Yao Ming Mania - Latest Comments in Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

AirChina23 — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:40:20 -0000

Do you take donations, John?

Yes, I do. Through Paypal people can donate to donations@yaomingmania.com. I haven't asked for donations in about 3 years, but I may start doing it again on the site. Here's a button that can be used in the meantime. Thanks! -- John
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Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Wendy — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:45:21 -0000

Remember when I said that I wasn´t worried, ahead of the Warriors game?
Now I am :p And I am p.i.s.s.e.d. o.f.f.

I hope Yao can take the same leadership that he did on the CNT, remember him swearing at his CNT teammates, calling them out on the court?

He should start doing it to his Rockets teammates, why is he still too reserved? Because they are americans? Big guy, you are the star and the leader! Call T-Mac out if necessary, yell at his face during the game, it will wake everyone up!

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Jackie — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:06:32 -0000

The best solution right now is keep Yao, TMac, Luis Scola, Steve Francis, and trade everyone! Also, fire Rick Adelman!!

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Jay — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:33:01 -0000

I have noticed something in watching the past few games in which Scola was succesful as well as when McGrady returned from his injury. It has nothing to do with my humble opinion of McGrady being a ball hog, although I tend to agree; it's about Steve Francis and Scola.

Here is one main thing I have noticed when Scola and Steve Francis play, Scola gets opportunities to shoot because Francis actually creates opportunities plays for Scola to show his worth.

This stat is referring to the Rockets Clippers Game, Rox won

http://clutchfans.net/games...

There's stats and info there, it's also a great way to analyze since Scola started playing more min.

Here is an example, in the loss to the Suns where Scola scored 20 points, Francis also played. In the next game in which the Rockets lost to the Mavericks, Scola played but Francis did not, Scola had no points.

Although it may be a weak argument sine in future games Scola does not score much (although consistent so far in hte 8 pts 8 reb/game) from what I have seen in all the recent games so far is that anytime their is a fast break Scola always trails Francis and Francis always finds a way to get Scola the ball for the bucket. OR some other form where Scola is posted low Francis trusts him to score

Perhaps this is a sign of a maturity level from Francis not to mention he is more tolerant and friendly towards the intl players on the squad.

PS
one thing that made me laugh was in the recent suns vs rox game, rox won
Scola was called for a travel because he slid his foot laterally too much.. f**k as soon as he gets stardom status he wont be called for such things heck d wade, mcgrady, and others never get called for this, ticks me off

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Kaolin — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:29:36 -0000

About the point guard question, Rockets are now loaded with point guards, I imagine someone's feeling will be hurt if a rookie like Brooks is brought into the rotation. That might potentially damage the team chemistry and make things worse. Mike James is not playing particularly well, Luther Head can't handle the ball, it seems with Francis injured, staying with Alston may be the only good option now.

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Rob — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:09:52 -0000

No one needs to scout the Rox anymore. Just double Yao and T-Mac, and dare the rest of the team to hit 3-pointers and outside jumpers. Easy.

RA needs to start cutting back on (the other) RA's minutes, and risk letting SF play his way back into form after he recovers from the back injury. SF may not ultimately be an upgrade from the 3-point line (career 34% vs. 35% for RA), but definitely can make opponents pay for collapsing on Yao/T-Mac by putting the ball on the floor and driving for a score or foul (career 23.3 points per 48 mins vs. 13.4 points per 48 mins for RA). SF also rebounds better (he's pulled down a career 7.1 rebs per 48 mins vs. 5.1 for RA.)

I also still have high hopes for Scola despite his early season growing pains. James is James, I really didn't expect him to be any less streaky than he has been...but Wells' recent play has certainly been a disappointment compared to how he played in the first several games.

P.S. Love the site, John...been reading it since Yao first came into the league. Keep up the good work (but don't kill yourself)!

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

richard — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 22:05:46 -0000

sigh!

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

jeffers — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:44:17 -0000

the more games I watch this season, the more I miss JVG, we need a players coach, players need to play with passion, coach needs to coach with passion. I like mcgrady, he is hands down one of the best scorer in the league, but damn he needs to take less shots, coz t-mac style shooting is not the answer to win games, jacking up shots that surprise your own teammates is not something you want to do night in and night out, so plz tracy, stop that and drive to the hoop. the thing with yao, he needs to be aggressive on the court, when he intimidates like shaq and howard does, the ref is not going to make bad calls, for the refs to respect him, he needs to respect himself first, respect the fact that he is 7'6 at 300+ pounds and can power through anybody in the league if he is willing to do so. I hope this ejection will lit up the fire inside him.

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

jeff — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:46:48 -0000

You are a great analysist of the basketball game. You have invented a great hyphenated word, Battier-Alson-Hayes, which actually means 'Not Scoring'. And this hyphenated word sums up the problem the Coach who insists on playing the combination. One Battier is OK. But 3 out of 5 not scoring is way too much. To get to the root of the problem, replace the Coach. The sooner the better. If the difference between JVG and the management is too big to get over, think about the option of Thibodeau who knows this team inside out. I am sure he will be a good head coach, if he is given the chance. The GM has to make the decision and ACT now. No hesitation, please.

Thanks for the compliment. I never thought about it, but yeah, "Battier-Alston-Hayes" kinds of runs together like "cod liver oil," with the same offensive taste.

Thibodeau sounds like just as good of a choice as any. I think someone who is new, but experienced, would be good. Leslie Alexander always liked Mario Elie, who is intense, but still a player's coach. I wonder if Dallas would let him interview. - John

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Jainon — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:45:33 -0000

I am more annoyed and disappointed by their lack of defensive effort than anything else.

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Jim — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:36:44 -0000

It is really painful as a die hard Yao fan to watch game recently. What really happened to this team? It played really well at season's opening. Now everyone get lost ( Yao and McGrady are also on and off as well) Scola is awesome some nights but completely disappeared other nights. I know Steve can help them with his energy and penetration. But we need Shane and other to perform as well in order to have any chance in play-off.

John, really love your work. I read your every single analysis starting from very beginning. And became a die-hard fan of Yao and Rocket partly because of your site. It's the best analysis of Yao and Rocket anywhere around the world. I hope Rocket management is learning from your site as well. Wish Yao and his team can bring a title eventually to not waste all your great effort.

have a nice weekend!

Jim, thanks for the compliment. That's really a nice one! -- John

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Wilson — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:05:32 -0000

START LUIS SCOLA AND PLAY AARON BROOKS MORE!!!

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

curtis — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 11:37:21 -0000

At the beginning of the season, I questioned about Rick Aldelman, I had concerns about his defense mentality, when yao and t-mac scores like that last night, and yet they still lost the game, it means one thing, the DEfense!
Van Gundy may be old shcool and stubborn, but he is a defense minded coach, and you need defence to win games, especially in the west, we already have enough offensive teams in the west, can you score points like the Suns? or be explosive like the Golden States? or out score Dallas or even the Kings? No, you can't, you are not explosive like that, and you have a big man in the middle, you have to play Defense like San Antonio to really win games, no matter how well you score, no D no W.

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

rosatiamo — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 10:01:34 -0000

Hi, John:

I think you always do a wonderful job analyzing the game and I even think you could be a better coach for the rockets than Adelman, after watching and analyzing the rockets' games for so many years.

John for Rockets' Coach!

Rosatiamo, thanks for the compliment. I'll certainly take the $5 million per year these guys get paid. Even if I coach for half a season, suck, and get fired, I might be set for life! -- John

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Allen — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 09:40:29 -0000

You're right, Rafer's shooting is a problem, but we knew he couldn't shoot. What we didn't know is that Scola would be slow to adjust to the NBA game, Hayes' little offense from last year would completely dissppear, James wouldn't shoot better than 39% (wasn't he supposed to be the "instant offense"?), and Bonzi would soon forget how to hit layups. For all the bitching about offense, the real problem is our defense. We are scoring enough most nights to win, but you can't consistently give up more than 100 points in the NBA and expect to win. Even if we were winning while giving up that many points, it will come to bite you in the playoffs. The ONE thing we were good at last year is apparently gone, and that worries me. Problem is, there is nothing we can do about it. You can't seriously tell me that a "contender" is going to play a rookie at point guard, a position where it is almost a general NBA rule that it takes three years to learn (he is not D-will or Paul). Plus, we won't be able to move any of our points for a better one, figuring that they are all (yes even Francis) completely without market value right now - two who can't shoot better than 40% and one who has whned his way into mediocrity. I really worry about the Rox long term progress as things stand.

That said, love your page and keep up the great work, we all certainly appreciate you!

Regarding Brooks, it looks like they may not have much choice. If it requires not being a "contender," so be it. But remember back in the Barkley-Olajuwon-Drexler days, they had an average rookie point guard named Matt Maloney (who no one ever remembers), and they were good enough with him to go to the Western Conference Finals. So it's not out of the realm of possibility. I also think he could be very good as a rookie, almost CP3 or D-Will, but probably more like T.J. Ford.

Oh yeah, thanks for the compliment. I appreciate your appreciation!-- John

Re: Bad defense, no offense outside of Yao-McGrady dooms Rockets

Jokim — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 09:02:34 -0000

As bad As Alston is, he is better than Mike James at the point. The Timerwolves thought he could be the man and gave him a huge contract, but MikeJ ended up not playing much. Sad to say, but it seems like James' best days are over. Francis is probably better than either one of them. With that said, I agree with you that it is time to try the rook. let him learn his mistake and the game now.

I like Shane B, and I think they did the right thing AT THAT TIME to trade for him. He had a good year last year, playing good D and hit open shots regularly, but this year, with 38% FG and 33.3% at 3PT, is hard to watch. Last year he was 44.7% and 42.1% at 3PT. In hindsight, it is always 50-50. It wasn't like GAy was in the caliber of C.Anthony or Duran coming out college.

The opposing teams don't have to fear anybody when they double team TMac and Yao. This game is a good example of how other teams can completely ignore anyone not named Yao or Tmac. 70 points and 50%FG from TMac and Yao, the team still lost. The ball movement has been terrible and nobody on the team can shoot 3 -- BWell shot under 20%, and R.Alston shot 26%, and Mjames, Heads, and Batteir shot around 35%. And their 2-pt FGs aren't that much better. I hope this is the result of the players' unfamiliarities with the new system, and with time, they will get better, otherwise the Rox will not make it to the post season.