Even though I am a great Fan of Yao Ming I will have to agree with your observations. Is Yao Ming afraid of getting injured, so he is trying to limit himself to outside jumpers, when he should be making more power moves? It's still early in the playoffs so lets see if things develop. Do remember that Yoa Ming is guarding Carlos Boozer, an athletic jump shooting Power Forward, a miss match in utah's favor. We just don't have anyone to match up with Boozer, possibly this position will be found in the offseason.
You could've worded this thread better and not get flamed but you have to agree with some of what he's saying. Yao isn't going inside as much as he did before the injury.
Maybe sohrab was too dramatic when analyze Yao's game, especially when we won a playoff game and 2-0 over the Jazz. I haven't paid attention to the difference between now and 2005, but what I did notice was that Yao hasn't be able to get deeper post positions in game 1 & 2. Most of the time he wound get the ball outside the paint area, which ended up with the jump shot most of the time. A couple times he did get deep when he set the pick and rolled to the basket, I'm not sure it's because of his effort, or the defense, but he has been pushed further away from the basket, and that has to change for us to win at the Salt Lake City. Pretty or ugly, but a win is a win, so let's enjoy it.
What counts: Yao did not have a great game, yet still put up 27/9...good news and defintely not what '05 Yao would've done The entire Rockets team (outside of Hayes) did not have a great game, yet still beat the Jazz w/ Boozer shooting lights out...probably not what the '05 Rockets were capable of. I'd say this is indicative of a championship caliber team though. Very San Antonio-like even. But I'm clearly jumping ahead based on two home games. My theory on why Yao doesn't dunk as much: he's 7'6 and takes him an entire minute to bend his knees to jump up. I attribute this to the same reason he loses every jump ball. Also, during that natural motion you usually bring the ball down low along w/ the rest of your body in order to spring and elevate. With all this time the defense will be able to strip the ball before Yao gets to leave the ground. Thus, when he gets the ball he'll go for a layup motion where the ball is at chest level and he tries to get rid of it as quickly as possible to avoid turnovers. Just a theory. I'm not saying this is the best scenario but just a reasoning on why he doesn't do it. Being 7'6 is not all bonus. There's some negative attributes which I'm sure we're all aware of by now. I'm not trying to defend him though, there were two instances where he had enough time and space and probably would've benefited by going for a dunk to draw a foul and increase his chances of scoring. I think he has that mindset of scoring as quickly as possible to avoid the turnover and for him a layup is faster.
just be glad he's not the allstar that has to guard one of their best players on defense and only manages 4 points on offense
He is too worried about the knee or the knee had more damage than what is known. His spin move to the basket has either dissappeared or he tries it but is so slow that he either fumbles the ball, steps out of bounds or the defender blocks it. I don't know why he does not do it anymore? When he was dominant preinjury he would do that 2 times a game to give him space to work with and with alot more hook shots. Now the lack of that move and the less hook shots he is attempting makes him just a jump shooter. His repitore and I beleive skill set on his offensive moves has waned as of now. We do not need another jump shooter on the team. A low post threat is somebody that can pound the paint and do what a true center does, that is DUNk the ball whenever possible. If he dunks more his jumpers will have better looks but as of now his defenders are just waiting for him to do a turnaround jump shot (very predicatble) and that is why Okur/AK had like 4 blocks against him. Until he is determined to get back to that form and takes the risk on his leg then our supposed low post presense is not that big of an advanatge as what was described when we entered the post season. Shooting 9 for 24 in the post season is at guard level. This ratio is not indicative of a low post threat.
I'm shocked, you show up for the first time in who knows how long to criticize Yao? SHOCKED SHOCKED SHOCKED
How come he is back to 2005 all the sudden? Haven't u seen enough of YAO's games ever since last year? Hasn't he done enough to prove what kind of player he is? Have some faith, don't judge him so soon.
Its not judging him, its just merely stating the facts. He is not as aggressive as he was before... that is a fact. While he can get away with it playing some times, he will certainly lose out to the better teams. As Barkley says, you got to just pound the ball in and force people to foul you... being a jump shooting center will not get you there. Same with T-mac... he only took it to another level when he started taking it strong to the hoop.
i agree that the tone came off improperly... it was more of a friendly "tough love" calling out kind of thing, but came through wrong. however many people are way too volatile here, have some civility..
I believe there's a reason for that which I don't know, but I don't buy the whole passive thing. Why did he suddenly become passive after being aggressive for a whole season? It's fxxking playoff time, I think every player will give it all. He wants it more as much as everybody else, if not more.
Yao's got 23 FTA in 2 games. I dont think his problem is aggression, he's just not finishing as well as we would expect. A lot of thats hould be credited to Jazz D.
I just don't see the Jazz doing anything special on D against Yao. Okur is playing behind him without help and Yao is just fading away and shooting 90% of the time.
