs. duty is only about 15% .
Keep it close with or with out Yao until the last four minutes of the fourth quarter when Yao hopefully can carry us home. That is the plan, anyone who doesn't see that by now is blind. Yao is giving everything he has as it is, this is the best resolution JVG can give us considering Yao's stamina. This hardly equals greatness for Yao but I'm afraid anyone expecting more will never fully appreciate what Yao can bring, think of it as a big league closer, an unstoppable force down the stretch.
well said. this is true at least for now. hopefully in the future he will be able to take over games from beginning to end like the great centers of the past. if that never happens then at least we have tmac to take over for 36 minutes, keeping us in the game until yao decides to dominate the 4th.
Maybe he doesn't have to play with maximum intensity all game, but it has to be more than just half a game. Yesterday, vs. minnesota, Yao was totally quiet in the first half, and only turned it on in the second half. If he played his best effort at least 3/4 of the game, we might have won it. And maybe Shaq does take time off during the game as well, now. But when he was 24, I don't seem to remember him taking that much time off. He was very dominate.
For Yao it seems to be a sense of urgency that makes him go. He doesnt seem to really "turn it on" until his back is REALLY against the wall. Perhaps if he is facing a REALLY good individual opponent and he doesnt want to be embarrised. Or perhaps a good player is down to injury and he is FORCED to take over. Like you said, it is about "assertiveness." Yao has to embrace that. Yao has to view each game as a battle he must conquer. He has to want to dominate not just a great superstar opponent but also put the boot to the throat of a scrub opponent and blow them off the floor. I think Yao realizes this. It is something he is trying to work himself into. Hopefully it will happen sooner or later.
I tell you it is coming, I see it... Yao is learning, growing, getting meaner and more durable... He has made a huge jump from when he started, he was thinner, weaker, used to much weaker competition, didn't know the physical and quicker NBA game, he came from a different culture and a very inferior league. But he has what it takes, I see it... He no longer is fooled as much tripping and falling in the paint, he no longer is puhsed all over the paint, he no longer jumps at every pump fake, he no longer backs down from contact as he makes his move to the basket, he no longer tries the lay up when the dunk is right there for him. If TMac will get back in the line up you will see Yao exert himself successfully more and more. With TMac out it will take longer because he will get so much extra defensive focus. It will happen, and soon enough... be patient
We all know it is hard to give 100% for all 82 games, but there is no execuse to take "time off" during games when you are paid to do the job. Especially when you are the star, the team relys on you to win. Someone mentioned that JVG is saving Yao for the last few minutes due to his endurance, but I saw it differently. Generally, it takes longer for the big guys to get into the glove. I believe this has a lot to do with the positions they play, which don't have the ball unless the guards pass it to them. It's hard to get into the "game mood" when you run upon-down a few times without touching the ball. The Rockets did go to Yao early in some games last season, most of the time, Yao played well, especially on defense. Another advantage to go inside early is to establish the tone, open the premeter for the outside shooters.
deuce captures my point. Im not trying to grind Yao into a pulp or having him run redline all game long. But against Minny, he just wasn't there at all in the first half. There was no force or fire in his play. This is what bothers me.
You guys have got to be kidding right? Yao did everything he could. It doesn't matter if he was not "on" the first half. Even great superstars are not "on" all 48 min. Yao did his damage late and we where 3 points down with 8 seconds to go. Yao didn't call the offensive foul. He did make a killer shot with 2 defenders in his face. One was KG with his loooong arms. Still went in. He fought hard and lost at the end. You think T-Mac might have been missed, just a little? Give the big guy a break.
Yao wants to be great. I have no doubt about that at all. He is from a totally different place so his style is very different from what we normally see from an NBA player. Right now he certainly has a couple obstacles in front of him, namely, how to get the ball consistently, how to not get into foul trouble. Once he's got those figured out, he'll be able to dominate more consistently.
yao wasn't getting the ball alot in the first half of the minny game~ from time to time, guards still refuse to feed him the ball when he's open
kudos to yao for being able to turn it on late in the 3rd and 4th quarters of games, but... it isn't enough. there's going to be games where you're playing piss poor teams on their home courts and if you do just enough to get by the opposing team's fans are going to get in it, the opposing team is going to believe that they can win the game, the game is going to turn into a dogfight, and the rox are going to end up losing a game late. and according to past seasons with it being to close down the stretch for playoff seeding, this team can't afford to lose close games like that and have that close game come back and bite them in the buttocks... especially with the competiveness (sp?) of our conference. so, yao can either do just enough to get by or he can set his own pace (basically be consistent regardless of the team he's playing against or game score at that point in time). brick wall in the middle of the season my arse. if can be the player that some people say he can be, then he needs to bring it... regardless of anything. shat or get off the pot.
