Free Yao

By Chris Tao

There was so much hype going into the season about how he was leaner, meaner, and more rested than ever before. There was talk about him having an MVP season. 25 and 12 were some of the numbers thrown around. He had new post moves and put them on full display in preseason games. And then the season came around. A 4-12 start. The praise abruptly turned into criticism about how Yao can't do this and Yao can't do that.

It's true that Yao was the scapegoat for what has been the Rockets' poor start. Tracy McGrady has been nursing a jumpy back, but Yao was supposed to take over. Even I bought into that talk about how Yao would take over for McGrady while T-Mac recuperated. It turns out Yao needed McGrady more than ever. The stats are telling – Yao shoots better than 60% from the field when McGrady is on the floor, but only around 40% when he is forced-fed in the post. Yao has been playing much better in the past few days, but he was struggling to carry the load and handle the pressure of bringing the Rockets closer to the title. It was supposed to be Yao and T-Mac together in their run at a ring. But Yao has now been forced to be “the man.” And Yao is slowly learning. There are still haters, but people are starting to see the emotion, force, physicality, and production from Yao – even as he is so heavily scrutinized under the microscope of being Chinese and 7'5”.

One thing that I'd like to see more from Yao is creativity. I haven't seen that from him since his rookie year. He was reckless then. He played with abandon. He knew he was a rookie and he was learning everything he could. But Yao is not your prototypical back-it-down center. He was blessed with laser-like vision and unbelievable coordination skills for someone that large. Coincidentally (or not), Rudy Tomjanovich was Yao's coach back then. He let Yao play all over the floor, shoot threes if he desired, and play point center. As far as I saw, Yao was a great point center. He would stand at the top of the key and pick the opposing defense apart. Remember that flick-of-the-wrist pass to Stevie Franchise? Remember how Yao played magician as the ball just disappeared and wound up in Francis' hands? Remember Yao's Shanghai Shake on Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, Jeff Foster, and everyone else on the Pacers' bench? You don't see much of that anymore.

These days, Yao is playing like Patrick Ewing. In other words, there is no mobility, dexterity, creativity, or innovation. Run down the floor. Post up. Use your post moves (which Yao has). And shoot a fadeaway or lay it off. That's boring for the NBA and that's the main reason why the Rockets are a team in danger of falling out of playoff contention so early in the season. They are misusing Yao. Yao is so much more than your Ewing-mold center. He brings so much more to the table, in the way of artistry, passing, excitement, scoring, and sheer oohs-and-ahhs. Do you remember the last time Ewing inspired that kind of reaction from fans? Yeah, didn't think so.

So Coach Van Gundy, please listen. I implore you to let Yao do his thing. Free him up a little bit. He's much more creative than you think. Instead of letting point guards coming out of the weak side to poke it away while he's posting up, why not just let Yao stand at the top of the key and throw alley oops to Stromile Swift or automatically set a pick for one of the Rockets' capable guards? Let Yao post up whereever he wants. He'll get doubled even if he's 20 feet away from the rim. Have more movement in the offense. Have the guards cut into the lane for easy layups off sweet dimes from Yao. Or Yao could pass to a cutting Swift for a sweet windmill jam. Or even have Yao cut a little bit. Who's going to stop a 7'5” 315-pound behemoth? Be creative. Use Yao to the max. Most of all, just let Yao be himself.