The Houston Rockets are most likely set to make the playoffs this year, but they have so far failed to tap the potential of their center big man: Yao Ming.
It has been a very frustrating season for Yao and fans, as they watch game after game in which the rest of the Rockets, (with the exception of Tracy McGrady at times), fail to properly pass Yao the ball. Most often Yao’s teammates pass the ball below the waist to a center who is more than seven feet tall! How exactly is Yao going to bend down, pick up a ball and rotate to get position, and let alone get a good shot in? This is one reason why Yao is having so much trouble scoring and then there are the occasional fouls that he picks up trying to maintain possession with such bad passes.
Critics end up blaming Yao for not being aggressive enough or for committing a stupid foul, but they miss the most obvious problem with the NBA game, namely that guards don’t know how to properly pass to a tall center. One can’t help but wonder if the Suns success this year is due in part, to Nash being one of the few guards who actually does feed his center the right passes, and who does create actual plays for Amare to have an open lane to the basket. Think about how crowded the lane is when Yao actually gets the ball, is that really the time for Yao to shoot? I don’t think so. The Rockets would do better to spread the game out and aim the passes at his chest or higher when he has room. This is not impossible, it just means the Rockets need to commit to this and make Yao practice his moves. By comparison, take Kevin Garnet and Tim Duncan, part of their success is getting the ball passed up high and practicing their pump fakes and shots. Yao is already a good mid range shooter, he just needs a little more practice with his fakes and foot work. But he will need his teammates to make the proper passes. So far this has not been happening, instead Yao is expected to be Shaq-like and dominate his man each and every time. This would make the game harder for any center except Shaq, but then again, in last year’s finals, the passes never came for him either! And that could be why the Lakers lost so easily to the Pistons.