just finished watching yao's postgame interview with the chinese media, he talked briefly about the offensive foul called on him in the 4th qtr. he said that if that move against okur could be called an offensive foul, what the jazz players had been doing to him in this game6 would've already put him in the FT line for over 20 times. frankly i dont think the officiating was the main reason why we lost game 6, but okur should be fouled out EVERY SINGLE GAME BY THE END OF 3RD QTR IN THIS WHOLE SERIES. how he could get away with it has been simply beyond me. by the way, Yao has not played well in this serie, there's no doubt about it. he's lost total confidence in his jumpers and he turned it over way too much. but to blame all the rockets' losses on him??? theHangover, you are a plain idiot.
I don't know what you are talking about. 26-10 is superstar level. His PER is like 28. His opponents' PER is like 10. There is no bigger mismatch in the league. Nobody else is this much more efficient than his counterparties in this league. He is having a terrible series. One series does not define someone, especially considering it is only his third series in the playoff.
First of all, forget his number in this series, except the first game, his number did not correlate with his performance. Secondly of all, fair or not, a playoff series will define if a player is superstar or not. If you are looking for example, just checking out the comments on Dirk.
The good thing is that we can have faith that management won't listen to guys that call themselves "the hangover." Yao won't go anywhere, and I think that we have a good shot at the Warriors if we can pull it out on Saturday night. That said I think that T-Mac is more effective as more of a distributor like he was in game 5. We'll be okay, Utah is a pretty tough match-up for us anyway; their team is strong where ours is weak. While I agree that Yao should have been better this, I do believe that he'll show up in a bigger way for game 7.
I love Jeff Van Gundy and I love his philosophy. I love teams that play defense well and I was a huge fan of the Knicks back when he coached them. The problem I have now with Van Gundy is that he limits Yao. He is so rigid in his half-court philosophy that he is limiting Yao to the post only, after Yao was touted to become one of the most versatile centers to come into the league. It was Yao's versatility (3 pointers, 20 ft jumpers, post moves) along with his soft touch and precision that made him such a hot commodity in that draft. While I believe Van Gundy is a great coach, developing talent definately isn't one of his strong points. I think Van Gundy needs to go somewhere else with developed talent, and we need a coach that's more into spreading the floor and utilizing Yao in more ways than just from the post. Yao is still developing, and he needs a coach more than he needs a professional "dad".
I am not saying Yao is the problem but you can't ignore his faults either. He is hesitating far too much and it is hurting his play. He is too slow to hesitate, he has to make a quick decisive move right away. Also, his defense is poor, what happened to him sliding more towards the basket and jumping up to block the shot ala Deke? Right now, I would say the Jazz are in Yao's head, and he needs to come out on fire in game 7. DD
This "Pount the ball to Yao" thing is not working. Sure it is a high quality shot, but how many turnovers created by this. We need a more creative offensive coach like Adelman. I am sure he will lead us to several conference finals at least.
Yao has to stopped trying that 15 ft. turn around fadeaway jumper. He must concentrate on getting closer position. And he must stop trying to do too much with the ball (dribble too much for instance) Second, the Rockets have to realize that Yao cannot take crisp entry passes unless they are right on his numbers, he has terrible reaction and hands to quick passes. Third, Yao is a big defensive liability when he has to guard anyone who doesn't play back to the basket low post ball. Both Okur and Boozer are a nightmare for him because if he goes out to guard them they can get past him or open the lane more for other players. To win game 7 Yao has to be more agressive on the boards (he might want to jump for a rebound) He has to stop trying to score from 10+ on a fadeaway jumper (rely on the close jump hook, and face up shot or the dunk-avoid that wimpy layup underneath the basket) And most importantly he has to reduce turnovers. The rest of the team has to stop trying to get cute on the entry pass. The best way to get Yao deep is to let him repost off the first entry pass. TMac HAS to stop deferring and drive even harder to the hoop, don't try to use the glass so much because AK-47 has started to play his drives for the block. Also TMac has to realize that passing out to an open shooter must be done when he is shut off. Too many times he gives it up when he still can attack the rim. Finally, Rafer has to think before he passes, slow down a little and make the smart pass. If Luther, Rafer, Battier, and Howard can hit some shots and 2 of them get double figures scoring we will win game 7.
What I am worried about is that he turns in another 1/10 first quarter and 33% shooting like he did in game 5. As much I want him to succeed, He just... too easily to get rattled. Not that he is soft, he just seems do not have that extra gear... BTW, I am in no way supporting trade Yao or let go JVG. That's just simply stupid. But Yao will NEED TO STEP UP in game 7.
I think he is right. Yao is too soft for us, try Odem. T-Mac is also soft, for someone. we get new Rockets.
I wish Yao would be traded so we can get rid of all the Yao only lovers and haters, and then go back to crying about why Tmac or Rafer's game sucks without the stupid personal attacks that always get generated whenever the YOFs and YOHs get together. Here's a tip, if over 75% of your posts and threads in GARM is devoted to Yao (either hating or loving), you need to move on to a Yao lover site or a Yao hater site. If you can't spend your time in here talking aobut the Rox as a whole and not just one person, seriously do all of us a favor and just go somewhere else. I would love to discuss Yao's and TMac's atrocious performance in some of the games but I'm deathly afraid of the bs that will come about because some people just can't seem to get past their love or hatred for one guy.
Come off of it Noob--wake me up when another center averages Yao's scoring and demands constant double teams to keep him under thirty points a night. Yes, Yao covering mobile, athletic POWER FORWARDS is a recipie for distater when there is ZERO weak-side support in the way of a shot blocker. Name a straight up center that can gaurd him or that Yao can't keep their field goal % and points down.
Yao has huge weaknesses in his defense, but we're . The problem is, I think we're underutilizing the strengths of the big man, and allowing Utah to exploit all our weaknesses. All of these can be covered up for if we play in the right system. I have always advocated for us to play zone, a 3-2 or 2-3 depending on who is on the court. Yao is at his best when he is the help defender. A zone forces a team to be heavily relient on jumpers, and even when cutters do get in the lane, they are funneled into the proximity of the big man in his comfort zone, not at the top of the key or 8 ft away from the basket. As for Yao on offense, I have no explanation for it, he should just post and then repost. That's all it takes. The current offense makes him play isolations that are 7-8 ft away from the game. He is most effective when he just catches anf finishes, yet we have failed to realize that. I think both the coach and the players are at fault, but I don't see why people are even debating trading Yao for Dirk. That is just insanity. Dirk is just as mentally fragile, if not more. Do we really need a jump shooting 7-footer? I thought the GS/Mavs series was indicative of how Dirk is also not a superstar, but just a talented all star. Super stars can take their game to the next level, aka Baron Davis/Nash/Wade, not ones that fold. I'm not ready to give up on Yao. I would be first to admit that the reason I first followed the rockets was because of him, and have grown to love the team since. I know Yao works hard and all, but there comes a point when a player needs to man up and be held accountable for the fate of a team. I am in serious doubt as to whether or not Yao has the ability, and same goes for Tracy. Maybe its time to spell an end to our Yao/T-mac experiment? I don't know, but I have to admit I felt disgusted by the abuse that is given to Yao.
If the Rockets lose game 7 then I do think Les Alexander will seriously consider a replacement for JVG. But I think if nobody is out there that will make this team much better then I think he will stick with JVG. Yao is not going anywhere. He will never be traded.
If trade Yao, Shane Battier will demand to go along. He's got a Chinese sneaker contract. Come on ! Les isn't that stupid to trade Yao. Yao is still producing. Yao only broke a foot and a leg once, when 200 of Yao bones are broken at least once, then it's time to talk about trading
It's frustrating to see the team you love fall apart, but it's actually on TMac's back that the team will win or lose. He makes the team go and Yao is the major threat in the middle. He is no threat right now because he cannot finish or has too many TOs. Part of it is Yao's fault becuase he is not posting deep enough for him to be effective right now. I wish his fades are falling but they are not. And Utah is not doubling teaming him becuase Okur is doing fine. Utah can take Yaos 20+ as long as he TOs over 5 a game. Yao is at a disadvantage against Booser because he is much quicker than him and Okur plays too far out. That's just unfortunate that Yao cannot punish them on the offensive side because of his lack of production right now. (yes, top scorer means nothing if you are take a bunch of shots and have a ton of TOs). Refs have let it be known that it's a man's game inside and that Yao will need to tuff it out. As for trading anyone, it all depends if the Rockets come out on fire and win game 7 or they fold like the Mavs. If they fold, then, JVG will not come back. I am pretty sure of that. If they go on, they they need to make it at least another game 7 at home or he might still not come back (Warriors are playing very well now so it's no cake walk - just as Dallas). Yao will not be traded, that's not even a possibility. And yes, Yao is not completely back yet. Wish he didn't break his leg but he did.
