first of all you were trying to compare a 6'10 to a 7'6 and still not put in any negative aspects with the height difference, the other thing is why am i comparing yao to shaq? dont compare yao to shaq because shaq is obviously the legend that he is and their game play is totally different in styles, if this were 10 years ago i would say the same thing both ways. What is debatable is howard vs yao and as ive said again don't compare yao with playing like howard because they have completely different playing styles. if you want great stats and set new records just play the toronto craptors
no negative aspects? you're trying to give Yao a free gimme by saying height dictates athleticism, like there's some sort of distribution between height and athleticism... I've never made any negative comments bout Yao's injuries because yes, I do realize that a big man will have injuries... but saying Yao should be excluded from criticism based on his lack of athletic ability because he's 7'6 is stupid... it's like saying a 4'10 should be faster, stronger and jump higher relative to LBJ at 6'9... by your argument you're saying LBJ basically destroyed the bell curve... as he's bigger, stronger, faster than 6'5 Kyle Korver... It is also completely bias to argue that we can't compare players via playstyle... what else would u like to compare? stats? Howard wins, PER? Howard wins... playstyle encompasses skill, technique, mentality AND ATHLETIC ATTRIBUTE... but yet, here I am trying to prove something w/o being allowed to present any evidence because it's invalid... and seriously... i'm not making a general comparison of Yao to Shaq, i'm trying to emphasize the lack of Yao's inability to close out games like Shaq used to do, or all the best players in their respective positions currently in the league are able to do... I used Shaq, because he was the most recent center at the epitome of "I'm gonna shut ur ass down and you can't do nething to stop me..." for some reason I'm also unable to make this argument because either A. Shaq's not a center apparently... or B. apparently Yao's playstyle deserves another free gimme saying that he shouldn't need to close out games... wtf... Yao is not a dominant center, he doesn't carry his team like Howard, he's not even the leader of his own team... but yet he's the best center?
as i keep saying yao was or didn't need to be the dominate player in his team because tmac was supposed to be the one to finish off games but if you say it that way he can and he has last season and this but he doesn't need to at the moment, especially when he gets tripled teamed all the time he always creates an open look for the team. Now for howard if i compared him to shaq it would be no competition either, he may seem dominate simply because he dunks but he is nowhere near what shaq was nor does he pack enough to bully everyone around, and as for a height difference you tell me a 7'6 vs 6'10 who would be slower and less athletic? i remember reading about yao and his height and they said something about it being abnormal as a person of that height isn't made to play sports, hence more injuries but what he lacks is made up with skills. 18-7 without tmac , i would think yao would have a big impact even though he cant finish 4th as you would say.
forget last season or the seasons b4 w/ Tmac cuz honestly that doesn't matter right now does it? the point is Yao SHOULD be able to close out games... especially now since TMac obviously can't... if Yao gets triple teamed in the 4th he should throw the ball out to one of his shooters, not get it stripped or forcing it up as he's been doing so far... Howard deals with doubles teams just about every other night, sometimes triple teams just like Yao, Howard kicks it out to his shooters, doesn't get stripped as much and has the OPTION of being able to power it in... of course I'm not saying Howard is a superior assist man cuz he's not, Yao is clearly the better passer, but Howard has more options open to him based on skill set... Howard is no where near Shaq in prime level i whole heartedly agree, I'm not even gonna try to make that comparison as it's pointless... but Howard does have the same mentality and is pretty much playing better than Shaq did in his younger days in Orlando... he's carrying the team on his back and winning games... Yao can't say that can he? Sure Yao is incredibly valuable to the Rockets, but if the Magic lost Howard, they're lottery bound for sure... I never said that a 7'6 man SHOULD be or HAD to be as athletic as a 6'10... I simply stated that Yao doesn't have athleticism... which is FACT... and that this lack of athleticism had to be made up by his height... and that if he wasn't 7'6 his current skill set alone + his current athleticism rate in a 6'10 body would never allow him to be competitive player in the NBA... I don't see what's so hard to digest about that... Should this inadequecy go against Yao? YES!... why? cuz he plays less minutes, hurting his team in need of a competent big man, and he's limited to a very minimum skill set and therefore can't execute anything more advanced than the high pick n roll... Injuries is a factor, but that shouldn't be accounted for because that doesn't effect his on court play so I elect to leave that out... but everything else DOES effect his on court play... the reason why the Rockets are doing so well w/o TMac is because TMac was lagging behind this year and completely not ready to play... he was slow, sluggish, stood around the court watching the ball, etc... This year they have TWO incredible wing defenders in Artest and Battier as proven against Cleveland, and they have VonWafer, Brooks and Scola absolutely stepping up their games... their current form as of late is more on the rest of the team than on Yao... Yao is good, but he's not going to improve anymore if he doesn't take care of his weaknesses like turnovers, or his stamina... Yao has a fully developed offensive barrage of hooks and jumpshots even w/o overpowering moves... so his offensive skills are probably at it's peak unless he does develop power moves... defensively... hey... he's a 7'6 wall... i mean meh... lol what else can you say? besides... in all honesty... I argue Duncan's a center... and I think Duncan is the best center in the league... but that's a different argument
im going to make this short, first paragraph he does that , no yao no win regardless if tmac was there.
that why the Rockets went on to win another 10more games last year after Yao was shelved last season? 2007-08 GamesRecord PPG RPG APG Shot % Yao without McGrady 15 8-7 22.5 10.6 2.6 20.5 Yao with McGrady 29 17-12 22.4 11.1 2.3 18.7 this was last year m8... it proves two things, one the Rockets w/ TMac(when he's decently healthy) don't need Yao to be a decent team, granted not a playoff team since the west is stacked... and two, the Rockets wouldn't hurt as much missing Yao because they have good front court players in Scola/Landry/Mutumbo, and if it wasn't for Brooks/VonWafer/Artest stepping up, losing TMac now would have doomed them... as last year, it was clear that they didn't have the back court presence they have now... *ugh... i can't move those numbers correctly... =/ ** o and i just realized, those were the numbers up till Jan 31 2008...
yea and what does it show this year without mcgrady? tmac logged in 22 wins with and without yao because of that 22 win streak, i call that riding the momentum because if tmac was out instead of yao i bet they would of still won another handful of games either way. They would of had a chance in the playoffs if yao wasnt injured and this year i think they are going to the second round regardless of tmac.
TMac was dogged with an injured knee this entire year, every time he comes back its not at 100% or hell even 50%... the guy was supposed to be out 3weeks, he came back in a week cuz Yao and Artest both went down at the same time... This year they're getting to the 2nd round because the team as a whole is better, not simply because Yao is back on the court...
simply because he demends alot of attention from the opposite team, (double/triple team swing ball out) he doesnt need to score to be effective. And now you are telling me its a team game.
yao = unclutch don't argue with ang when talking about yao...he doesn't reason -lol oh yea shaq > lakers without nash! he's legendary!
not being clutch doesn't make you less of an impact player, not everyone in the league is clutch like lebron or kobe
Yao reminds me more of Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Tall and lanky. Not big and powerful like Shaq.With his slim build and soft touch he should of developed a signature by now. Like Kareem's skyhook (greatest shot in history).In saying that I think that the offense in Houston doesn't allow him to be the focal point of the tems. Rather he is sharing it with Tracy McGrady. McGrady should do what Magic Johnson does and allow Yao to be the focal point of the offence. Let's face it he is the only 7'6" guy in the legaue. If Yao worked harder in fighting for positioning he can get very high percentage shots every time, rather than having to use his fade away (no need for that when you're the tallest). As far as his conditioning goes that is the role of the coach as to what tempo they should be playing at. Rather than the high tempo games of D'Antonio they should be going for half court game slow tempo and grinding teams down. With Yao lack of athleticism high tempo games doesn't suit his injury prone body.
LOL best quote all thread!!!! Nah seriously .. if he is scoring and rebounding .. there's no need to dunk.
i think his problem is he not a demanding type, i think he try to fit in and dunking the ball is rude in chinese culture,
Did you guys read the article on how Yao Ming can bring the Rockets out of first round play-offs? They said he has to show his team that he wants the ball. etc etc. They said he acts totally different then when playing on his China Team. Ill try to find that article and post it
