After Yao Ming got on the court, he didn't push himself too hard. He opened up the offense to catch passes or make transfers, and he was quite effective.
But with him playing this way, it was enough to use Millsap or Hill to defend him. His cuts were slow, and even if he powered through to drive to the basket, the Bobcats' interior defense could cover in time. His presence was felt, but definitely not as much as in the first quarter.
Seeing Zhang Yang become lively again after resting for half a quarter, Yao Ming still felt fatigued... Skiles regretted deeply. If only he hadn't thought about using the "little giant" to force "the bad boy" to continue his one-on-one during the first quarter's official timeout.
However, Skiles's frustration was only because the situation in the latter part of the first quarter wasn't as expected, as well as because the team couldn't maintain their dominance after the second quarter's official timeout.
