Interesting comments by Falsone on training Yao. (From an article by Kim Elliott in the Winter 2006 Sugar Land magazine) Falsone describes Yao as committed, funny and respectful. He adds that Yao no longer uses his translator and actually hired a teacher over the summer to teach him American slang. In fact, Falsone is amazed at just how similar Olajuwon and Yao are. "They are almost the same person. Sometimes I have deja vu when I am with Yao; he acts so much like Hakeem." Yet they hail from different countries and cultures and speak different languages.
While there may be issues in Yao's game, he does have the tools to be great and has shown it multiple times already as a Rocket. I've thought about why he struggles so much when team's front him and how it's a shared blame between him and those making entry passes to him. And then I've thought about how other players like Duncan and Garnett get around this issue when fronted. They attack with the mid range game. If people are sandwiching Yao 15 to 18 feet out that's an open lane to our perimeter players advantage. If they give him single coverage, they can run high pick and rolls with Yao and open up shots for him to take mid range, or make an easier entry pass into our slashing guards. This is exactly what I see done when fronting is done to Duncan, Garnett, and Shaq. Shaq struggles under the new rules same as Yao, although you can also attribute that to Shaq's age, and current health. Still Shaq has no mid range game, and is much easier to shut down because of it with a sandwiched zone defense. Yao is fortunate in that he has a midrange game to work with, and I think they should work their offense around it when he's getting crowded in the low post. Some of his best games are when Yao's skills are used to their fullest, is given single cover, and of course when he's agressive. He was very agressive and effective before going down with his toe injury, and I hope that picks up. I'm also being optimistic that this injury he sustained will give us a fresh Yao come playoff time if we do happen to get in. My biggest worry is him getting in game shape which usually takes a month or so before he's used to logging 35+ minutes a game. But after that he's good to go.
I wanna see Yao, Tracy and Rafer on the court for extended periods of time. (1) With two guys on the court who know how to feed him the ball when/where he wants it, we will see just how good Yao can be. Been waiting on this all year. (2) With Rafer handling the ball and playmaking duties a lot AND Yao getting his share of shots on the low block, Tracy should be able to pace himself more during games and be choosier about picking his spots.
Yao would be great in a high-post offense, the one that's implemented by SAC. Too bad JVG won't allow that.
Even if Yao developed a 3 point shot ,he will never be able to use it.Under JVG,Yao hardly shoot from mid-range which used to be money and that had limited his offensive threat.I hope Yao will play like Brad Miller ,taking mid-range jumper ,when he was double in the low post.
Low post first, with a midrange game to keep people honest. Just like Duncan. That's the wishlist I have for Yao.
I was thinking more of when he sets picks for Tracy. If the defense doesn't bite and T-Mac gets doubled, he could take the pass and hit the long range jumper.
everyone's saying they want yao to be like duncan and KG... you realize their midrange works so effectively because of their ability to put it on the floor and face up on their man? quickness, ability to go around, etc.. without that, you can't just keep throwing yao in the midrange game. i mean, yeah he can shoot over people, but they'll be right up on him reducing his percentage. he's not about to put the ball on the floor, and he can't dribble out of anything
High post vote here, UCLA or triangle. Yao is at his best when he has options. He has more tools to work in the high post. JVG has been trying for 3 years to force Yao into the low post. It doesn't work. It doesn't use his brains, court vision, or shooting. It packs the defense in, so we can't drive. It cuts off interior passing. Its a strategy that's not based on logic, but prejudice. It's better to have 5 guys that can get closer shots rather than 1 guy close and everyone else shooting from the parking lot.
I usually don't like to copy an entire post, but this one, yes, I will. Because I agree completely. I wish we could have brought in Sabonis to teach Yao because Yao's skills would have fit that style so well. The nice passes that mesmerized CD and Rudy when they went to China, wondering whether to draft him, and the passes we saw in Yao's first year....those are mostly gone. It would be great for Yao to get those high assist numbers that other big men get (Brad Miller, Kevin Garnett, Chris Webber), but I suppose we will need players that can hit shots as well as a different offensive scheme.
High post only works when you have quick players that can cut off of the post. Luther Head is the only guard we have that remotely has that kind of quickness. If you think about it, there's really not much initial difference between a high post screen and a high PnR. With the exception of McGrady coming off the high PnR, we don't run it all that well. High post is negated by a zone. High worked a lot better for the Kings when they had Webber. Nothing against Yao, but he's no (Kings') Webber in the high-post. The Rockets are already a very poor offensive rebounding team. High-post moves their largest and slowest rebounder further from the basket. Triangle takes too long to learn. My best arguments against it are found here.. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=105760&highlight=triangle But then again I'm not looking to "Fire Gundy".
I think you let him work in the low post when given single coverage and work high post pick and rolls with T-Mac when getting fronted and sandwiched in between defenders. Either way you're gauranteed a high percentage shot from either Yao or T-Mac. Yao does lack the mobility to move with the ball and drive into the paint when pressured, but running a high pick and roll would either force the opposing team's big man to help on a slashing McGrady, or force other defenders to come and help instead. Given just how effective McGrady is already at setting up teammates, running this option more would make his job easier. Also iff the man guarding Yao doesn't loosen up on him to help, then that's essentially an open lane for McGrady to work with. If the defender guarding Yao loosens, that means an open mid range jumper for Yao to take which atleast in his rookie year was a high percentage shot.
im sure the only people in this world who want to see yao in the high post shooting 18 foot j's are some dubious basketball minds like the great pasox2, the nba players that guard yao, and the coaches in the nba who must defend the rockets. yao's ability to score in the paint is well documented and you all want to change that and have him play in the high post...superior stupidity.
I can understand London's argument about utilizing Yao in the high post occasionally, especially against fronting defenses. However, those of you who advocate Yao becoming a near-exclusive high-post player like Brad Miller must be out of your minds. Yao is VERY capable of scoring at will in the low post once he has the ball firmly in his grasp. In fact, that's his main strength. His problem is receiving and hanging onto the ball against double teams and fronting defenses. Utilizing him up high exclusively is a sure recipe for turning Yao into another jump-shooting center like Smits or Miller. Moreover, Yao simply doesn't have the speed/coordination to face-up or put the ball on the floor the way Duncan and Garnett do. Come playoff time, when teams begin to grind it out...we need our big man along the baseline. Putting him near the free-throw line and having him shoot jumpers throughout the game will get us nowhere.
