[CHRON] At 7-6, Yao having trouble being noticed

Yeap, why does it happen time and time again with our center/post player, but doesn't happen time and time again with other teams' post players? Duncan? Shaq?

Because the post player must also do his part in demanding the ball when his teammates get carried away. Yao doesn't demand the ball. Yao doesn't remind his teammates when they get carried away. He just doesn't get it. It's like he wants to maintain an image of being a mister nice guy. That's why I'm extremely frustrated with Yao.

 

I think it does, but not very sure

 

It only counts if the player makes it.

 

What the hell are you talking about? This happends to Shaq frequently in Miami, so much so that he publically called out his team mates a couple of times for not giving him the ball. Yao does call for the ball most of the time by raising his arms when he gets position. He's freakin 7 foot 5 tree trunk out there, he doesn't need to shout to gets the guards attention unless your're blind or dazed. The coach and players have already admitted what the problems are and they just needed to find a solution for it. There's nothing more needed to be said. If you have been paying any attention to the pre-season at all, Yao has gotten good position all game with good stats, except for the last game where the guards just jack up shots after shots when they had a 22 point lead as stated in that article. As for Duncan, he sometimes goes for long streches without the ball, more so then you think, but nobody cares since he has such good players to make up for his lack of touches.It seems like most people are satisfied with Yao assertiveness and his improvements through out the pre-season games to get enough praises from the media including Tim Legner and CBS sportsline.

 

Actually if you pay attention to the Spurs and Shaq's teams, they both get into stretches where the big guys aren't getting the touches that they need. T-Dunc has been known to go flat out invisible for quarters at a time. And there have been a few games where Shaq is dominating in the first half, only to get few touches for the rest of the game. Not getting the big man enough touches happens to a lot of great teams, Yao's touches situation is just a bit more extreme than those guys. It's weird how when the team gets some success, they often go away from what they are doing right in the first place.

 

dude what games are you watching? Every possession I see him raising his hand for the ball. There is nothing else abig man can do outside of this on the court. It isn't his job to remind them to go down low, thats supposed to be the job of the PG and coach. Do you want Yao to attack the guards?

It isn't like Yao is cowering on the floor hoping for the ball. he's asking and demanding it every time

 

thank you

 

Its funny, first Francis and Mobley were blamed, now we have a team of unquestionable better passing ability and his teamates still get blamed. Yao has got to learn to hold his position in the paint better. period

 

that's a good point. Shaq has also publicly called out his teammates for not getting him enough touches int he past.

 

The swat that we have now are better passers, agree?

We win more games, agree?

So you think francis/mobley were not to blame? I think they're terrific basketball players and I always loved and appreciated what they did for the team, but you can't argue that they were horrible entry passers.

 

I’m not making an argument about Francis or Mobley. I’m just saying that the main problem lies with Yao if this continues to be an issue. I’ve never heard of this being an issue with a big man. A lot of basketball people talk about Horry’s passing ability to the post but what makes Horry such a good entry passer is his shooting ability. It spaces the floor. Hakeem never had an issue getting the ball. The problem was he never played with a good shooting team until Vernon Horry and Kenny.

Does Indiana have better passers than the Rockets? Probably not. But getting the ball to Jermaine O’Neal has never been an issue. I have never heard this being an issue with any big man I’ve ever seen play. Yao just has to learn how to gain leverage on opposing players.

 

I can think of two big men that have had problems: Duncan in the Finals that Popovich had to call out his team on it and Shaq.

During the preseason I saw a number of times where both Yao and Stromile had defenders on their back and where passed up for whatever reason. How much leverage do you want? ... the defender is already pinned behind them.

 

But the problem with Yao isn't just getting position its holding it. I think Holding it is the main problem. Every pass can't get there as soon as he gains the advantage. He has to give his teamates time to find him. I don't think its a physical issue as much as it is about him being patient.

 

Did you read my post?

"This happends to Shaq frequently in Miami, so much so that he publically called out his team mates a couple of times for not giving him the ball. Yao does call for the ball most of the time by raising his arms when he gets position. He's freakin 7 foot 5 tree trunk out there, he doesn't need to shout to gets the guards attention unless your're blind or dazed. The coach and players have already admitted what the problems are and they just needed to find a solution for it. There's nothing more needed to be said. If you have been paying any attention to the pre-season at all, Yao has gotten good position all game with good stats, except for the last game where the guards just jack up shots after shots when they had a 22 point lead as stated in that article. As for Duncan, he sometimes goes for long streches without the ball, more so then you think, but nobody cares since he has such good players to make up for his lack of touches.It seems like most people are satisfied with Yao assertiveness and his improvements through out the pre-season games to get enough praises from the media including Tim Legner and CBS sportsline."

I tihnk he could hold his position just fine, its just that when he's in good position the guards couldn't get him the ball for whatever reason which forces Yao to re-establish his position again to avoid the 3 sec violation, and by that time the guards have already started to look somewhere else for shots, or shoot the ball themselves. No one here is at faults, its just hard in general to dump the ball into a low post player of Yao's size who doesn't have the best mobility/balance compared to Jermaine Oneal or even Duncan.

 

This gets brought up here occasionally and it's a complete myth. The first half of Yao's rookie season it was a huge problem, but it hasn't been a problem at all for over two years. That's why on every national telecast there's usually a sequence of 4 or 5 possessions when Yao is shown to be in position and he isn't thrown the ball and the announcers just shake there heads.

Besides, in this article JVG flatly says we're not looking for him enough and that's the main problem. Alston's quote should be the team mantra: "it's not on Yao, it's on me".

 

Yao has picked up like 10 3-second violations in the preseason for posting up in the paint and not getting the ball. He didn't get the ball when he posted up Majic Lampe. He has gotten much better at holding position.

 

From the article "guys just jacking up jumpers — disappointing." Van Gundy commenting on Yao's lack of shots pretty much sums it up

 

Hakeem complained incessantly about not getting the ball from Sleepy Floyd on down to Sam I am.