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Yao vs. Sonics - 11/5/02


Yao shoots over 7'1" Sonic center Jerome James
in a Rockets loss at Compaq Center on November 5th.
as of 11/8/02
Over the past few days since Houston last played Tuesday night and under-utilized Yao (in our opinion), much controversy has been generated regarding how Yao is being used--or not used. A minority of people think that Yao is not ready to play, that he hasn't shown anything in the minutes he has been given, doesn't deserve more playing time, that he's too tired, that he's going through alot of changes in his life, he hasn't practiced enough with the team, etc.

Other close observers totally disagree. They look at each of his plays closely (as documented in the 'Detailed Yao Analysis" section for each game on YaoMingMania.com), and how his teammates are not passing Yao the ball. They would also point out all the great statements from respected basketball minds about Yao (like in the "What they are saying section" below), and ask if all these experts can be wrong. They also believe that Rudy is being too cautious, and perhaps does not exert enough authority over his top stars (Francis and Mobley) to get them to pass Yao the ball.

One of the side effects of Rudy getting Yao is that he now has a player who has entered the league with perhaps the most anticipation than anyone else has endured in the history of the NBA. And with the kind of talent now in Rudy's stable comes 'bright lights' and heat if he doesn't handle the situation intelligently. Like it or not, Rudy cannot really treat Yao like any other rookie because Rudy himself has built Yao up through glowing statements over the past several months (see the "What they are saying" section--"More quotes"). Simply put, Rudy needs to play Yao for more minutes, and use him more effectively because everyone is watching, including Rockets owner Les Alexander--who is expecting seats in Compaq Center to be filled. Heck, even road teams are expecting Yao to play more--as evidenced by teams like the Golden State Warriors who have a Yao ticket package.

We love Rudy and will never forget the fact he helped bring Houston its first two major championships. However, we need to point out that if Rudy doesn't handle this situation carefully, he could lose alot of credibility and pent-up excitement among the fans, and we all know what happens when that occurs.

We're not saying Rudy needs to play Yao simply because of non-basketball pressures. Offensively, Yao brings height, rebounding, a nice shooting touch, the ability to pass over the defense, and perhaps most importantly for now--the ability to draw double-teams, which will make things easier for every Rocket.

We close this summary with this: Whether you think Yao is all hype or the 'real deal,' we believe it's important to cite what was said Thursday night on "Inside the NBA" on TNT by two former Rockets--Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith--who are knowledgeable about basketball, know the Rockets well, and are not afraid to speak their mind about the current problems they see with the Rockets.

Sir Charles:
"Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley--they shoot the ball way too much. I don't want my point guard averaging over 30 points a game. They are both very talented players, but they never get him involved in the offense. They never give him the ball in good situations. Yeah, he's going to struggle--they've got to do a much better job of getting him involved in the game...The point guard is the most important position on the basketball team.

"We said it the first night, I think Yao Ming is going to struggle, but he's only going to struggle because Steve and Cuttino won't give him the ball more."

Kenny:
"They have probably from 1 through 9 or 10 (players) --they have a very deep basketball team, but they said they were going to do a motion offense. It's really going back to the same things that they've been doing before. One guy has the ball, they isolate him, and he goes to the basket and he makes things happen. So the motion offense to get everyone involved really hasn't come about."


as of 11/5/02
Earth to Rudy T. -- you needed an inside presence Tuesday against the Sonics at Compaq Center, and your best chance of having one sat on the bench most of the game.

Houston couldn't keep up with the sizzling Sonics in the 3rd quarter, and like last year the Rockets turned into a jump shooting team. Although they were hot in the first half, the odds finally caught up with them in the critical third. Since they opted not to use their big center down low to grab rebounds from misfiring jump shooters and to help create more floor spacing for open shots, the Sonics played the perimeter close and kept Houston's shooters at bay.

By the time Yao checked into the game again in the fourth quarter, it was too late--the damage had been done with the Rockets trailing 78-62. Since Yao wasn't going to get the ball in Houston's typically unbalanced offense, he was able to contribute a little bit by setting some nice screens, but it meant his teammates were still resorting to jacking up jumpers. Francis, Mobley and Moochie made a late run with more individual play, but the Rockets never threatened to take the lead, and lost 104-97. Yao didn't score, and had 3 rebounds in 15 minutes of action.

We probably just have to be patient until Rudy reviews some videotape and realizes he needs to create an offense similar to one that got him two championships and which has done well for the Lakers the past three years, which is the following: cultivate a potentially dominating center (a la Hakeem) that can draw double-teams to open up opportunities for athletic teammates and accurate shooters (when they are open).

The other requirement is that Yao not only needs to play more minutes (it couldn't hurt), but to tell him that he needs to shoot more and that his teammates need to pass him the ball. Yao only took two shots the entire game, which is indicative of his unselfishness. You may remember how Yao went 21-for-21 in a game in China. We don't care if you're playing a YMCA team--you've got to be somewhat accurate with those kind of stats. We've also watched Yao in warmups, and the guy has solid shooting skills.

Although there aren't as many highlights as Saturday night against the Raptors, read our Yao analysis below to see how he fared against the Sonics.

Detailed Yao analysis

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1st quarter
1:40 Yao checks in and replaces Kelvin Cato.
2nd quarter
10:58 Gary Payton crosses through the lane looking like he's going to shoot a sweeping hook shot, as one would expect from him, but Yao is between Payton and the basket and moves laterally to his left well enough to make Payton not even think about shooting it over Yao. Payton passes it off and the ball is deflected out of bounds by a Rocket. Yao's presence in the lane won't be recognized in the stat sheet, but it's just as good as a block.
10:49 7'1" Sonic center Jerome James gets the ball about 10 feet from the basket from the right side angle. Yao is guarding him one-on-one. James makes a few quick moves in the pivot, and jumps straight up and shoots a perfect shot over Yao (depicted in photo above).
8:22 Yao shoots a fadeaway jumper from the left side and misses.
8:08 James enters the middle of the lane with Yao waiting between himself and the basket, goes up high over Yao's outstretched arm, is fouled and scores the basket on a high rainbow shot. James is turning in quite an impressive performance thus far. Wasn't he a project last year?
7:00 Mobley shoots a jumper that bounces off the rim and high off the glass. Yao is there to pick up the rebound and goes up for a slam dunk, but misses the dunk. Slow motion replay shows Yao might have misjudged the dunk, or he was blocked from underneath by Jerome James, who put his hand just off the rim with the hope of touching it on the way down on Yao's dunk attempt. If he did, it worked.
4th quarter
12:00 Yao checks into the game at the beginning of the 4th quarter, but his teammates keep shooting jump shots for 2 or 3 possessions.
10:18 Finally, the Rockets give Yao the ball in the post, who delivers a perfect pass to a cutting Glen Rice, who fumbles it.
9:47 After a wild sequence on the Rockets end where the ball changed hands several times, Yao gets the ball in the post, but Desmond Mason is able to knock it away. This is one of those plays where Yao's height is a disadvantage since there's a longer distance between his dribbling hand and the floor compared to other players. This wide gap makes it a bit easier for defenders to swipe the ball away as it's being dribbled. Yao will probably need to minimize his dribbling when defenses collapse on him.
4:43 With the Rockets trailing 95-79, Yao checks out of the game as his team tries to catch up with more jump shooters in the game. Total time played for Yao: 15 minutes.



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