Bill Simmon's take on Houston

Here's an excerpt from Bill Simmon's latest Page 2 article which discusses some issues with Houston. He talks about how Houston's offense doesn't utilize Yao's skills effectively, and that he'd be surprised if Yao was still in Houston 3 years from now. I've been fairly critical of Yao this season, but to be fair I think some of the blame does have to go to the players we've put around him and the offense we run. Yao isn't the kind of player (at least not yet) that can just fight for lost-post position and you dump the ball into him every time like Shaq. He doesn't have the hands or the strength to play that sort of game effectively. Those who followed Yao his rookie season know he has excellent passing skills and a good outside touch, but in JVG's offense we very rarely see this. And that's a real shame, in my opinion. JVG wants Yao to play like Shaq, when he's more like a Sabonis.

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<font size="3">HOUSTON</font>

The Clips lost this one in OT, thanks to a bogus foul call on Bobby Simmons on the final possession of regulation. The Rockets cleared out for T-Mac (an ugly 8-for-23), he drove left into Bobby's shoulder, then hopped backwards for an ugly jumper ... and the refs called the foul on Bobby. This play tells you everything you would ever want know about the Clippers -- they don't get an obvious non-call at home on a deciding play.


I spent most of the game bemoaning the demise of Yao Ming, who played 30 minutes, notched 10 points and 8 rebounds, turned the ball over six times and ended up fouling out. It's not like Yao was going against Hakeem in his prime here -- the Clips checked him with Chris Wilcox (young power forward playing out of position), Zeljko Rebraca (brittle foreigner with no discernible skills) and Mikki Moore (six teams in the last four years). So what happened to this guy? Wasn't he supposed to become the Chinese Bill Walton?


On "NBA Fast Break" last week, Legler, Anthony and Stephen A. discussed Yao's relative funk -- statistically, he isn't any better than last season, which makes no sense -- and collectively decided that Yao wasn't aggressive enough to become a dominant center. Stephen A. also pointed the finger at Jeff Van Gundy, staring into the camera like an assassin, then screaming, "JEFF VAN GUNDY DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO COACH OFFENSE!" And yes, both of those points are part of the problem. During that Clippers game, the Rockets pounded the ball down low like Yao was Zydrunas Ilguaskas, only he's not that type of player -- shove him around and he'll eventually settle for fall-aways and jump hooks. Which he did. I'm not sure how having a 7-foot-6 guy falling away from the basket helps anybody except the other team.


Still, I blame the Rockets for surrounding him with the wrong players. In three seasons, they haven't had a single point who could throw Yao an entry pass, plus they haven't had a single shooter who could consistently make threes (and prevent teams from collapsing on Yao). This current team features the worst point guards in the league (although Bobby Sura just came back); three undersized rebounders (none of whom would ever be confused with Maurice Lucas); and only one reliable shooter (T-Mac, who thrives with one-on-one stuff). I like T-Mac, but he isn't a sophisticated enough offensive player to play with someone like Yao. None of these guys are. It's a shame. It's like watching one of the guys from Phish playing in Ashlee Simpson's band.


In a perfect world, Yao would be playing on the high post like Walton did, finding cutters (he's an exceptional passer, although you would never know on this team) and draining open 15-footers. Just look at the way Sacramento uses Brad Miller right now. In fact, if you switched Yao with Brad Miller tomorrow, Yao's career would take off and we wouldn't even be having this discussion. I'm just worried that he's starting to get discouraged -- not only is Yao losing confidence, but guys are going out of their way to dunk on him now. In 18 games, he only has 22 blocks and 149 rebounds. The guy is 7-foot-6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After watching Yao's body language during that Clippers game, I would be astounded if he's still playing for the Rockets in three years.


One other Rockets note: I always liked T-Mac ... it's a shame how his game atrophied playing with crummy teammates in Orlando. At 6-foot-8, with his athletic ability, he should have evolved into a cross between Scottie Pippen and Doctor J. But since those Magic teams were so dependent on his scoring, the other parts of his game went to mush -- now he only seems to light up when he's getting a ton of shots, like last week's Dallas game, when he came alive with 48 points (on 36 shots), 9 rebounds and 9 assists in a fantastic shootout with Nowitzki. Van Gundy isn't a moron. Eventually, he will realize that T-Mac's offense gives him the best chance to win every night. Which means Yao will be standing around watching him like everyone else. What a waste.</div>

 

IMO I do believe that Yao will still be a Rocket three years from now. The Rockets have 2 gifted players in Yao and TMac with JJ as a consistent role player. Van Gundy must realize and utilize the talents of the two. Aside from providing Yao and TMac with dependable supporting cast, Van Gundy should design a coaching strategy where the two would flourish. He must realize that it's not the same NY Knicks team that he coached years ago wherein he have lots of players who can provide good defense, hustles and rebounding. I would try to say speed up the game offensively wherein the Rockets won't be predictable. Slow half-court set-ups consumes time and gives ample of time for opposing players to put on a pressure which leads to bad shooting, bad positioning and perhaps turn-overs. How many times the ball has been knocked-out on Yao's hands?

If it means of spending a little bit more over the salary cap to get a good power forward so it be. We had the chance of getting McDyess last summer. Also Mutombo's contract will finally expire after this season though he showed that he's a good back up to Yao. Maybe the Rockets will sign him again if he continues to play good. If only the Rockets could buyout some of the bad contracts they had given or acquired. Let's just hope Carrol Dawson and Van Gundy would learn their lesson from this season. Scouting good players next year particularly the free agents and the draft would help the rebuilding process a lot.

 

The reason Yao turns the ball over alot is because teams collapse on him like no other. They don't even bother with the other players and for a good reason too. None of the Rockets players are reliable, proven, or consistent shooters except maybe Tmac. But even then, he's not a real spot up shooter.

I agree with Simmon's statement about Brad Miller. If Yao is playing for the Kings, they would be SO much better, and Yao's career will go through the roof. Yao is basically a better Brad Miller minus the running game that B.Miller has and I suppose a little worse on defense also.

I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I'm really doubting our coach and our front office in terms of the game system we put in and the players that we acquire... We missed out on so many SG/PG FAs last year and even though we got Sura, we had to settle for Charlie Ward and Tyronne Lue for a while...

 

Well no matter what, we would be stuck withLUe due to the T-Mac trade, but there were so many players we could've got before ward. Fisher, Mike James, Damon Jones. All this was discussed in this very forum before the season started.

 

Damon Jones would have been the bomb

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">IMO I do believe that Yao will still be a Rocket three years from now. The Rockets have 2 gifted players in Yao and TMac with JJ as a consistent role player. Van Gundy must realize and utilize the talents of the two. Aside from providing Yao and TMac with dependable supporting cast, Van Gundy should design a coaching strategy where the two would flourish. </div>
I believe Yao will still be a Rocket in three years too, probably because we will sign him with some lucrative contract, so I really have no worries there. Plus, he probably won't be traded since he's almost the face of the team and brought all the asian fans along with him. However, in three years, I don't see Jim Jackson remaining as that much of a consistent player, or even not being on the team entirely. His body won't keep up with his skills for long as with many of our teams players like Mutumbo, Howard (if we still have him then), Weatherspoon (maybe) or Ward (if we still have him). The problem is that Van Gundy is not the greatest offensive strategy maker and probably the most complicated defensive coach. Not many players can pick up on his defense strategies and he isn't utilizing McGrady and Yao correctly. Instead, he's trying to play the team more like Yao and McGrady as a role player and not letting him drive into the lane.