http://msn.espn.go.com/nba/news/2002/0912/1431050.html Mourning appears to be retiring. He had a great career and the NBA will miss him.. Too bad we wont get to see Yao match up against him.. Here is my official tally of current NBA centers that I feel are better than Yao now that Mourning is no longer part of the NBA.. 1. Shaq (if healthy) 2. Tim Duncan (if you consider him a center) 3. YAO MING (i think he will put up 16 pts, 9 rebs, 2.8 blks, 3 assist, 58% FG, 75% FT). 4. Mutombo (limited offense but the league is short of centers) 5. Vlade (good player but had a miserable WBC. Yao clearly outshined him). Mourning was one of my favs and too bad he is gone. The Rox should try to hire him to consult Yao and to work out with him..
I would say its, 1.shaq 2.Divac 3.Mutombo 4.Yao Ming 5. J. Oneil I belive that Yao could move up on that list once he plays and proves himself in this league!
Looks like Hakeem may be out too... Too bad he couldn't play once more here. It will be interesting to see how much development the young centers had this year: Diop, Curry, and Brown. With Gasol and J. Oneal, these are Ming's future competion for #2 and eventually #1. Bring in Jabbar and Bill Russell to teach him
Gasol plays forward in the NBA. He weighs 235. That's about as much as Steve. Also, Mr. Basketball, I wouldn't exactly call Divacs winning the Gold medal as his teams leader a miserable WBC showing. Dude is old and is still a warrior.
Every center except Austin is shorter and within 15 pounds of Gasol. They really don't have true reliable "center" on that team. It's kind of like calling Dirk Dallas' center.
250 is about the minimum you need to effectively guard an NBA center in the low post. Anything less and you don't have a chance. A strong 250 player is better than a fat 280 player but there is no way Gasol could hold off a guy like Cato or Dale Davis in the post. They played Gasol at the three last year. Maybe he has put on some weight.
