[Nostalgia] Nazr Mohammed ranks Yao as one of the toughest players he's ever guarded

shastarocket · Nov 17, 2015

2C. Yao Ming

Whenever a player comes into the NBA with hype, the rest of the league looks forward to seeing if the guy is for real. All those draft busts throughout the years were created by us. Players who come in with the most hype have to be ready for their opponents to come with their A-game, because everybody wants a piece of them.

When Yao was coming into the NBA, everyone was licking their chops. I was excited to play against him. You get up to play guys like that. I wanted to see if he was as good as he was built up to be. Everything you read about him made him sound almost like a folk hero.

Here you have one of the most fundamentally sound players in the world, and he comes in a 7-foot-6, 300-pound package.

Come on! Yeah, right.

The first time I sat down to watch him play a full game, the Rockets were facing Shaq’s Lakers on Christmas Day. Like a lot of people, I came away from that game thinking, “Damn, this guy can ball.” Guys his size generally just aren’t able to move like he could. There was a certain grace about him despite his size.

The natural defense for someone that big is to double him whenever he gets the ball, but Yao was such a good passer that he’d be able to find the open man as soon as you sent the help. He could literally see over the double teams.

Your best bet was to try to push him as far off the block as you could. But this guy’s lower body strength was just unreal. His legs were like tree trunks — really big tree trunks. Some plays he’d get to the post, plant his roots and then the offense would just run through him. Yao had the skills to play in this league regardless of his height, but it’s to his credit that he utilized his size and skill equally.

He improved more and more as he adjusted to the league’s physicality. He kind of shied away from contact at first, but then he realized exactly how strong he was, which every big guy in the league had hoped would never happen.

Here you have one of the most fundamentally sound players in the world, and he comes in a 7-foot-6, 300-pound package.

Yao’s post game was smooth, man. He’d face you up and hit the jumper, and he was accurate with both hands on hook shots. A great hook shot is the most important weapon in a post player’s arsenal — and once again, this guy was 7-foot-6. Problems.

He didn’t shoot from three — thank God — but you had to keep track of him from the free throw line extended because he could make those shots much more frequently than he missed them.

What made him particularly tough to guard is that you couldn’t force him into his weakness because he liked attacking with both hands. And of course you couldn’t block his shot unless you were behind him and he didn’t see you coming or you were Nate Robinson. Similar to Shaq, he’s a guy who didn’t draw as many fouls as he could have. Being physical was your only defense and his size hurt you as much as you hurt him.

The only thing that stopped Yao from completely dominating were his injuries. If you take those out of the equation, it’s incredible to imagine the kind of legacy he would have left. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to face such a tremendous talent. The hype was so real.
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http://www.theplayerstribune.com/nazr-mohammed-nba-toughest-players-ever-guarded/

bmd · Nov 17, 2015

heypartner · Nov 17, 2015

underrated015 · Nov 17, 2015

miss yao.. he was a nightmare to guard for a center.

teknokid · Nov 17, 2015

It's his character and demeanor that I miss most about Yao. Something that current Rockets desperately needs.

heypartner · Nov 17, 2015

teknokid said: ↑

It's his character and demeanor that I miss most about Yao. Something that current Rockets desperately needs.
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"You can't f!cking stop me." -- Yao Ming to Chris Kaman

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jss1xEzh5b4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

ibm · Nov 17, 2015

heypartner said: ↑

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lol to this. right, it aint like mohammed was a prime time defender.

and everytime i see this pic of yao, it cracks me up.

NewBigThree09 · Nov 17, 2015

2A to 2E.

rox4lyf · Nov 17, 2015

heypartner said: ↑

"You can't f!cking stop me." -- Yao Ming to Chris Kaman

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jss1xEzh5b4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Dikembe's reaction always cracks me up.

apollo33 · Nov 17, 2015

Yeah Yao actually played like he cared about his team, can't say the same about some people on this team

topfive · Nov 17, 2015

Ralph...
Yao...

*sniff*

What could have been.

htownrox1 · Nov 18, 2015

Yeah I bet it would be a little hard to guard the tallest player on the court.

Panda23 · Nov 18, 2015

underrated015 said: ↑

miss yao.. he was a nightmare to guard for a center.
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inb4 all the hippy ****heads screaming "JUST FRONT HIM DUH"

Panda23 · Nov 18, 2015

htownrox1 said: ↑

Yeah I bet it would be a little hard to guard the tallest player on the court.
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uhhhh not sure if srs. Say the same about thabeet or whoever else.

Yao was the complete package. He had maxed out his potential in his body, shoot with either hand from the block, turn over either shoulder for the fade, he literally could not have maxed out his talent anymore.

RocketsFido · Nov 18, 2015

Notice how he doesn't mention Dwight

Snow Villiers · Nov 18, 2015

Miss The Gentle Giant.

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[Nostalgia] Nazr Mohammed ranks Yao as one of the toughest players he's ever guarded

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