while this Dwightmare thing seemingly not going away soon, I want to remind you, my friend, there was something better than Howard in Houston not long ago: <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mFppQfs75Ro?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> This is just for memory and passing time in summer heat, wither or not Howard is the missing piece for our current team is up for Morey to judge
I don't know, man. I remember that too, but it doesn't mean Yao was as good of a player as Dwight. Dwight is way more impactful on a team's defense than Yao ever was. I'd much rather have Dwight. Yao was just so slow laterally and could be exposed in a 7 game series.
While Yao wasn't likely to win DPOY during his career, there is no denying when until the injuries took him out teams had to game plan around stopping Yao. Had he been on a decent team in the weaker Eastern Conference like Howard, Yao probably would have gotten to the Eastern Conference finals or maybe in the NBA finals at some point. I don't get why people have such a problem admitting for a few years Yao was the best center in the NBA even while Howard was there. Most big men couldn't stop Yao without trying to front him or the refs letting them foul him including Howard and it wasn't until after Yao was sidelined that Howard started to actually improve his offensive game. In the long run Yao is not going to have the better stats but you can't undercut the man's history of being one of the most dominating centers of his era to prop up Howard.
Even after watching just about every game Yao played, It's still kind of surreal seeing such a huge man play with such finesse around the rim. The man was truly talented. There just aren't any skilled post players left in the nba. Scola may be the only one you could consider an effective, go to low post player. Am I missing anyone? I can't think of too many, maybe Gasol i guess.
There was no comparsion between Howard and Yao. Howard had better stats. But the impact on the game was nothing close to Yao, he was a beast when healthy. And destroyed in head to head matchups with Dwight Howard.
I wish Yao never put on muscle and stayed slim. I wish he didn't have to play in China almost every summer. Probably the two reasons for his early demise.
Its laughable Dwight STILL doesn't have a post move to save his life, but I'd still take him over Yao.
I remember that year. Yao added some good numbers on on both games they played each other that year. And the Rockets did swept the Magic that season. You should post the first game they played each other at Orlando.
I rooted for Yao as much as anybody - seriously, he was my favorite player b/c of his awesome attitude, but he was too flawed to not be exposed in a 7 game series. Think of a 7 game series where he dominated every game like Hakeem did? You can't, because he didn't. And it's not because of injuries. It's because he was perhaps the worst pick and roll defender I've seen in my life, and he could be completely neutralized by fronting.
Depends on who plays him. Yao always comes into a series swinging, but we just never had the team to shift our offense away from Yao as a focal point when the other team made adjustments. If we had a decent PF, Yao would've never gotten doubled as much as he did, and fronting would've been much more difficult since we could've fed the elbow and then lob it down low ala Gasol to Bynum/Howard. All in all I'd take Yao over Dwight 11 times out of ten, no question.
Houston DOES NOT NEED Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard CANNOT SHOOT FREE THROWS. Houston DOES NOT NEED a drama queen, prima donna. The team DOES NOT NEED Royce White either. The Rockets should waive him or amnesty him. Houston already has on its roster TERENCE JONES and D. MOTIEJUNAS. They also have Thomas Robinson. Houston would do much better if they develops these players more by giving them more playing time. I respect others who think otherwise--- that Dwight Howard would be the messiah that will bring a championship to Houston. That's their and many others' opinion. Again, to re-iterate my opinion, and this is my opinion -- Dwight Howard is not a TOP TEN player worth being on the Rockets roster. He is nowhere near a shadow of Hakeem Olajuwon. He might have comparisons to a Kevin Willis, but he's not the franchise player the Rockets hope to sign to bring a championship. Dwight Howard is NOT the ANSWER.
Big Al, Zbo, both Gasols, Dirk has gotten pretty good at it, Lebron, Brook Lopez, etc. There are a few. It's just now the league is more guard-oriented.
Al Jefferson used to be a force in the Post but I haven't seen him to say if he is still that good. Both Gasol brothers are good, Brook Lopez has a few moves as well but the reliable big man capable of scoring with his back to the basket seems to be over. Way too many are coming out of college never having developed their offensive game or having concentrated on being more of "stretch" big man that can score from range.
