Every time a player gets like 2-3 fouls early in a game, coaches always pull the player out. Yao for example frequently gets into early foul trouble and gets pulled after the second one. That usually restricts Yao to sub 30 minutes games. The majority of those games, Yao ends up with only 4 fouls. Would it not be better to just let Yao play and use up his 6 fouls? If the fouls doesn't restrict his minutes, then his stamina will. If Yao fouls out, so be it, he will probably log at least 25 minutes by then, about the same if he were to sit. I know coaches pull players for a reason, probably because the players with fouls can't play adequate defense. I'm not an expert on why, can somebody clarify.
You want your players to play at the end of the game when it really matters. I'd rather have Yao pulled in the first so he can play at the end of the 4th than the other way around. Also, when there are only a couple of minutes left in a quarter, you might as well just pull him rather than risk a cheap foul.
for stat freaks out there, ive been wondering, whats the rockets record when yao gets 2 fouls in the first quarter...ive been following this his whole career, and when it happens I usually turn off the tv in the first quarter because it is a loss 95% of the time it seems like
Basketball is a 48 minute game. Saving Yao for the last quarter when we are down 15 points is rather useless. Is saving him equivalent to not utilizing him? 2 points beginning of second quarter is the same as 2 points with 1 second left in the fourth. Just not as hard.
I remember JVG saying recently that he wasn't going to let Yao play with the 2 or 3 fouls anymore. He let him last year play with 2 fouls, but his game obviously took a hit since he was playing more conservative while in foul trouble. Basically JVG is saying if he can't stay out of foul trouble, there's no reason for him to be on the floor playing less than 100 percent.
I seem to remember Van Gundy leaving Yao in after 2 fouls in one of the earlier games. Yao was hesitating on his shots and played less aggressive. He played much better when he was aggressive and made strong moves to the basket without worrying about a foul.
Basically you can't back up what JVG is "basically" saying, but if you can I'll trash JVG with a finality I've always stayed far away from. I'm rooting for him and nothing he's done this season has completely rankled me. But in regard to pulling players when in early foul trouble JVG let Yao stay in with 2 fouls in the 1st quarter in a game this season and Yao quickly picked up a third, so it's hard to fault him - or explain - how he's going on feel where Yao's concerned. JVG's coaching for his job and I think the only thing that's changed this season is he's watching his mouth around the press and cloaking negativism into pablum for the masses. Hey, it's a step up for him.
