He should have caught it. And HotBalla, as a PG you better be ready if you are playing with me or you will have a very sore noggin as my passes continue to bounce off your cranium. You can berate all you want, but when someone is WIDE OPEN under the basket they should get the ball, a free throw line jumper is a lower percentage shot than a wide open lay up. I make that pass 100 out of 100 times. DD
you do that and I'll make sure to yell the stuffing out of you for embarassing me lol If you pass it to me like Padgeet's lob I wont have a problem catching it and putting it up. I'll take solace in the fact that he just didnt see it coming, because had he seen it coming and still wasnt able to pick it up, he doesnt deserve to be an option down low. On another note, anyone saw Scott's reaction? I woulda torn him a new one for cursing at me like that.
This is my take after reviewing it a few times on my Tivo. It was a near perfect pass, except it looks like Yao was surprised how open he was and just made a turn of his head to see who might be behind him. And I think Padgett did curse, but more like shoot the fcking ball.
Actually when the Padgetts of the world are cursing you, it shows how little the team respects Yao's ability to catch the ball. As exasperated as Yao gets, I am sure his teamates are equally frustrated. Time to man up Yao !! DD
This was a combination of three things... 1) Yao is not very good at catching the ball 2) Yao is not very mobile 3) The passer has *some* responsibility to making sure that Yao is ready for the pass 4) The passer has to *know* that Yao is not very good at catching the ball or very mobile. It's just something that we have to get *used* to. Because, unless Yao improves himself. We'll always have to be warry of his *stone hands*.
y aknow...at first I thought the same thing...that Yao didnt even see it coming...but after clipping it out and watching it over and over ...Sam is right....Yao did look at Padge before the passs... and it looks like to me that since he wasnt expecting it...he didnt react fast enough to grab it..cause he gets his hands up when he realizes it is coming to him...but his reaction time was just a split-second too slow. now...as for the reaction from Padge afterwards....anyone that has played competitively knows that in a tight game..and you are low on time to pull out the win....you might holler at a teammate for making a mistake that could cost the team the game.... it happens all the time....things are said in the heat of the moment that you wish you could take back later....I saw no evidence of any bad feelings afterwards...especially since they managed to pull out the win.... you know how it goes....winning cures everything
In this is a fundamental problem. If Yao can't "see" a pass from 6-9 Padgett to his 7-6 frame, with no notable defenders blocking his line of sight, then why do people berate Sura for not making the same (actually, almost always with more defenders on Yao) pass? I know the type of passes you're talking about where someone gets up in the air, decides he's in trouble and fastballs one at the center under the basket. This wasn't it, though. Yao had space to all sides and was right by the basket, and this certainly wasn't a fastball. Yao absolutely has to know where the ball is on a play like that, especially in the closing minutes of a close game.
It was one play. Yeah, he should have caught the ball, we know Yao has a problem catching passes and holding on to rebounds but Padgetts pass was not the usual bullet pass that Yao can't catch, he just wasn't ready. He was focused on getting the rebound, Yao will adjust to plays like this. I remember one play last year, where a ball was going out of bounds on the opposing team and Yao was the closest player to the ball. Yao was going to let it go and let the Rox inbound it, a player from the other team comes flying past Yao and tipped it back to his teammate, retaining possession. You know since then, I see Yao front balls like that, extend his arms so he screens out opposing players from getting the ball. Just like this play, Yao will learn to turn his head and get ready for a pass or rebound the shot. The NBA game is the fastest played in the world and when you ask any rookie about what is the biggest adjustment, they all say the speed of the game. Everyone knows Yao playing in Asia all his life was a distinct disadvantage, but I think he is progressing. If I didn't see progress after three years, I would be worried but I see progress and we haven't seen the finished product.
He was surveying the position of opponents (eye hasn't looked up yet), getting ready to jump(he's a slow jumper), for the offensive rebound. he should catch it. but if you think that was easy, try it yourself. As to cursing, Yao would have plenty of opportunity to curse back "sink the f****** open shot" in the future. It's all good.
Padget was half in shooting motion. He jumped, but he's no leaper. End of story. I don't see Sura has anything to do with this?
If that's true then Yao should study fundamentals more, and demand the ball when wide open under the basket than rather than getting ready to go up for a rebound. He should know that getting him the ball was the smart thing to do, and be prepared for it to come to him.
thats my story and I'm sticking to it... serisouly though, you're right. theres no defense for it though upon fuirther review, he simply needs to make that catch.
I think once Yao get teh ball and bring the ball up, he should swing those elbows to protect the ball. And Knee some balls in the process too. That way, these little guys would respect the space Yao has.
