This is a request to windandsea or anyone else familiar with the CBA and its stats. As Clutch mentioned in his review of the draft, the key thing for Yao when he first steps on the court in the NBA will be how quickly he accumulates fouls. In another thread, windandsea posted some stats from a Chinese league game in which Yao got numerically smoked by the opposing center because he played only 24 minutes. Was that due to foul trouble? How often does this happen? Can someone post an analysis of Yao's fouls and minutes per game, and if possible the correlation between them? I realize it's not a great predictor of how he'll do in the NBA, but it will give us a benchmark for how much improvement he needs at the outset.
Is Yao coming to training camp for the last 2 weeks? I'm sure Rudy & Mr. Mean can show him basic things to avoid foul trouble. windandseas--do you know if Yao's fouls against the Dream Team and in general are more from trying to block shots or getting backed down in the post? During the summer and training camp they could probably teach him to keep his hands up, recognize fakes, using leverage and arm and feet placement...
Will, Regardless of what happened in the CBA, Yao will probably get in foul trouble as opposing centers will make a deliberate effort to either muscle past him or draw contact. Since theyve eliminated the illegal defense, from the very outset the Rockets should double team down low on any player Yao is guarding. If they swing the ball around, we rotate and Yao will leave his man to roam the basket and prevent penetration. I think this could be effective to help Yao get used to to the physical play of the NBA and relieve any potential frustration with fouls. This should also help his confidence if opposing players drive and get the shot smacked back in their face. Having Yao as a low post rover with quick double teams would probably be the Rockets best strategy, especially against the more muscular and athlethic centers.
I expect that he will have to learn how to stay out of foul trouble, but if he does the least bit better than Cato when he started to take over the center spot than i will be OK with him. My personal opinion is that he will take his experiences and learn from them in the beginning of the season, and be markedly better in the second half of the season. I believe he is smart and aggresive enough to stay out of trouble and still be a force in blocks. Give us 24 min / game with three or fouls and three or four blocks/altered shots for the first half and improve during the second half.
Maybe somebody has pointed this out before, but it just occurred to me reading your post: The difference between Yao and Cato (or anybody else) is that Yao never has to leave his feet to block you. In the fouls department, that's no small thing.
Shanghai was leading by 30 points at half time, so Yao was rested for the rest of the game after that, thus the other guy took the points against Shanghai's backup center. -G'day-
Here's yaoming's stats game by game for the 01-02 season. Notes: There's 2 team in Beijing. Beijing duck which is bateer's team and Beijing Wizard. Bayi is Wang's old team. Against Result MIN PTS FG 3PT FT OFF DEF DUNK BLK ASS STL FOULED PF TO BeijingW 100-82 0:47:53 24 7/9 2/3 4/7 5 15 5 9 3 1 8 4 3 BeijingD 80-70 0:48:00 20 8/14 0/1 4/7 4 20 3 5 3 1 6 3 4 Liaoning 100-91 0:48:00 26 12/17 0/1 2/3 2 10 1 9 5 1 6 5 6 Jilin 123-122 0:35:49 35 10/13 1/1 12/15 6 13 4 3 5 3 13 5 9 Guangdong 118-102 0:48:00 48 19/23 1/1 7/9 10 14 4 5 3 2 8 1 2 Shenzhen 118-87 0:21:17 23 10/15 0/0 3/5 4 7 2 4 0 1 4 1 0 Lion 104-85 0:32:33 39 12/15 0/0 15/19 4 16 5 6 2 0 15 2 4 Shanxi 98-88 0:24:00 23 9/11 0/0 5/6 0 10 0 3 0 3 3 3 0 Jiangsu 131-107 0:44:37 32 13/17 0/0 6/8 5 15 2 4 1 3 7 4 6 Shandong 88-77 0:48:00 29 9/11 1/1 8/11 1 15 3 3 2 2 8 4 9 Bayi 129-102 0:43:44 40 15/16 0/0 10/13 8 18 5 2 1 2 9 3 7 Zhejiang 119-99 0:43:32 31 11/15 1/2 6/10 5 15 1 6 1 3 11 3 5 BeijingW 101-89 0:44:17 24 7/13 0/1 10/13 2 12 0 4 5 1 10 4 6 BeijingD 89-85 0:48:00 20 8/14 0/1 4/6 2 15 2 2 5 0 7 5 6 Liaoning 114-93 0:41:01 29 11/12 0/1 7/8 2 16 3 5 3 1 6 2 5 Jilin 112-94 0:36:00 35 10/14 0/1 15/21 7 9 1 6 0 6 15 3 6 Guangdong 103-82 0:42:51 15 7/12 0/1 1/1 6 18 2 4 4 1 4 5 1 Shenzhen 142-104 0:36:00 28 13/16 0/0 2/3 5 15 9 2 3 2 4 4 1 Lion 122-103 0:44:54 41 14/24 0/1 11/14 13 16 6 6 3 1 10 4 4 Shanxi 106-96 0:48:00 24 7/17 1/2 7/9 7 15 4 4 4 2 8 5 7 Jiangsu 120-103 0:31:18 30 8/12 2/3 8/8 4 8 1 3 3 1 6 4 0 Shandong 103-86 0:48:00 26 9/9 0/1 8/9 0 15 3 7 2 1 8 4 7 Bayi 106-128 0:48:00 43 17/22 0/1 9/10 10 7 8 7 1 3 6 4 2 Zhejiang 127-113 0:48:00 28 8/12 1/2 9/11 6 11 0 7 4 0 8 0 2 Playoff Games: Guangdong 111-92 0:45:29 40 16/18 1/3 5/8 5 10 5 6 2 2 5 3 7 122-98 0:44:18 34 14/16 0/1 6/9 9 8 3 5 6 3 8 3 2 121-85 0:39:16 25 11/15 0/1 3/4 5 12 3 3 3 0 3 1 3 Jilin 114-99 0:41:10 35 15/19 0/1 5/6 5 19 3 3 6 3 8 3 4 106-93 0:48:00 40 14/18 0/1 12/16 4 17 1 2 3 0 13 4 5 101-96 0:48:00 38 12/17 0/0 14/17 9 15 1 5 3 2 15 3 7 Bayi 125-127 0:48:00 49 21/21 0/0 7/12 10 7 6 6 2 3 14 5 4 124-92 0:41:52 26 8/10 0/0 10/13 8 15 2 2 3 4 10 4 3 129-122 0:48:00 46 17/23 0/0 12/15 9 14 5 2 3 0 13 1 0 123-122 0:47:51 44 18/25 0/0 8/10 13 8 4 3 4 3 9 4 7
Another aspect of this, that we might be forgetting, is how the referees call the game. It is generally my position, that the rule book has "changed" over the years even though the written rules may not reflect that. Shaq gets away with a lot (and gets fouled a lot too, I know) that isn't called. Partly because he is just so big and is so hard to determine who fouled who, and partly because of the business aspects of the NBA. Fortunately, there is a lot int his for David Stern/NBA if Yao really succeeds, so I think the refs will adjust their whistle to his game/style as much as he will learn to foul less or play defense in different manners.
I think it's inevitable that Yao gets into foul trouble throughout his first year in the league. Almost all great centers did including Shaq and Dream. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
In short, here's the 01-02 season and playoffs stats: Season G Min FG% 3ptM-3ptA FT% Reb Ast Stl Blk PF TO Pts 24 41.8 .698 10-25 .765 18.5 2.6 1.71 4.83 3.4 4.3 29.7 Playoffs G Min FG% 3ptM-3ptA FT% Reb Ast Stl Blk PF TO Pts 10 45.2 .777 1-7 .745 20.2 3.5 2.00 3.70 3.1 4.2 37.7
He had a pretty decent 3PT % during the regular season (40%). How does the CBA 3PT line compare to the NBA?
I am pretty sure they lost just one game in the regular season, and one more in the play-offs. Thus wining 30 and loosing 2 in the entire season. -G'day-
It's same as the international standard 3pt line (much shorter than the NBA one). Yea they were 23-1 in the 01-02 season. The Bayi Rockets had the similar results over the past five seasons, but they were 17-7 last season (2nd in league).
I don't think there is any question Yao will have foul troubles his first few years in the league. But is this any different than any other young big men? They all seem to have this problem. I think it stems mostly from not being used to guarding "quicker" players. Because their opponent is quicker than the rookies, they get out of position and thus foul their opponent. The best way to combat this is with good TEAM Defense to protect your players. Make sure to make use of double teams, mix up the defense a bit. I also believe that Yao can overcome the foul problem if he is more "aggressive" on the offensive end, making him more of an impact in the game. Impact players that are aggressive tend to get more calls called THEIR way and thus stay in the game longer. Another great point mentioned above is that players have problems "leaving their feet." Many young big men think they can block everything that comes their way. Yao will probably not leave his feet since he already is a mountain and thus will probably not pick up a ton of fouls that way. He just has to make sure to not fling his arms around too much. I think it is VERY Important that Yao be aggressive. I would rather have him in foul trouble being agressive going have a block or a hard foul then just standing there like Fredrick Weiss when he got dunked on in the Olympics by Vince Carter. People are going to TAKE it to Yao. He has to realize this. He has to set a tone. If they take it at him he HAS to be agressive and go after the block and not just stand there. They will call a foul on him anyway -- either a blocking foul or call it on his arms. Better to set a tone with the refs, the opponent and the league with being aggressive than passive. This will benefit him in the long run. Chris
What bothers me most is that he gets the KENNY THOMAS TREATMENT A bunch of bull**** calls He is coming into the league with a REP as a FOULER So he may draft the quick whistle. Rocket River
DEuce,I agree with you,if he is aggressive on the offensive end he will get more calls.I just wanted to remind you that Ming blocked Vince's shot in the Olympics.
