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Yao vs. Timberwolves - 12/21/02

Yao blocks a shot of Marc Jackson's in Minnesota Friday night. The Rockets lost to the Timberwolves 98-86.

The game against the Timberwolves was almost a carbon copy of the previous night's game against Atlanta. The Rockets fell behind in the first quarter and trailed at the half (by 11 points Friday night, 8 points Saturday night). And the Rockets made runs in the third quarters of both games to take the lead. But against the T-Wolves, they went the opposite direction of the "team concept" in the fourth quarter we had seen against the Hawks and had hoped would stick. By jacking up stupid shots that didn't entail any passing or even someone positioned well under the basket who could get a rebound, the Rockets shot themselves out of the game. As a result, the 4th quarter was a microcosm of the entire season last year. I guess bad habits are hard to break.

How can a team forget so quickly what had worked for them the previous night? Is it just ego that makes you believe you can hit any shot? Why can't this be fixed? Is fatigue a big factor in making humans bodies' do things the brain says shouldn't be attempted? Is it coaching, or undisciplined players? The physical talent seems to be there, but the neurons don't seem to be firing correctly when it comes to making the right decisions in clutch periods.

You would see even more serious ripping of the Rockets in this column if it weren't for a few Rudy T. quotes I read that acknowledged the problem, such as, "We took a couple early, early long shots that just were unnecessary in this situation. I don't mind it after penetration when there is a rhythm to it. We've got to get better in those areas." His frustration is evident, but how about calling a timeout to get things back on track before it's too late?

Even Steve Francis was frustrated: "You use your energy getting back in the game and it was our execution down the stretch that resulted in us losing. Guys just dribbled up and pulled up and took shots, and that hurt us. Last night, we drove and kicked, and we were able to come back. Tonight we came back, and just couldn't get over the hump."

So who are the guys they are talking about? I'll go ahead and name them if you didn't see the game.

Down 73-78, Mobley attempted a three with 13 seconds on the shot clock
Down 80-88, Mobley holds onto the ball for about 7 seconds and attempts a three
Down 82-92, Maurice Taylor shoots near the 3-point line, well outside of his range, with 9 seconds on the shot clock
Down 82-92 on a fast break, Rice attempts a trey with 19 seconds on the shot clock

For the record, I think all of these players could help take Houston to great heights, but there comes a time when the higher percentage shots need to be taken, namely by like giving the ball to Yao (more on that in a moment).

On the bright side, Mo Taylor seems to be getting his form back. On Friday night he looked good against the Hawks by shooting 3-for-6 from the field. On Saturday he kept the Rockets close in the fourth quarter by hitting 3 straight shots leading up to the shot described above, and finished with a respectable 5-for-8 from the floor with 11 points.

The Yao report

Yao had 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting (4-for-4 from the line), 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Can someone tell me why the Rockets sometimes forget they have a dominant player (who everybody is now raving about) but don't utilize to the max? Yao took one shot in the first quarter (the quarter where they fell behind), and no shots in the 4th quarter (the one where they needed him most). Yao may be a nice guy who might not be taking shots out of consideration to keeping his teammates involved, but Rudy needs to either tell Yao to take more shots or tell his teammates to get him the ball where he can take shots. Some games it seems to happen, other games it doesn't. Why it isn't all the time, we can't figure out.

Even Mychal Thompson, the Minnesota color analyst, was asking the same thing when Mobley jacked up an inopportune trey: "Oh, that's crazy. I don't understand this. You got Yao Ming on the court. It's like having Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the court and you don't go to him. He may not be as good as Kareem yet, but my goodness…"

He's ready to be The Guy

We did some analysis and discovered the Rockets are 4-1 when Yao shoots the ball at least 10 times a game and has 6 or more free throw attempts (equivalent to three field goal attempts where he's fouled). The lone loss in this statistic was against the Mavericks, a team playing in a different stratosphere this season. Any other team than the Mavs, and they would be 5-0. Given those numbers, why doesn't that drive the game plan every night?

Any talk about Yao being a rookie and needing a few more years to take this team deep in the playoffs is bunk. The Rockets should realize that Yao is so special, the sky is the limit THIS season. Yao has the capability to do the same thing Magic Johnson did his rookie season to lead his team to the NBA Finals. Any talk about doing that "in a few years" is not the mindset you want in trying to maximize a player's talents today. When Magic won the championship back in his rookie season, were people saying, "Don't give him the ball so much. He's not ready." Of course not. We believe if the Rockets don't make Yao shoot at least 10 field goals and 6 free throws a game, the Rockets won't maximize their potential.

So any excuses about how tough back-to-back games are, how the Rockets got into Minnesota at 2:00 a.m. and might have been tired, etc., are self-fulfilling prophecies that would limit their ability to win it all. This Rocket team can be the Anaheim Angels of basketball this year and shock the world if they shoot for the loftiest of goals AND BELIEVE. Hell, even Pacer coach Isiah Thomas said he believes the Rockets could make the Finals this year.

To get there, they need to take on a Tiger Woods-like mentality where they develop the discipline to execute in the final round (or fourth quarter in basketball terms). The guy who can help them do that is a similarly incredible athlete who is as fundamentally sound, 'automatic,' and brilliant as they come on a basketball court. If Yao-fans, Rocket fans or the Rockets ever doubt they can win it all by putting this team on Yao's back, they just need to ask themselves the following question, "If Magic was capable of doing it, why not Yao?"

Detailed Yao Analysis

1st quarter - Yao starts the game and loses the tip to Garnett.
10:42	Assist	From his favorite spot on the left side outside the paint, Yao dribbles towards the elbow of the lane, goes up for a jump shot, BUT NO! Instead he zips a pass toward the baseline underneath the basket, and Eddie Griffin is there to meet it under the hoop for a layup. This play reminds me of a timing pattern between Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. It's also a pleasant surprise since it shows Yao is getting more comfortable with his teammates and executing very difficult plays from the playbook.
3:59	Assist	From his favorite spot on the left side, Yao has his back to the basket. He then throws a beautiful one-handed bullet pass over his head to Glen Rice, who is standing on the opposite edge of the free throw line along the baseline, and Rice puts it in for the deuce! Incredible pass by Yao!
3:05		Yao checks out of the game for Kelvin Cato. It was a quiet quarter for Yao, who only took one shot, had no rebounds or blocks. He does have two assists, though. The Rockets are trailing 14-26.
2nd quarter - The Rockets trail 20-30 after the first quarter. Coincidentally, they trailed 20-28 after the first quarter against Atlanta last night.
7:48		Yao checks back into the game. The Rockets are struggling big time, and are down 26-42. They need his offense. Immediately he is given the ball near the middle of the paint, and guarded by only one man, shoots a hook shot with the right hand, but it's short. However, Yao has such great touch, the ball rolls around the top of the rim and goes in!
6:40		Steve Francis and Yao are running down the court together on a 2-on-3 fast break. Steve is on the wing and passes to Yao high in the chest, but Yao is unable to hold onto the ball before his certain fantatic dunk. This is rare for Yao to lose the ball, but part of the problem may have been a result of Steve passing the ball high and so close to Yao. But nothing against Steve--Yao has the dexterity to bring that pass in usually.
6:23		Steve has the ball on a semi-fastbreak on the right wing, and dribbles behind his back to get by his man and into the lane. He dishes to the trailing Yao, who has great position underneath the basket. Yao goes up for a quick layup, but T-wolve Joe Smith times it perfectly and blocks Yao's shot! Another rarity! But Joe can block shots like this. Yao is 1-for-4 from the field. The Rockets trail 28-44.
5:13		Mo Taylor has the ball about two feet inside the 3-point line to the right of the basket. Yao cuts into the lane from the free throw line, and Mo delivers a perfect pass to Yao in the middle of the lane. Yao stops underneath the basket, pump fakes, then shoots a little bank shot for the score! We have missed that from Mo. We remember earlier this season, Mo and Yao seemed to have a pretty good connection, and it's now coming back! The Rockets trail 32-46. Yao is now 2-for-5 from the field with four points.
2:34		The T-Wolves' Nesterovic drives the edge of the lane with a running jump shot on Yao, BUT YAO TIMES IT PERFECTLY FOR THE REJECTION!! He also blocks it well enough that the ball comes down to Yao, and he gathers it in to start the Rocket fast break. Francis comes down and shoots a perfect jumper for the score! But as Yao was crashing the boards, this guy who Yao just rejected threw his arm up high enough on the block-out to hit Yao in the throat! Dirty player! That was intentional--no player would unintentionally flail their arm up to the height of Yao's throat (about 7-feet high) to block someone out unless they wanted to hurt the other guy. He obviously wanted to get back at Yao for making him look bad on the rejection a few seconds earlier.
:05		From out high, Moochie shakes-and-bakes and drives down the left side of the free throw line and puts up a shot high off the glass, but Yao crashes the boards and has great position again. Moochie's shot misses and comes off the front of the iron, BUT YAO GRABS IT WITH BOTH HANDS AND THUNDERS IT DOWN!! And the way Yao slams it is so impressive! He does it with such SNAP! It makes it look even more forceful! The Rockets went on a 15-8 run to close the gap to 8 points at halftime. Yao is now 3-for-6 from the field with 6 points.
3rd quarter - The Rockets trail 45-53 at the start of the 2nd half.
10:40		Guarded by Rasho Nesterovic on the left edge of the paint, Yao picks up his dribble, makes a jump step around Nesterovic, and extends his left arm to throw in a little jump hook for the score! Yao just whipped around him, and the Rockets bench claps their hands in appreciation of Yao closing the gap to 47-53.
5:21	Free Throws	From his favorite soft on the left side, Yao quickly spins baseline and drives to the bucket and goes underneath the rim for a reverse layup, but he's hammered by Nesterovic. Yao will shoot free throws. Yao kind of got away with a little left-arm hook, but maybe this is a make-up call for the "no call" in the last quarter when Nesterovic hit him in the throat. Yao hits both free throws, and has 8 points.
3:13	Free Throws	On a fast break, Francis gets it on the wing and dishes it to Yao, who is the trailer on the break. Yao goes up for a monster one-handed jam and manages to get his hand on the rim, the fall pops out of the bucket, and he's fouled! Even though he missed the shot, it still looked spectacular! However, Yao falls to the floor hard and lands on his elbow. This is probably the hardest he has hit the floor in his NBA career thus far. Hopefully he'll be okay. Yao makes the both free throws, and is 4-for-4 from the line and has 10 points. The Rockets finally take the lead for the first time this evening after going on a 16-5 run in the last 4:00 minutes.
2:50		Marc Jackson gets the ball outside the paint and drives the lane, but Yao is there every step of the way and blocks him at the rim!
:56.7		Marc Jackson again gets the ball next to the bucket on a dish from the baseline, and both Yao and Eddie Griffin go up for the beautiful block! Both of them seem to get it, but Yao is credited for it. Ain't no way Jackson is gettin' any action around here!
:49.5		Yao checks out of the game for Cato. The Rockets trail 69-72. Yao is 4-for-9 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line for 12 points. In a controversial call at the end of the 3rd quarter, Glen Rice hits a three-pointer with no time left. At first the refs counted it (which was the right call), but then they reviewed the replay and said it didn't count because the red light went off. The problem we have with that call, even with the replay, is that the red light went off 1/10th of a second before the clock expired. We looked at the replay multiple times, and Rice definitely got the shot off before the clock expired. Get your act together, timekeepers! Which one is right--the clock or the light? Your clock should be calibrated exactly with the light! Instead of being a two-point deficit, it's still five points. This call better not make a difference in the outcome of the game.
4th quarter
7:26		Yao checks back in for Cato. The Rockets trail 80-86. Maurice Taylor has kept the Rockets in the game by scoring 7 points. Looks like Mo may be back! Incredibly, Yao doesn't get to take a shot the rest of the way and the rest of the Rockets start taking pretty dumb jump shots, and the Rockets go on to lose 98-86.

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