I feel like alot of people are picking DH bc of how the nba is now, the elite Centers are far gone, as alot of teams play smaller ball. The game has evolved alot since when Yao fist came into the nba. Who would I want on my team right now? I would still pick Yao, but that MIGHT be an argument. Whose the better basketball player? That's easy, no argument, Yao any freakin day.
And if your looking at who would you want on your team now, you would have to factor in that DH is a b***ch. has a looser mentality, and is a cancer. When things are goin good, he's fine, if there's some bumps in the road, you don't want him on your team. Yao on the other hand, no need to elaborate
I disagree. The Rockets couldn't build an offense around Yao because Carroll Dawson was a bad GM. I loved him as a coach. Still love him as a trainer, but as a GM he was bad. There's no way around it. We saw a glimpse, even if it's a small glimpse, at what the Rockets offense could've been in Yao's final (almost) healthy year. Despite T-Mac quitting in the middle of the season, the Rockets finished 14th on offense that year. With 2nd year Scola, Landry, Brooks, newly traded Lowry, Battier, and Artest. That was the first year in Yao's entire career that he had proper spacing to operate. By that time he was already a shell of his former self, but the team still performed well offensively because they were able to at least somewhat space the floor.
I suppose with all things equal you go with Yao from a pure skill standpoint. Plus, Yao would be an absolute terror in today's NBA with less true centers and more small ball being played. But as others have already mentioned: the idea of a "healthy Yao" is a difficult thought for most of us to process, whereas Dwight's durability was never even remotely a factor in seven years before last year. I'll abstain.
14th in offense. And that was our best finish in the "Yao era". The Rockets have been better than that each of the last 3 seasons, without a real post-up option. We were 4th in offense a couple years ago with Chuck Hayes as our starting center. There's a reason the Rockets aren't really emphasizing post play any more.
Yao was as good of a post defender as there has been in the last decade and that includes D12. Yao's weekness was when he was drawn out on the floor. Yao's offense was much much better than D12s. Are you really going to point out that D12 has been to an NBA finals without ignoring the fact that he did it from the East. The Rockets probably have a couple of appearances in the NBA finals during the Yao / TMac years if they were an eastern Conferance team.
If you're arguing about "actual" Yao, then you'll find no disagreement from me. I agree that by 2009, Yao was already a shell of his former self and was nowhere near Dwight's level. I was speaking of Yao's peak, but then again, maybe I misunderstood the OP.
the newcomers need to brush up with their rockets history, Yao has been phenomenal when healthy for the Rockets, too bad we surrounded him with the likes of Weatherspoon, washed up Vin Baker, Maciej Lampe, Jake Tsakalidis, Juwan Howard, Tyronne Lue, Glenn Rice, Jim Jackson, Mo Taylor, Kelvin Cato to name a few, those were the years, legit top 5 player and a bunch of scrubs
Ride or die chick for Yao Ming (healthy or injured) as a basketball player, humanitarian/statesman, and person. Yao consistently improved on his shortcomings and weaknesses on the court, while Howard has more or less relied heavily on his athleticism. Moreover, Yao was becoming a wizard in the post by season 4 or 5, while Princess Howard is still a neophyte when it comes to post offense. Dwight has the edge in versatile and rotating defense along with rebounding, but Yao is nearly heads and shoulder better in post offense, one-on-one scoring, offensive versatility, free throw shooting (LOL, I used to love watching stupid teams foul him at the end of the games), 4th quarter scoring, man-to-man defense in the post against stronger centers, passing, court vision, and far and away better teammate.
Yao all day every day. I think his prime was really short, but his prime was better than the much longer prime of Howard.
This hurts . I was having a good day til I watched those videos. ****! Daryl Morey could find role players all day, but could never get the elusive superstar (til this season). CD got bad, got Yao, attracted T-Mac, but could never properly build around them (plus health problems).
Yao and is not even close. Defensively you could argue Dwight has more block shots but Yao on defense will make penetrator think twice before attacking the basket. Yao is the better 1-on-1 post defender just because he's bigger than Howard. Yao will get kill if you move him out the post though ex: Okur (stretch 5) Howard imo is bad on 1-on-1 D because he has poor foot work but makes up for it with athleticism and he's got good feel where the rebound will go. Offensively well... Yao calls for double team every single night. Dwight only has a spin move, a baby hook and his dunks. So yeah imo prime Yao > prime Howard
damn that makes me so sad.. Yao really was so much better than Dhoward at his prime.. I really think DH is the most overrated center of all time..
if they're playing 1-1 post yao hands down. dwight has what one or two moves if you can call them that in the post. no skyhook and no jumper makes him an offensive weakness in the post against yao.
We probably would not run as much if we had Yao. Anyway, when they push in transition before the defense is set, they don't need to wait for the center to run up court. I've always felt that had Adelman had more time with a healthy prime Yao, he would have installed an efficient offense around him. Too bad by the time he got the offensive system down and had the right role players, Yao was already too injury prone.
Yao was a bad individual matchup for Howard, but that doesn't really mean that he was more effecitve overall. THere were guys who gave Yao lots of trouble early in his career at times due to their activity level (Zaza, Najera), athleticism (the occasional posterization by Stromile Swift) and the Okur-Boozer combo which limited his effectiveness on both ends at times.
