fronting requires ball pressure more than anything. If the guy on the ball doesn't apply great ball pressure, then a easy lob can be made. The reason why a easy lob isn't that easy for the rockets and yao are because battier is no threat to drive and scola's range only extends 15ft, and yao is slow as hell.
I'm sure some people rated the thread lowly because it is critical of Yao, and your complaint would be valid if this thread was only about where Dwight is better than Yao, or even a simple Dwight>Yao post. But the main reason it's rated lowly is because your OP is asking Yao to be things he can't. Asking him to be more athletic and explosive... is dumb. I agree about fouling HARD if you're going to pick up the foul anyway, but I don't want him picking up fouls that can be avoided either. With the 50/50 nature of some of the calls in the paint and his vulnerability against guards driving into the paint, Yao can pick up quick fouls and end up on the bench very quickly, just not worth the risk.
I used to agree. But there were stretches during the season where Yao was clearly more aggressive at getting to the basket and dunking authoritatively. He'll never be like Howard, obviously, but he can definitely try to be more aggressive at the rim on a more consistent basis. I guess the counterargument here is that the more aggressively and "athletic" he tries to be, the more likely he'll break another body part.
Ask Dwight Howard to be a 20/10 guy without having a summer off for 7 years in a row (unless if he's rehabbing from injury). Yao's commitment to China hurts him more than anything IMO. Imagine his career with a little bit of rest...
< sarcasm > Wow, those are perhaps the most concise and elegant statements to ever grace any board I've ever come across. You've reflected the facts and held true on all arguments pertaining to the issue. Clearly, a conversation with you would be a worthwhile investment of anyone's time and effort. < /sarcasm >
After the last 2 games in the Finals, it looks like howard needs to look to yao for some offensive advice...
I can understand a lot of the frustration with Yao. I've been a huge fan of his for quite a while and incidents like the ones he has encountered has certainly diminished his overall popularity over the years. But I agree with the previous poster. He deserves at least a full off-season without any commitments before final judgment (at least from me). These ad nauseam comparisons of Yao and DH have got to stop. The posts just go around in circles after awhile to the point of complete and utter futility. We have a better chance of rationalizing the existence of God before there's an agreement on who is the number one center. Does it really matter? We all know that both DH and Yao will remain in their respective teams.
Good point. It does not matter who's better, or who has more trade values. We will never trade Yao for Howard, neither will Orlando trade Howard for Yao. I am more than happy if Yao can just play the way he played in the playoff, as long as he's 100% healthy. That Yao + the rest of the current team + a decent wing player is as good as the Lakers if not better. I would even say the current team is arguably as good as the Lakers. Let's have a stable team for just once during the Yao's era to see how far Yao can take us. That's the reason I am pretty much against trading of any of our core players.
This is where the whole argument gets stale. Howard hasn't been great on offense, but look at the rebounds and some of the missed shots he has forced. Being a center is more than scoring, its about protecting the paint,rebounding, and intimidation also. Offensively, Howard will never be as good as yao, thats not even a argument, but how many times have we seen yao a factor when he's not scoring or getting touches? Just because you're not scoring, there are other things you can do to help your team win a game. Durvasa, i agree with you. I think its just who you are inside. Some guys always play angry or aggressive and some guys turn it on and off because they are passive by nature. You remember the old argument that if robinson had barkley's attitude he would be the most dominant player in the league? David was like that, but he was so good that his off switch was still prett good. If robinson was as aggressive as dream he would've been better, but that wasn't in him to want to destroy another guy. Thats not yao either.
Can some1 find the data of the first two Houston-LA games (Yao played) vs the first two Orlando-LA games. Let's focus on LA's offense IN THE PAINT: points in the paint, shooting percentage, offense rebound, ...that will basically tell you how much better Howard than Yao in defense end.
I don't think those 3 stats, over just 2 games, is enough to tell you that. Keeping teams out of the paint isn't just the responsibility of one player.
I don't understand why they are trying to pound the ball inside. They should just jack up threes and let howard go for the rebound.
How about the whole playoffs? I do not know the answer, I am just curious how much better (or worse) Howard's team vs Yao's team in term of defending the paint.
Even for the playoffs, I think you have to be careful making judgments based on that. The reason being that the opponents faced doesn't "even out" between the teams since the schedules are unique. Advantageous or disadvantageous matchups can skew the results.
Yao's offense > Dwight's defense Yao's defense > Dwight's offense. Honestly, how hard can this formula be?
The reason they don't need to front Howard because they've been keeping him out of the paint easily. Howard base is NOT that strong. They have to front Yao because Yao is just too strong. So Howard is totally useless if he's more than 3 feet from the basket.
let's just say BOTH can watch a lot from each other. teams can take something out of their games offensively pretty easily (fronting w/ yao; aggressive double teams v. howard). both have strengths and weaknesses that every team can exploit.
